Hacking Wireless Network

There are several techniques to hack a wireless network. I tried several times to hack many of the networks this is how it is done:Wireless networks are everywhere; they are widely available, cheap, and easy to setup. To avoid the hassle of setting up a wired network in my own home, I chose to go wireless. After a day of enjoying this wireless freedom, I began thinking about security. How secure is my wireless network?

I searched the Internet for many days, reading articles, gathering information, and participating on message boards and forums. I soon came to the realization that the best way for me to understand the security of my wireless network would be to test it myself. Many sources said it was easy, few said it was hard.

How a wireless network works

A wireless local area network (WLAN) is the linking of 2 or more computers with Network Interface Cards (NICs) through a technology based on radio waves. All devices that can connect to a wireless network are known as stations. Stations can be access points (APs), or clients.

Access points are base stations for the wireless network. They receive and transmit information for the clients to communicate with.

The set of all stations that communicate with each other is referred to as the Basic Service Set (BSS). Every BSS has an Identification known as a BSSID, also known as the MAC address, which is a unique identifier that is associated with every NIC.

For any client to join a WLAN, it should know the SSID of the WLAN; therefore, the access points typically broadcast their SSID to let the clients know that an AP is in range.

Data streams, known as packets, are sent between the Access Point, and it’s clients. You need no physical access to the network or its wires to pick up these packets, just the right tools. It is with the transmission of these packets that pose the largest security threat to any wireless network.

Wireless Encryption

The majority of home and small business networks are encrypted using the two most popular methods:

1. WEP
2. WPA

WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy - comes in 3 different key lengths: 64, 128, and 256 bits, known as WEP 64, WEP 128, and WEP 256 respectively. WEP provides a casual level of security but is more compatible with older devices; therefore, it is still used quite extensively. Each WEP key contains a 24 bit Initialization Vector (IV), and a user-defined or automatically generated key; for instance, WEP 128 is a combination of the 24 bit IV and a user entered 26 digit hex key. ((26*4)+24=128)

WEP also comes in WEP2 and WEP+, which are not as common and still as vulnerable as the standard WEP encryption.

WPA - WiFi Protected Access - comes in WPA and WPA2, and was created to resolve several issues found in WEP. Both provide you with good security; however, they are not compatible with older devices and therefore not used as widely. WPA was designed to distribute different keys to each client; however, it is still widely used in a (not as secure) pre-shared key (PSK) mode, in which every client has the same passphrase.

To fully utilize WPA, a user would need an 802.1x authentication server, which small businesses and typical home users simply cannot afford. WPA utilizes a 48 bit Initialization Vector (IV), twice the size of WEP, which combined with other WEP fixes, allows substantially greater security over WEP.

Packets and IVs

It’s all in the packets. The bottom line is - while you may be able to employ several security features on your WLAN - anything you broadcast over the air can be intercepted, and could be used to compromise the security on your network. If that frightens you, start stringing wires throughout your home.

Every encrypted packet contains a 24 or 48 bit IV, depending on the type of encryption used. Since the pre-shared key is static and could be easily obtained, the purpose of the IV is to encrypt each packet with a different key. For example, to avoid a duplicate encryption key in every packet sent, the IV is constantly changing. The IV must be known to the client that received the encrypted packet in order to decrypt it; therefore, it is sent in plaintext.

The problem with this method is that the Initialization Vectors are not always the same. In theory, if every IV was different, it would be nearly impossible to obtain the network key; this is not the case. WEP comes with a 24 bit IV; therefore, giving the encryption 16 million unique values that can be used. This may sound like a large number, but when it comes to busy network traffic, it’s not.

Every IV is not different; and this is where the issues arise. Network hackers know that all the keys used to encrypt packets are related by a known IV (since the user entered WEP part of the key is rarely changed); therefore, the only change in the key is 24 bits. Since the IV is randomly chosen, there is a 50% probability that the same IV will repeat after just 5,000 packets; this is known as a collision.

If a hacker knows the content of one packet, he can use the collision to view the contents of the other packet. If enough packets are collected with IV matches, your network’s security can be compromised.

The Setup

My wireless network was powered by a Linksys WRT54G v6 wireless router; It is well known that this model is the most widely used wireless router. Out of the box, the Linksys router came with 1 CD which was nothing more than a visual step by step, what you should do to connect it.

A few things concern me with this router. There was no part in the setup that allowed me, or even told me to change my router’s default password. To change the password, I had to go into the router’s web-based setup utility; this was accessible via the IP address 192.168.1.1 in my Internet browser. The default username and password was admin. If someone was able to compromise the security on my network, they could have easily done this for me; and locked me out of my own network. Sure, I could have performed a hard reset on the router, but I’d have little luck without the Internet or any documentation to help.

If you’re looking to find your default username and password, there is quite a comprehensive list located at www.phenoelit.de My advice is to change this immediately, for it may save you some trouble down the road.

Being my first time, I decided to go easy; I set my router up with a basic WEP 64 encryption; it required a 10 digit hex key. I entered the key into the 2 other computers in my home, and I was ready to start.

Hardware

Out of everything I’ve experienced over the last couple weeks, this was the hardest obstacle, by far. I started with a Dell Latitude C610 notebook with a Linksys WPC54GS Wireless-G notebook adapter (Broadcom chipset) running Windows XP Pro; looking back, it was a bad choice.

When selecting hardware, be warned, not all network cards are the equal. It turns out that nearly 99% of the software used to crack network keys are not compatible with notebook cards that have a Broadcom chipset; the ones that were just didn’t work.

9 out of every 10 articles I read boasted the Orinoco Gold PCMCIA network card by Lucent was the absolute best pick and most compatible will all the good software. A trip to E-Bay, $30 later, and I was ready.

The software we will be using is strictly dependent on the chipset of the WNIC, and unfortunately, the operating system. Your best approach would be to research what software you will be using, and then find a card based on the chipset the software is compatible with.

There are many types of chipsets; too many, in fact, to mention. Linux-wlan.org has an unbelievably comprehensive list of WNICs and their corresponding chipset.

All the best programs are made for Linux; windows is certainly a drag when it comes to WLAN penetrating software, but if you don’t have Linux, don’t be too concerned.

It may be in your best interest to invest in a wireless card that has an external antenna jack. The Orinoco Gold WNIC I purchased has one, but since I’m compromising my own network in a short range, it won’t be necessary.

The Software

There are hundreds of applications you can use to do a variety of things with wireless networks. The largest list of software, that I came across, can be found at Wardrive.net. The term “wardriving” is more commonly used for this practice, and involves driving around neighborhoods to look for wireless networks. I refuse to use this term because that is not what I am doing; I am sitting in my home testing the vulnerabilities of my own network.

Let it be known, that it is not illegal to use software to detect the presence of wireless networks; however, if you crack the network and start “stealing” bandwidth, you could be in a world of trouble. Especially if you’re in Singapore.

Once I received my Orinoco card, I began re-installing software which did not previously work with my Linksys card. It was a nightmare; Windows XP kept getting in the way, software that had been moded to run on windows required daunting tasks for installation, some programs simply didn’t work, some required special run time modules to be installed.

After nearly 48 hours of time-wasting, aggravating, disappointment; I came across the answer. A small penguin shone a beam of light upon my browser and blessed me; I found Auditor.

(2/6/07 - The link is currently not working, but you can obtain Auditor through any Torrent service.)

Auditor Security Collection is a self booting Linux-based CD that comes pre-loaded with all the best security software for auditing a system. It comes in a .ISO file that can be downloaded from remote-exploit.org; the ISO image file is roughly 649 Mb, and can be burned to a CD or DVD using most CD/DVD writing utilities.

It was truly amazing; a simple check in the Bios of the laptop to set the boot order to CD/DVD first, a slip of the Auditor CD, and a press of the power button was all it took. I was ready. Be not afraid of this Linux-based CD; everything is laid out on a GUI and all commands have “shortcuts” linking to them on a desktop similar to a windows environment.

Auditor Security Collection does not touch a single file on your hard drive. All files used and saved in the ASC are stored in your notebook’s RAM; once you remove the CD and reboot, everything is exactly as it was.

Detecting my wireless network

If you’ve come this far, believe me, you’re doing well. The first step is to find the network you want to penetrate. As there are a variety of apps that allow you to do this, we will be focusing in on the 2 most popular: Netstumbler, and Kismet.

Netstumber - is a widely popular tool used for detecting 802.11a/b/g wireless networks. The latest version is Netstumbler 0.4.0, and will run in Windows XP. For compatible hardware and requirements, you can check the read me on the Netstumbler forums; or you could just try it. I’d like to point out that many sources have said the Linksys WPC54G/S WNIC does not work with Netstumbler; however, I have been able to make it work by launching the program, then removing and re-inserting the WNIC. The Orinoco Gold works fine with Netstumbler.

Kismet - does a little more than just detecting networks. Aside from providing every detail about a network except the encryption key, Kismet is a packet sniffer and intrusion detection system; we’ll get into sniffing packets a little later.

For this demonstration, we’ll be using the pre-loaded Kismet on the Auditor Security Collection. After inserting and booting the Auditor CD, I was ready to make sure everything was working properly.

From this point, the first thing that needed to be done was to ensure the wireless card was recognized by Auditor; to do this, you will have to venture into the dark world of the command prompt. In Auditor, the command prompt can be reached by clicking on the little black monitor icon located at the bottom of your screen.

Simply typing in iwconfig will allow you to see all the wireless extensions configured on the machine. If you see a screen full of data next to a WLAN0 or ETH0, you’re ready to continue to the next step; otherwise, you will see a list of “no wireless extensions” messages.

Next, you will need to start the Kismet program. You’ll initially be prompted to enter a destination to save data to; you can just select the ’desktop’ and continue. When Kismet loads, you will see a black screen with green text showing all the wireless networks within you signal range.

Kismet will give you all the information you need to start cracking. Pressing ’s’ on your keyboard will bring up a ”Sort Network” dialogue box. From there you can press any of the desired sorting methods. This step is important as it allows you to select a particular wireless network on a list to view more details. Select your network with the arrow keys and press enter.

You will then be looking at nearly all your network details such as name, ssid, server IP, bssid, etc… Most are not relevant in this case, but you should write down a few things:

1. BSSID
2. Channel #
3. Encryption method

Pressing ‘x’ in Kismet will return you to the previous screen. re-select your target WLAN; then press ‘SHFT+C’ to bring up a list of associated clients to the Access Point. Write down the MAC address of all clients as it will prove useful.

Capturing packets

While you may have not been aware, at this point, Kismet has also been capturing packets. This is the bread and butter of cracking any wireless encryption; without data to process you have nothing.

Capturing packets, also known as packet sniffing, is the process of intercepting and logging traffic passing over a network. As information is sent and received over your wireless network, the software captures every packet to allow you to analyze and decode it.

Capturing network traffic can be a timely process; especially if it is a slow network. With no-one on any computers in my home, I generally capture around 3,000 packets within 5 minutes; with users on the other 2 computers, this number is substantially greater. Don’t get confused, it’s not the packet itself that we want; but rather the IVs in the packets.

The programs we will be using to sniff packets are Kismet and Airodump (part of the Aircrack Suite). We’ve already touched Kismet, so lets take a look at Airodump.

Before running Airodump, you must configure your wireless interface to go into ’monitor’ mode; the methods to achieve this require you to go back to the command prompt (konsole).

For most WNICs, you would use the command:
iwconfig mode monitor

And in some instances would have to set the channel number on your WNIC to match that of the target access point:
iwconfig channel #

Note that you will have to replace with the network interface specific to your machine. Using an Orinoco Gold card, my network interface was eth0; but on most machines, it is wlan0 or ath0. So you may have to adjust those commands accordingly. You can find out for sure by simply typing iwconfig.

I should also point out that putting the Orinoco Gold card in ‘monitor’ mode had a different command altogether:
iwpriv eth0 monitor 2 1

Once your in monitor mode, you’re ready to run Airodump. The command used to start Airodump is:
airodump

[mac filter]

can be anything you wish; Airodump will put a .cap extension on the end of the name. The mac filter is used to only capture packets from a specific access point. For instance, I used:
airodump eth0 george 00:18:f8:65:fe:41
to capture packets just from my access point - where 00:18:f8:65:fe:41 is the BSSID of the AP.

Airodump looks similar to Kismet, but there are no selectable objects on the screen; it gets right down to it, capturing packets and storing them in the .cap file as defined in the command. You’ll notice Airodump keeps a running count of all the packets captured, and better yet, shows you the number of IVs collected.

The waiting game

The hard truth is that you will need to collect nearly 150,000 IVs to crack a 64 bit WEP key, and around 600,000 IVs to crack a 128 bit WEP key. This number varies, but is mostly dependent on how luck you are. If you watch the IV count in Airodump, you’ll notice that, under normal circumstances, they do not rise rapidly.

This can cause a problem; particularly if you’re as impatient as I am. Let’s take a look at some ways we can speed up this process.

Until now, we’ve been using a method known as a passive attack. A passive attack is basically doing nothing other than passively capturing packets until you have achieved enough data to perform the crack.

Most access points need their client to re-associate after a certain period of time to confirm their connection; therefore, the AP will send out an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet. The ARP packet is unique in that is always addressed to the MAC address FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, usually has a size of 68 bytes, and has the ToDS flag set.

We can use this information to implement an ARP replay attack. For this method, we will be using Aireplay (part of the Aircrack Suite). Aireplay can be used to actually re-send packets that it has received.

Leave Airodump running, and open a new command window. The command we’ll be using for Aireplay is:
aireplay -i -m 68 -n 68 -d ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff -b 00:18:f8:65:fe:41 eth0

The -i tells Aireplay to capture packets on the fly; the -m 68 and -n 68 tells aireplay that you only want it to replay packets that are 68 bytes. The -d and -b are the destination MAC address and AP MAC Address(BSSID) respectively. This is the criteria that is defined for our ARP packet, which is usually associated with an IV.

Alternatively, you may have already captured one of these packets. You can have Aireplay check the .cap file from Airodump with the -f switch:
aireplay -f george.cap -m 68 -n 68 -d ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff -b 00:18:f8:65:fe:41 eth0

In either case, If Aireplay finds a match to our specifications, it will show you the details of the packet and ask if you would like to replay it. If the details look exactly as shown below, press ‘y’ for yes.

FromDS = 0, ToDS = 1
BSSID =
Src. MAC =
Dst. MAC = ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

Aireplay will then begin to replay the packet; if you’ve found a winning packet, you will notice your packet and IV count in Airodump rise extremely quick. If not, only the packet count in Airodump will rise; If this be the case, press CTRL+C to abort the operation, restart aireplay, and try again.

It has been noted that some routers will detect this erratic behavior and block the MAC address of the WNIC you are using. Adding a -x switch followed by a “replay per second #” will slow down the rate at which Airplay replays these packets.

If your lucky enough, you will have collected enough IVs in little time. For me, it took 28 minutes including booting up, writing down the network specs, and typing all those lengthy commands.

There are other methods such as Dueth attacks which force the clients off the AP, causing them to have to re-associate; but these methods require a second computer.

The crack

Two of the most popular programs used for actually cracking the WEP key are Airsnort and Aircrack. Airsnort can be used with the .dump files that Kismet provides; and Aircrack can be used with the .cap files that Airodump provides.

Airsnort can be used on it’s own without any other software capturing packets; although, it has been reported to be extremely unstable in this state, and you should probably not chance loosing all your captured data. A better method would be to let Airsnort recover the encryption key from your Kismet .dump file. Kismet and Airsnort can run simultaneously.

For this demonstration, we’ll be using Aircrack. You can use Airodump to capture the packets, and Aircrack to crack the encryption key at the same time.

With Airodump running, open a new command window and type:
aircrack -f 3 -n 64 -q 3 george.cap

The -f switch followed by a number is the fudgefactor; which is a variable that the program uses to define how thoroughly it scans the .cap file. A larger number will give you a better chance of finding the key, but will usually take longer. The default is 2.

The -n switch followed by 64 represents that you are trying to crack a WEP 64 key. I knew because it was a setup; In the real world there is no way to determine what WEP key length a target access point is using. You may have to try both 64 and 128.

The -q 3 switch was used to display the progress of the software. It can be left out altogether to provide a faster crack; although, if you’ve obtained enough unique IVs, you should not be waiting more than a couple minutes.

A -m switch can be used, followed by a MAC address, to filter a specific AP’s usable packets; this would come in handy if you were collecting packets from multiple APs in Airodump.

Aircrack recovered my WEP 64 key within 1 minute using 76,000 unique IVs; the whole process took around 34 minutes.

The same experiment was repeated with WEP 128 and it took about 43 minutes. The reason it was not substantially longer is because I simply let Airplay replay more packets. Sometimes you can get lucky and capture an ARP Request packet within a few minutes; otherwise, it could take a couple hours.

After I had access to the network, many doors opened up. Aside from having access to the Internet, I was able to use Networkview - a network discovery tool - to obtain my network’s workgroup name. From there, I had access to all the shared files on my drives.

While I’m no expert in the subject, I can at least assume that many horrible things could happen if the wrong hands were to obtain my WLAN encryption key.

The conclusion

Always use WPA or WPA2 encryption when possible. If your using WPA with a pre-shared key, use a strong password; hackers can use dictionary attacks, and they will be quite effective if you have an easy password. You may want to use a strong password generator like the one at grc.com.

If your access point supports it, you may want to consider disabling wireless SSID broadcast; however, this may raise some issues with the APs clients recognizing it. (Kismet will still recognize it)

Many routers will allow you to filter what clients can access the network; this is known as Wireless MAC Filtering. If you know the MAC address of the clients you are using, you can enter them into your configuration utility as “Permit ONLY”. This is not a 100% effective method; MAC addresses can be cloned to match the AP’s associated clients, but it does provide you with a slightly higher level of security. (there is a utility on Auditor to allow you to do this)

By default, your router may be set to mixed mode; this allows 802.11b and 802.11g devices to access your network. If you use only 802.11g devices, set your router to G-ONLY. Had my router been set this way, I would have never been able to do any of this. The Orinoco Gold card is 802.11b, and is obviously not compatible with a 802.11g network. Many 802.11g cards are not supported by the software we’ve used in this tutorial, but few are. While your at it, please change your default router username and password.

While I haven’t tried my hand at cracking a WPA encryption, the methods are similar when the WLANs use pre-shared keys (psk); I do plan on trying it, and I will surely write an update to let you know how/if it was done.

By no means am I claiming to be an expert in this field; If you’ve noticed anything that was incorrect or just have something to add, please put your comments.

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Online Jobs15

New revenue opportunities are emerging with the recent boom in video viewing on the Web. On this chart, I've tried to list the Web sites that are most likely to help filmmakers and independent video producers make money from their work. (This isn't a comprehensive list.) I've ranked the sites subjectively, based on how much traffic and buzz they've been attracting, and also how likely it seems that a video producer would actually manage to earn a significant return by posting a video there. (Media companies with large libraries have a wider range of options for monetizing their content, including Apple's iTunes Music Store, Movielink, and Vongo.)

The majority of these sites are geared to short-form content, but a few, like CreateSpace, Jaman, and GreenCine, make it possible for producers of hour-long or feature-length projects to generate revenue. Most of these sites don't demand exclusive rights to a video, and I've tried to highlight the few that do, like Current.tv and TurnHere.

Below the main chart are two supplemental charts: one lists Web sites that haven't yet launched payment systems, but could have a big impact once they do, and another lists DVD-burning and merchandising services, which help producers sell good old-fashioned DVDs of their work. (I haven't tried to list all the sites here that run contests where winners can earn money for their submissions.)

This project is part of a recently-published book, The Future of Web Video: New Opportunities for Producers, Entrepreneurs, Media Companies and Advertisers. Both the book and this chart are based on more than 100 interviews with executives and media-makers I conducted between 2005 and February 2007. I'd welcome your feedback via e-mail, at kirsner @ pobox.com.

(Notes: I use the term "producer" in these charts to mean filmmaker/director/media-maker. Also, most of these sites prohibit adult, violent, or hateful content; GreenCine, CustomFlix, and IndieFlix are the three companies willing to carry edgier material. I'd prefer if you didn't re-post this document elsewhere in its entirety, though I heartily encourage links.)

Company / Location / Year Founded / URL	Subject Matter/ Length Restrictions	The Deal	Remarks
1. Atom Entertainment San Francisco, CA 1999 http://www.atomfilms.com/submit/index.html	Short animated and live action movies (generally under five minutes).	Very selective about content; videos must be picked for inclusion by site editors, and are generally licensed exclusively to Atom for a specified period of time. Producers earn royalties based on the popularity of their content (and sometimes an advance payment, too), plus a share of any additional distribution revenues generated through deals with partners such as Verizon, for mobile video. Since launching, AtomFilms has paid more than $3,000,000 to producers for content licensing and development deals. The AtomFilms Studio program gives producers an upfront payment for the development of original content exclusively for AtomFilms.	Content with provocative titles, like "Roof Sex" and "New Boobs," attracts lots of attention on Atom, even though the actual shorts turn out to be tame. (The parties engaging in roof sex turn out to be two pieces of amorous furniture.) Perhaps Atom's best-known content licensing deal was with JibJab Media, for the musical political satires "This Land" and "Good to Be in D.C.," which together were viewed more than 80 million times in 2004. Site is now owned by MTV Networks/Viacom.
2. Revver Los Angeles, CA 2005 http://one.revver.com/go/about	Live action shorts and "slice-of-life" videos. 100-megabyte file size limit.	Revver is similar to YouTube, but with a short ad that plays at the end of a video. As of July 2007, it was the 16th most popular video site on the Web. The company splits advertising revenue 50/50 with the video's producer. Some ads pay the producer based on how many times a viewer clicks on the ad, others pay based on how many times the video is viewed. (For click-based ads, the rate is about 75 cents to $1.00 per click, and a Revver exec said recently that the company hopes its impression-based ads will generate $20 CPMs, or $20 per thousand video views.) When affiliate sites – a blog, for instance – point viewers to a video, they receive 20 percent of the advertising revenue off the top.	Revver's best-known content creators are Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz, whose short video "The Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiments" earned them about $30,000 and was viewed more than eight million times on Revver. But Grobe and Voltz encountered trouble keeping non-revenue-generating versions of the video off of other sites – like YouTube. In September 2007, Revver announced that it had paid out $1 million to producers.
3. TurnHere Emeryville, CA 2005 http://admin.turnhere.com/entryForm.php	Profiles of local neighborhoods, product demos, and company profiles; most are three minutes or less.	To get "certified," producers must first submit a two-minute audition film. Producers are paid anywhere from $200 to $1000 for a finished short film about a place, business, or product. (Films then become TurnHere's property.) TurnHere also asks producers to submit their source tapes, along with keywords related to the piece, and addresses of any merchants or attractions included in it.	Company has deals with InterContinental Hotels, Simon & Schuster, and Discovery to crank out short films. TurnHere plans to produce 25,000 films per year.
4. Metacafe Israel/San Francisco, CA 2003 http://www.metacafe.com/producer_rewards/	Entertaining, funny videos (cute pet clips are especially encouraged). According to site: "Over six minutes is probably too long...but we'd love for you to prove us wrong."	In the Producer Rewards program, once an uploaded video has been seen 20,000 times, the producer starts getting paid. 20,000 views earns $100; after that, each additional 1,000 views adds $5. A video that is seen two million times would earn $10,000. As of September 2007, top four producers had earned more than $20,000 each.	Claims 16 million viewers per month, making it one of the most heavily-trafficked sites on this list. Money-making content includes Joe Eigo's "Matrix for Real," an acrobatics demonstration; hacks that double gas mileage or turn flashlights into laser pointers; and Magic Roy's sleight-of-hand tricks Interesting videos rise to the top thanks in part to the efforts of Metacafe's volunteer corps of video-evaluators.
5. CreateSpace (formerly CustomFlix) Scotts Valley, CA 2002 http://www.createspace.com/Products/VideoDownload.jsp	Any content that adheres to content guidelines. Download-to-own videos must be at least 20 minutes long; rental videos must be at least 70 minutes.	CreateSpace offers a way to get videos sold through Amazon.com's Unbox download service; CreateSpace is a division of Amazon. Producer suggests a price for video rental and download-to-own version, but Amazon has the final say. Producers keep 50 percent of the price. Videos can take up to 30 days to show up on Unbox, but content offered there is eligible for listing on the Internet Movie Database (also conveniently owned by Amazon.) This is the best current option for indie filmmakers interested in selling full-length features...at least until iTunes opens up its gates to more non-studio content.	Videos will share virtual "shelf space" on Unbox with studio productions like Talladega Nights and The Matrix. Among CreateSpace's top-selling videos and movies: "Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga," "You: On a Diet Workout," and "10 MPH," a documentary in which two friends quit their jobs and ride Segway scooters across the country.
Company / Location / Year Founded / URL	Subject Matter/ Length Restrictions	The Deal	Remarks
6. Brightcove Cambridge, MA 2005 http://studio.brightcove.com/	Any content, any length.	Producers can set a per-download price (minimum: 99 cents), or allow Brightcove to insert ads. For the former, Brightcove splits revenues 70-30, with the creator getting the larger share; for the latter, the revenue split is 50-50. But affiliate sites that point users to an ad-supported video can earn 20 percent of the ad revenue off the top; for pay-per-view videos, the producer can set her own commission rate for affiliates.	Site is more geared to producers with libraries of content or a continuing series, rather than someone with one or two videos. You'll be in good company: Brightcove supports shows from National Geographic, Newsweek, and WE, and music videos from Sony BMG. But the Brightcove site itself isn't a major video destination, so it won't generate traffic for you; instead, the company expects producers and content owners to promote their videos on their own sites. And it's unclear how much advertising Brightcove is selling to place in its videos; that may be up to you, too.
7. Current.tv San Francisco, CA 2005 http://www.current.tv/make/	Current looks for 3 to 7 minute journalism or entertainment clips, and pays at least $500 for clips that air on Current's cable/satellite channel, available in 38 million US homes. Viewer-created advertising can earn substantially more.	As of February 2007, Current has changed its policies about paying for content, and exclusivity. First, a producer uploads a clip to the Current Web site. If the company selects a clip to air on its cable channel, it negotiates payment with the creator. Also, every Thursday, the site's most popular new clip (as voted by users) is awarded $1000. Most of the company's old set-fee structure has been discarded, though Current still pays $250 for station promos and $1000 for selected viewer-created ads, or V-CAMs, that air on Current. V-CAMs can earn additional money if the advertiser decides to show them in other venues. Once the site purchases a clip (they call it a "pod"), Current has exclusive rights to it. This replaces an old policy, in which Current essentially got an exclusive 30-day "first look" option on all content uploaded to the site.	Content is consistently slick and professional, with a distinct lefty political bent. (Al Gore is one of the channel's owners.)
8. GreenCine Video-on-Demand San Francisco, CA 2002 (VOD launched in 2003) http://www.greencine.com/static/filmmaker/ filmmaker_submission.jsp	Indie features and documentaries (full-length and shorts, but the site recommends that shorts be 25 minutes or longer)	Producers send a preview copy of their content on DVD or VHS. GreenCine takes 10-15 days to review the content, and if it chooses to carry it, sends the producer a content license agreement. (This agreement isn't exclusive; content can appear elsewhere.) GreenCine pays the producer a percentage of gross revenues from every VOD rental or sale, and payments are sent once a month as long as the producer earns at least $100. (Otherwise, producers are paid quarterly.) Company won't reveal the percentage, but one filmmaker whose movies are available on GreenCine, Caveh Zahedi, reports that the split is 50-50, and says his movies are being purchased in digital form about 5-10 times a month. GreenCine currently doesn't charge producers to encode their content for digital distribution.	Among the titles available: 24 Hours on Craigslist, Betty Page Uncovered, I Am A Sex Addict. 12,000 on-demand titles available for rental; GreenCine launched its download-to-own service in fall 2006 with about 50 titles. Company receives about twenty preview copies of films daily.
9. ExpertVillage.com Austin, TX http://www.expertvillage.com/submit/login.aspx	Instructional and how-to videos.	Producers earn between $100 and $1000 for each how-to video; videos must focus on specific topics and be assigned first. Each video consists of several segments of one to three minutes each, featuring an "expert" on a given subject. ExpertVillage purchases exclusive rights to the content. A spokesman says that some videographers have already made $10,000 to $20,000 by submitting multiple videos. Site's total budget, announced in 2006, is $2 million for a total of 75,000 videos. Since the program began in August 2006, about $350,000 has been paid out.	Average video pays $300. Videos cover topics like doing card tricks, applying eye make-up, cutting the perfect lime wedge, sailing, and pilates.
10. Jaman San Mateo, CA 2007 http://www.jaman.com/a/library/?theAction=show_upload_help	World cinema: mostly full-length features and hour-plus content.	Most downloads are priced at $4.99; seven-day rentals are $1.99, though lately Jaman has been offering free rentals of selected titles to build up its user base. Producers sign a 7-to-9 year non-exclusive contract with Jaman, giving the company worldwide Internet rights. Producers get 30 percent of the gross revenues, paid quarterly.	Elegant, well-designed, easy-to-use technology - though it requires that users download a special player, available for both Macs and PCs. Site has rights to over 1500 features and docs (though only about 400 were online as of May 2007), many of which have played at festivals. Though producer's share of gross is smaller than most sites on this list, Jaman has gotten scads of publicity in 2007, and recently did a deal with the Tribeca Film Festival to make six movies in competition available for free rental. CinemaTech has a video interview with Jaman CEO Gaurav Dhillon, and additional details about the service.
Company / Location / Year Founded / URL	Subject Matter/ Length Restrictions	The Deal	Remarks
11. EZTakes Easthampton, MA 2003 http://www.eztakes.com/store/info/sell.jsp	Full-length features, docs, anime, instructional videos.	Producer sets the price for videos; EZTakes pockets a "delivery fee," typically between 30 to 35 percent. The standard EZTakes distribution agreement is non-exclusive. Unlike the other services on this list, EZTakes aims to make it easy to transfer downloaded content onto a DVD for more convenient living room viewing. EZTakes also recently announced software that will transfer movies onto an iPod or other portable media player.	Site offers movies from legendary B-studio Troma Entertainment, including The Toxic Avenger, Bollywood fare, and the IMAX documentary Alaska: Spirit of the Wild.
12. Break.com Los Angeles, CA 1998 http://info.break.com/static/break/subPages/getPaid.html	Short videos under three minutes, short "produced" films over three minutes with storylines, short Flash animations.	Content must be selected by Break.com editors and published on the homepage. Short videos (stunts, animals, dancing, pranks) earn $400. Short "produced" films earn $2000. Flash animations and games earn $2000.	Some videos submitted to Break have been aired on Showtime, as part of a promotion called "Chaos in Suburbia." Most videos seem geared to high school and college guys, with scantily-clad women, sports low-lights, and explosions among the most popular stuff.
13. Blip.tv New York, NY 2005 http://www.blip.tv/faq/advertising/	Any content. Recommends limiting file size to 100 megabytes.	Through an advertising pilot program, site allows producers to "opt in," allowing ads – 15 second post-roll ads or "single slate" still frames – to be shown at the end of their videos. Advertisers pay on a cost-per-click or cost-per-action basis (IE, signing up for a mailing list or actually purchasing a product.) Blip.tv splits advertising revenue 50-50 with producers, and pays via PayPal within two weeks of the end of the quarter, if the producer is owed at least $10.	Popular video uploading site for bloggers and social activists. Site also sells "high-end" sponsorships on certain top shows, which can involve the host or on-screen personality endorsing a product.
14. B-Side Entertainment Austin, TX 2005 http://www.bside.com/about/filmmakers/	Short films and features. Any film that has been accepted by at least one festival is eligible for distribution through B-Side.	B-Side sells both digital downloads without DRM and DVDs manufactured on-demand. (They can also sell pre-manufactured DVDs.) Revenue-sharing for DVDs and digital downloads are the same: a split down the middle, after the costs are subtracted. Costs are fixed at $3.95 for DVDs and 40 cents a gigabyte for downloads. Deals are non-exclusive, and can be terminated within 60 days.	Digital downloads are sold in two sizes: a smaller file size is intended for handheld devices like the iPod, and customers pay $2.99 for a feature; the larger file size can be burned onto a DVD or viewed on a TV set, and costs $7.99. Features include Four Eyed Monsters and Before the Music Dies, a documentary about the music industry.
15. Cruxy Brooklyn, NY 2005 https://www.cruxy.com/help/viewer.jsp?topic=Seller_FAQ	Any content, any length, in a wide variety of file formats.	Cruxy takes a small fee from each transaction: ten cents, plus 3 percent of the retail price. Plus, the site passes along PayPal fees, which are five cents and 5 percent of the retail price. Selling a video for $2 would bring in $1.69 for the producer. Site pays producers via PayPal.	Eclectic mix of content, including short films like The Skeleton in the Closet and robot dancing lessons. Interesting way to allow other sites to promote your video content using widgets.
Company / Location / Year Founded / URL	Subject Matter/ Length Restrictions	The Deal	Remarks
16. Dovetail.tv San Francisco, CA 2005 http://www.dovetail.tv/dovetail-news/ Dovetail-to-Pay-Indie-Filmmakers-for-Each-Download-22.html	Any "professionally-produced" content.	Producers can create their own channel, and upload content in HD or DVD format, without it being down-converted to lower quality. For each download, producer earns a dime. Producers must e-mail the company to establish a producer account first, which is free.	Viewing more than a short trailer entails downloading a piece of Dovetail viewer software (available for Mac or PC). Content selection includes short films that have been seen on the festival circuit, full-length docs like American Goth, and the ubiquitous "Rocketboom."
17. Lulu.TV Morrisville, NC 2006 https://www.lulu.tv/signup.php	Any content, up to 200 megabytes.	Producers upload videos, which generate revenue through Google's AdSense program, which places text ads on the page around the video. Lulu takes 80 percent of the ad revenue, and splits the rest among content producers, based on how much traffic they attract. One percent of the site's video views gives you one percent of the cash pool. Lulu says it paid out "nearly $50,000" in the last six months of 2006. See additional info below, under DVD-Burning Services.	Poorly-designed, and no critical mass of content yet.
18. Grapeflix Foster City, CA 2006 http://www.grapeflix.com/Index/frmWorkCost.aspx	Any content in any format. Site accepts DVDs, WMV files, QuickTime movies, etc.	Producers can offer original videos as a paid download and retain 80 to 85 percent of the revenue. But site charges a monthly hosting fee once files exceed a gigabyte (up to 50 gigabytes costs $1.49 per month), and when videos are purchased, there is also a one cent DRM fee, plus a transmission fee (39 cents per gigabyte.) For a 100-minute movie with a sale price of $4.99, a producer would keep $4.00. Site recently changed its payment policy, and will now transfer money into verified PayPal accounts or bank accounts.	Content is sparse, but Grapeflix offers the feature-length comedy Ocean Front Property, which played at several festivals in 2005, for online streaming ($0.29), rental ($5), or purchase ($10). "The Tribe," a short that played at Sundance in 2006, is also on the site: online streaming is $0.99 and purchase is $4.99.
19. Vuze Palo Alto, CA 2006 http://www.vuze.com/Publish.html	Any content, standard-def or high-def.	Only site on this list to support high-def content. Offers a download-to-own and download-to-rent option. Producer sets price. Revenue share is "never lower than 50/50," according to site representative, and can increase for producer "based on merit and popularity." Advertising program is also in the works.	Uses Azurerus' peer-to-peer content distribution platform. Content includes movie trailers, Showtime hits like "The L Word," Babar, and "Bikini Destinations." Indie movies priced at $2.99 to own, $1.99 to rent. TV shows priced at $1.99 to own. Distributes some content from IndieFlix.
20. Si-Mi Melbourne, Australia 2006 http://www.si-mi.com/Faq.aspx	Categories include "animation," "vblogs," "short film," and "music video." 700 megabyte file limit.	Paid downloads only. Producer can set price, above a certain minimum (usually about 5 cents.) Producers receive 90 percent of "net proceeds" via PayPal.	Content includes short films like "Dead Shift" (50 cents) and "Reverse Evolution" (30 cents) and what seems to be cell phone concert footage shot from the audience (a dime). Biggest-earning producer, as of January, had made $10.39 over the course of about a month.
21. HungryFlix Caldwell, NJ Launched in 2006, then shut down; relaunched January 2007 http://www.hungryflix.com/hungryFlix_works.php	Features, shorts, animation, how-to video, sports, music videos. 500 megabyte file limit. Content must be in MPEG4 format.	Site packages content for portable media players, like the iPod and PlayStation Portable.	Features like Ghoul School are priced at .99 or $1.99, claymation and animated shorts at .50 and .99. Docs include Allen Iverson: State of Grace, My Life My Story.

(A few more sites to consider: Wow TV, ToonBreak, Caachi, VuMe, Panjea, Have Money Will Vlog, and the SpyMac Network. Brandfame is a new service that will let you offer advertisers the ability to place products within your videos.)

> Other Sites Launching Soon?

These sites are ranked based on how likely I think they are to make a splash once they do launch (or once they introduce their service that allows any producer to earn money.) As with the list above, this ranking is completely subjective.

Company / URL	Notes
YouTube http://www.youtube.com	The big kahuna when it comes to viewers: about 35 percent of all video viewing online happens at YouTube, as of July 2007. YouTube announced in May 2007 that it would share advertising revenues with some of its content suppliers, hand-selected by the company. If you've already established a big audience on the site, though, you can fill out an info request form and hope that YouTube replies. No official word on the terms of the deal, but the buzz I heard about it was that the split is 50/50. A bit more info from YouTube's blog.
Apple's iTunes Store http://www.apple.com/itunes/	Some independent filmmakers have reported that Apple, which runs the iTunes Store, seems to be warming up to the idea of selling indie content alongside movies from Disney and Paramount, and TV shows from the major networks. (Indie producers can upload free video "podcasts" to iTunes, but can't charge for them.) iTunes started offering some short films selected by the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007, and also sells some films represented by Shorts Intl. In February 2007, the snowboarding movie "That" appeared on iTunes, priced at $1.99 per download. (The movie is about 30 minutes long, and the iTunes price is comparable to what iTunes charges for a TV show.)
Joost http://www.joost.com/	Much-hyped service from the founders of Skype and Kazaa. Viacom will distribute content through Joost, but there's no info on the site yet about whether indie producers are welcome, or what the terms will be.
Veoh Networks http://www.veoh.com/corporate/faq.html#publish10	Site touts the ability for producers to create their own branded channels (or collections of content.) Video is high-quality, even when viewed at full-screen, but viewers must download a Veoh client first. No limit to size/length of video.
Babelgum http://www.babelgum.com/contentowners/	Site still in beta, as of September 2007. Will share ad revenue, 50/50. From the site: "At the beginning we are backing you up by guaranteeing a minimum revenue of 5 USD for each 1000 unique views of a video. This minimum revenue is currently offered until the end of 2007."

> DVD Burning and DVD Merchandising Services

Producers with long-form videos (or a collection of clips that they want to sell together) may want to make their work available as a DVD. There are four options for making DVDs available "on demand"; this means that you don't have to order a certain number of DVDs, stash them in your garage, and fulfill orders yourself. I've also listed two services that will help you sell DVDs you've already manufactured.

Company / URL	Notes
CreateSpace (owned by Amazon.com; formerly CustomFlix) http://www.createspace.com/	Producers can sell their work on CreateSpace's own store, or on both CreateSpace and Amazon.com. (And why wouldn't you?) CreateSpace charges a $19.95/year storage fee, which is waived for as long as the work is made available on Amazon. Producer sets the price. If producer supplies an already-authored DVD, CreateSpace is offering free set-up through the end of 2006; otherwise, additional fees are involved. CreateSpace has a high-quality catalog, offering documentaries, the Westminster dog show, exercise videos, and the 1960s TV Western "Cimarron Strip." Producer gets 35 percent of the selling price for DVDs sold through Amazon.com; on CreateSpace, producer keeps 95 percent of revenue, less production costs. (Production costs start at $7.95 per disc, and drop as low as $4.95 if a DVD sells more than 50 copies per month.) Payments arrive every month via direct bank deposit; producers outside the US get paid via check. Discs ship to buyers within three days of when they are ordered. CreateSpace recently launched a digital download service in partnership with Amazon's Unbox (see additional info above.)
IndieFlix https://www.indieflix.com/ssl/Filmmaker/HowItWorks.aspx	Producers send IndieFlix a master of their movie (or collection of shorts), on any number of formats: DVD, BetaSP, NTSC tape, MiniDV, etc. If the producer hasn't already authored a DVD with menus, Indieflix will take care of that free of charge. Company sells full-length movies or compilations of shorts for $9.95, and producer gets 1/3 of each sale. (Individual shorts sell for $2.95.) Indieflix pays producers via PayPal or bank transfer each month, as long as they have earned at least $10 during that month. (For foreign filmmakers, this sum is $100.) Discs usually ship within one day, and arrive within 3-to-5 days by first class mail. IndieFlix says it has plans to launch a digital download service. Very little TV or instructional video content; more geared to indie features and shorts.
IndiePix http://www2.indiepix.net/info/submit	IndiePix requests a 1/2 inch VHS tape or DVD preview copy. IndiePix can also author and design DVDs. Site discusses retail pricing with filmmaker, and takes $2.95 per sale for a full-length movie, less for shorter films. Also, "You will have access to a secure page where you can check on the progress of your film's sales and see a `real time' accounting summary of your results." Site supports download-and-burn technology (aka "download to own.")
Lulu http://www.lulu.com/en/products/digital_media/	Producer can upload videos and cover art, and set the price. Lulu charges $6.50 to $7.50 to produce each DVD, based on quantity; 20 percent of any profit you collect on top of that goes to Lulu. For example, if the selling price was $17.50, and the disc cost $7.50 to produce, you would give Lulu $2 of the $10 profit, and keep $8. Producers can also choose to sell DVDs at cost. DVDs require a 3-to-5 day production time before they ship to buyers. Unlike CustomFlix and IndieFlix, Lulu does not make available trailers or previews of content. See additional info about Lulu above.
Film Baby http://www.joinfilmbaby.com/	Film Baby, like NeoFlix, will help you sell DVDs you've already made. Set-up fee of $39.99 per title, then $4 from the price of every DVD sold.
NeoFlix http://www.neoflix.com/services	NeoFlix is a service that will help you sell DVDs (or other products) that you already have manufactured: they essentially provide an online shopping cart, and then they fulfill your customers' orders. They charge a $238 set-up fee, a $25 per-month maintenance fee, and then 10 percent of the purchase price for each transaction.
B-Side Entertainment http://www.bside.com/about/filmmakers/	B-Side will either manufacture DVDs on demand, or sell DVDs that a filmmaker has already produced. See above for terms.