When you think of Peer-to-Peer services involving software most conjure up images of nefarious programs and services that are on the fringe of allowing consumers to freely swap legally questionable material like games, movies and music. SwitchDiscs.com is not THAT kind of peer-to-peer service. The new service is a portal where consumers can sign up and legally trade games and entertainment. Recently we had the opportunity to grill the CEO of SwitchDisc, Chris Samarin, about how the service works and how they keep it safe and legal for consumers. Check it out below:

GameShark: Define for us what SwitchDiscs.com does for its users.

SwitchDiscs.com provides a safe and free website where members can trade their old/unused DVDs, CDs and Video Games to get the ones they want. SwitchDiscs offers the added protection that every switch is guaranteed so that if a member doesn't receive the disc they requested, receives a broken disc, counterfeit disc, unplayable disc or the wrong disc we will credit their account the appropriate amount of trade credits so they can request something else. SwitchDiscs also offers a social networking feature via the free member profiles. This helps switchers with similar interests meet, socialize and trade.

GameShark: Who came up with the concept for this site and what was your reasoning behind creating such a resource?

I came up with the concept for the site basically by pulling the concepts from other sites like eBay, Netflix and Facebook and meshing them together to provide the best of all three for free. The main reasoning behind creating SwitchDiscs is that like most people I lend out and trade my discs with friends and family all the time but the selection is limited to that small group of people. So why not create a website so you can trade with anyone in the United States? I liked the basic concepts of eBay, Netflix and Facebook and used my knowledge of those sites to create a fresh concept that would involve free trading of media items like DVDs, CDs and Video Games. Nothing brings people together more then movies, music and games so the "social networking" piece just makes sense.

GameShark: How does it work and how do you guys make money if there's no fee for trading?

Members trade the discs they have to other members in return for SwitchBucs. They then use those SwitchBucs to request the discs they want from other members.

SwitchDiscs will generate revenue by selling advertising space on the site. We also have an affiliation with Amazon so members can buy discs brand new through our site and we will receive a commission for each sale. Members can also buy SwitchBucs from us if they don't have any discs to trade but the revenue from that will go to us buying new discs and plugging them into the network.

GameShark: How do you keep the service from spiraling into illegal trading of media? What are some of the security measures you use to insure that traders aren't trading illegally copied materials?

On our Terms of Use and About Us pages we state clearly that members cannot trade illegal media and if they are caught doing so their account will be terminated. If a member ever receives an illegal disc they are instructed to report a claim to SwitchDiscs and send the illegal disc directly to us. That member is refunded and the members account that sent the illegal disc is documented. If a member is reported sending illegal discs multiple times their account will be terminated.

GameShark: How do you ensure that members trade honestly - i.e. actually send the materials to each other?

We offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee so if a member receives a broken, unplayable, scratched, wrong, counterfeit or no disc at all they can submit a claim to SwitchDiscs and receive a full refund. If a member is repeatedly involved in sending bad discs or is repeatedly involved in making false disc claims then their account will be terminated. There are many factors involved so each account would be reviewed thoroughly before termination.

GameShark: Tell us more about SwitchBucs. How do you use them and what are they good for?

SwitchBucs are the internal currency we use to keep the switching experience safe and fast. One SwitchBuc holds a value of $1. So a disc that is worth $15 would cost 15 SwitchBucs on the network. SwitchBucs are basically what keeps SwitchDiscs free because members accumulate SwitchBucs by sending discs out and then "buy" the discs they want by just using those same SwitchBucs. They also keep the network safe because no "real" money is involved in any of the trades.

By using SwitchBucs you don't have to find a perfect match to make a switch. For example...Steve requests "Wedding Crashers" from Matt and in return Matt gets 15 "SwitchBucs" from Steve. Matt wants "DodgeBall" so he takes his 15 "SwitchBucs" and requests it from Brian. By using SwitchBucs we have created a complete multi-peer trading network.

GameShark: What resources do users have to lodge a complaint against another user?

Members can contact SwitchDiscs Support at anytime and file a complaint about a switch, another user or anything else for that matter. They can use the "Contact Form" located on the "Contact Us" page. We have plans to offer simple click and send options for "Disc Claims" so members can simply click on a specific switch and report a claim by just checking off what was wrong and click send. A case would then be created and SwitchDiscs Support would take from there.

GameShark: Do you plan on expanding the kinds of items you can switch in the future to include other media types or platforms?

The only other media item we plan on adding is books. We are mainly focused on making the current trading platform the best it can be. It could eventually evolve into other things but we feel if we stay focused on the current platforms we can better develop the trading process to make it the best it can be for our members.

GameShark: How has the response been to the service? How much has your user base grown since the service's launch?

The response has been fantastic. We've done little to no marketing and have already had over 1,000 members signups since going live in February 2006. So most of the marketing has been word of mouth by our members who can't get enough.