December 25, 2006
Volume 16, Issue 1
The DCIA Welcomes Babel Networks
Please warmly welcome Babel Networks Ltd. to the Operations Group. We look forward to providing valuable services to this newest DCIA Member and supporting its contributions to commercial development of the distributed computing industry.
Babel Networks is developing Babelgum, a next-generation Internet TV and video on demand (VOD) platform that blends the lean-back experience of traditional television with the interactive and social power of the Internet.
Babelgum will be freely available to broadband users, giving them access over the PC to professional video content paid for by advertising.
Babelgum is a leading example of the brand new P2PTV medium. The service uses peer-to-peer (P2P) technology to stream videos safely and efficiently at near-TV resolution.
Its built-in social networking and recommendation capabilities empower users to create their own personalized TV channels, share their opinions, and augment the core video viewing experience.
Without the usual capacity limits and regional restrictions of old television, Babelgum provides an effective platform for independent producers of high-quality video content to reach their audiences on a global scale. Content owners will be able to share revenues generated from innovative targeted advertising formats.
Founded in late 2005, Babel Networks is headquartered in Dublin with R&D and business development offices in London, Milan, and Nice. Babelgum is currently undergoing beta testing and will be publicly launched in the first quarter of 2007.
Babel Networks’ CEO Erik Lumer will be a principal speaker at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
RawFlow Demos Live P2PTV
DCIA Member RawFlow, a leading provider of live P2P streaming technologies for Internet broadcasts, will demonstrate its newest entry in the P2PTV category, SelfCast, at an invitation-only workshop and product demonstration held in conjunction with the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
SelfCast offers a unique solution for the distribution of user-generated content (UGC). Attendees at RawFlow’s P2PTV workshop, taking place in New York on Monday afternoon February 5th, will enjoy an exclusive preview of this revolutionary live publishing tool.
The Internet is rapidly becoming a significant delivery platform for media content, and RawFlow predicts that 2007 will be the year of live P2PTV.
RawFlow CEO & Founder Mikkel Dissing said, "It is time that people open their eyes to what Web 2.0 will mean for content owners and ISPs. When TV streaming becomes as popular as standard TV, the entire Internet will be threatened. The only way to handle this new rich media demand is via a distributed approach such as P2P".
RawFlow VP of Business Development Ian Franklyn added, "We’re hosting our P2PTV product demonstration to raise awareness of the challenges related to Internet TV and to demonstrate how P2P can help solve them. We’re proud to be able to introduce new P2P-streaming-based opportunities for community portals with our user-generated broadcast tool, SelfCast".
SelfCast can be built into and customized for any social community site. It enables live broadcasting of video and audio. "There’s more to Internet broadcasting than podcasts and short clips on YouTube. We want people to be able to interact live and, because SelfCast is P2P-based, the bandwidth costs are minimal," Mikkel Dissing concluded.
RawFlow will be represented by a featured speaker at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY. Delegates wishing to attend RawFlow’s P2PTV workshop should contact p2psummitny@rawflow.com.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 Online registration for the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY can now be accessed here.
Delegates who register by January 5th for the full Conference & Exposition, which includes Digital Hollywood’s Media Summit New York (MSNY), will save $300 versus standard rates.
Several P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY speakers will discuss their contributions to P2PTV and assess the potential of this exploding new medium.
According to Strategy Analytics, 2007 will be remembered as the year in which online distribution of prerecorded video finally becomes a real business. "Just like with music, online delivery of video content is now emerging as a viable and increasingly important distribution channel for content owners."
For example, Les Ottolenghi, CEO & Co-Founder of INTENT MediaWorks, will discuss INTENT’s unique approach to distributing licensed video content through open P2P networks, web-based file-sharing services, websites, e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, and RSS.
INTENT’s P2PTV solution enables rights holders to distribute their film and television programs to all networked devices in one full sweep, whether a PC, TV, handheld computer, or media player - if potential viewers are using technology that has access to the Internet, they have access to the media.
INTENT allows producers to monetize their TV shows and motion pictures with commercials, via pay-per-play, pay-per-view, pay-for-permanent-ownership, or by using subscription-based business models. It also supports multimedia-based previews and marketing clips.
With INTENT P2PTV, file-trading and social networking functionality are supported with an interface that can be visually branded for each property, virtual TV channel, online theater, or studio source.
Audiences can be developed as a public website or a private "members only" application, enabling viewers to come together, trade rights-managed files, and create contagious buzz about participating media.
According to eMarketer, more than one-third of the total US population ages 3 and older already view video on the Internet at least monthly, and in three years more than half of all Americans will be part of the online video audience.
Kevin Bermeister, CEO of Altnet, a leading online distributor of licensed digital content into P2P applications, will discuss Altnet’s newest offering, the Global File Registry (GFR), which provides a centralized database containing the unique identifiers of millions of copyrighted files collated on behalf of multiple content owners.
In the rapidly expanding P2PTV marketplace, protecting content rights holders, software distributors, and viewers from copyright infringement will become even more important and valuable than it has been to date.
GFR’s unique identifiers include file-hash, URL, Content Management System ID, or other means of uniquely identifying a particular data item on any of the network types it supports.
A web services interface allows content owners to batch-register ownership of thousands of unique identifiers. Studios, broadcasters, and producers can either use this interface themselves, or contract with third-party companies – including providers of audio and video fingerprinting services – to input unique identifiers into the GFR database on their behalf.
In addition to taking down video files that infringe copyrights, GFR supports substitution of licensed versions of the video content represented by such files, protected and monetized using the appropriate digital rights management (DRM) solution selected by the rights holder.
According to "The Video Store Goes Virtual: The Global Outlook for Online Video Sales" report from Strategy Analytics, online sales of television shows, movies, and other prerecorded video products will become a billion-dollar business in 2007.
Chip Venters, CEO of Digital Containers, will lead the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY live demonstration of a P2PTV super-distribution ecosystem. His most recent white paper, "The Impact of Secure Distributed Content Networks on Video on Demand and P2P Network Business Models" is available here.
Digital Containers has patented symmetric key/token-based security technologies for use in DRM, P2P application development, e-commerce, and privacy compliance applications, all critical to P2PTV implementation. Its systems are an important alternative to public key infrastructure (PKI) because they are much simpler, less expensive to build and maintain, and more secure.
A "digital container" is an intelligent software package that provides an all-in-one security, management, and e-commerce system for video content files of any type and size as they travel over the Internet.
These containers "wrap" the files in a secure digital shell that can only be opened with a "key" that can be as simple as a password, as unique as a fingerprint, or used in conjunction with a patented authorization process in which the container "talks" to remote authorization authorities.
Digital Containers include the following self-contained features to create a persistent and comprehensive DRM system: file protection/encryption, tracking, authentication, and e-commerce system.
Although video-download sales made through iTunes and other online sources will total just $298 million this year, Strategy Analytics predicts that by the end of 2007 the online video market will grow to $1.5 billion.
By 2010, global revenues from online video sales, rentals, and subscriptions will reach $5.9 billion. Over 80% of Internet users will watch video regularly. There will be 157 million US Internet video users.
Although pay-to-own downloads account for most online video revenues today, other payment models will emerge. By 2010, Strategy Analytics projects that rentals and subscription-based services will account for one-quarter of annual online video sales to consumers.
For more on this subject, please read eMarketer’s recently released Internet Video Audience report. Share wisely, and take care.
Pando & Skype Partner on P2PTV
DCIA Members Pando Networks, a P2P file-sharing technology developer, and Skype, the global Internet communications company, have partnered in the new Skype 3.0. With the new Pando Extra, Skype users not only have enhanced file and folder transfer functionality but also the ability to subscribe to video RSS feeds from directly within Skype.
With the Pando Extra, Skype users can transfer large video files and entire folders (up to 1GB) to Skype contacts and/or any e-mail address, send to and receive from offline contacts or contacts away from their computers, enjoy super-fast, reliable and firewall-friendly file transfers with full auto-resume support, send multiple files to multiple recipients simultaneously, post files (e.g. videos, photos, etc) to any website, blog, or social network, and subscribe to high quality media RSS feeds.
Using Pando’s BitTorrent-based, patent-pending P2P technology, Skype users will now be able to send high-quality digital video or images via Skype IM.
"Pando and Skype users told us they wanted to use Pando with their Skype contacts. We listened," said Pando CEO Robert Levitan. "By combining the power of Skype’s VoIP with Pando’s P2PTV solution, Skype users can now share high-quality video easier than ever, creating a richer, more meaningful online media experience."
"Extras Manager is a new feature for Skype 3.0 which allows end users to do more with Skype," said Skype Director of Developer Programs Paul Amery. "For some time now we have been working to enable Skype as a distribution platform for third party add-ons and applications."
"Applications such as Pando are important in generating new usage and new users for Skype and software partners. We are really interested to see how users take advantage of this feature."
In addition to the new collaboration with Skype, Pando Networks has previously partnered with Yahoo on the Yahoo Messenger Plug-in and, without collaboration, solved e-mail attachment limit problems for users of Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Outlook, and AOL Mail.
Pando Networks CEO Robert Levitan and CTO Laird Popkin will present a special live demonstration of Pando’s newest offerings at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
P2PTV Venice Project Impressions
Excerpted from Broadband Reports
Om Malik takes a look at the Venice Project, a new P2PTV system being developed by DCIA Member Skype creators Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom. The service just launched a 6, 000 user trial, and the report gives some general functionality and aesthetic impressions.
So far, so good: Malik gives the service high marks for a simple install, "stunning & crisp" visuals and good social interaction potential.
The service, of course, will depend largely on what content deals are struck with major content developers.
VeriSign Launches ICDN, Supports P2PTV
Excerpted from Broadcast Newsroom Report by Todd Spangler
Internet infrastructure company and DCIA Member VeriSign will expand its content-distribution offerings with the launch of VeriSign Intelligent Content Delivery Network (ICDN), going after the likes of Akamai Technologies and Limelight Networks.
The service, to be generally available in January, will combine the P2P file-distribution features of Kontiki – which VeriSign acquired this year – with conventional web-based file downloads and streaming media.
The new service offering will be able to support "millions of users," said Todd Johnson, Vice President of Broadband Services for VeriSign, previously CEO of Kontiki. He said the company operates more than 20 data centers around the world.
"This allows us to leverage the very significant footprint that VeriSign has globally on the Internet," he said.
One of the first customers for the VeriSign ICDN is Axiom TV, which next year expects to launch a P2PTV movie-download service geared around family-friendly films.
VeriSign’s pricing model will be "similar to typical CDNs," Johnson said, with separate fees for storage and direct bandwidth.
The difference, he added, is that VeriSign can offer lower pricing on the P2P bandwidth option: For content distributed via the Kontiki P2PTV software, the cost per bit transferred is about 40% less than direct bandwidth, Johnson said.
DCINFO Editor’s Note: VeriSign Vice President of Broadband Services Todd Johson will deliver a keynote address at the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
BBC Moves into P2PTV
Excerpted from BBC News Report
Hundreds of episodes of BBC programs will be made available on a file-sharing network. The move follows a deal between BBC Worldwide and technology firm Azureus. The agreement means that users of Zudeo software in the US can download titles such as "Little Britain."
Beth Clearfield, Vice President of Program Management and Digital Media at BBC Worldwide, said that the agreement was part of a drive to reach the largest audience possible. "We are very excited to make our content available through this revolutionary distribution model," she said.
Azureus is best known for developing a BitTorrent client, or program, that allows large media files to be easily shared over the Internet. The program has been downloaded more than 130 million times. Earlier this month the company launched a video sharing site similar to YouTube, codenamed Zudeo. The site allows users to upload and view content.
However, in contrast to most video-sharing sites, Zudeo offers high definition videos. Users must also download a program to access and upload content.
The new deal means that users of the software will be able to download high-quality versions of BBC programs, including "Red Dwarf" and "Doctor Who." Classic series such as "Fawlty Towers" will also be available through a BBC "channel."
The titles will be protected by DRM software to prevent the programs from being traded without authorization on the Internet. Users will also be able to link to programs from blogs, social networks, and fan sites.
BitTorrent, the company behind the original file-sharing software of the same name, has recently signed a number of deals with content providers, such as Twentieth Century Fox.
Earlier this year, DCIA Member Sharman Networks, the owner of Kazaa, did similar deals. Kazaa uses advertising to provide content for free.
P2PTV Ready to Explode
Excerpted from Digital Media Wire Report
Many more Americans are already using file-sharing services to download video than are obtaining video content from online stores, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group.
While 2% of US online households (1.2 million) surveyed in the third quarter reported having paid to download video off the Internet, 8% (6 million households) downloaded at least one video file (10MB or larger) from a P2P service for free.
Nearly 60% of video downloaded from file-sharing networks was adult content. Another 20% was TV shows, and 5% was mainstream movie content.
"While video P2P downloading is less pervasive right now than for music, it is a crucial issue for the film industry to keep track of," said NPD Group senior analyst Russ Crupnick.
"Even though right now the majority of downloaded video content is adult-film content, the amount of intellectual property downloaded from mainstream movie studios, networks, and record labels will continue to rise."
Among online video retailers, Apple's iTunes Store accounted for 9 out of 10 paid downloads, followed by Vongo (5%), Movielink (3%), and CinemaNow (<1%).
Sixty-two percent of paid downloads were TV shows, while 24% were music videos and 6% mainstream movie content. "Paid usage could double or triple within the next year as more content comes online, consumers acquire more video-enabled players, and movies are offered that consumers can actually burn to DVD," Crupnick added.
Abacast Next Gen AIS Released
DCIA Member Abacast, an industry leader in creating unique and effective streaming technologies, has released the next generation in its streaming ad injection technology, AIS 2.0, for injecting content (ads, music, PSAs, station IDs, etc.) into live streaming media to replace content (ads, syndicated programs, licensed sports programming, etc.) that cannot be played online.
This patent pending technology is the key to enabling terrestrial radio stations to stream their broadcasts online profitably and alleviating AFTRA-related concerns.
Abacast’s Injection System 2.0 (AIS 2.0) allows broadcasters to easily switch their streams from over-the-air (terrestrial) content to online-only content as they choose. The switching can be done manually or be completely automated by triggers that are sent from all standard radio playout systems. Most often this is required during over-the-air ad breaks in which the over-the-air ads can not be played online.
The AIS system allows the broadcaster to fill these breaks online with completely different ad inventory, thereby increasing stations’ revenues. Or, by filling the breaks with other types of content like music, PSAs, or station IDs, if the online ad inventory has not yet been sold. The online ad sales packages can easily be customized to meet any ad buyer’s needs. Abacast also works with stations educating them about the increased features of online ad sales like synchronized banner ads, direct call-to-action discounts, combined audio/web campaigns, and more.
AIS 2.0 is different from any technology in the marketplace. First, AIS has a patent pending buffering feature that allows the replaced content to not have to be of the same duration as the time gap being filled. This feature allows broadcasters unprecedented flexibility and control over their streaming content while keeping their streams skip and break free.
Second, AIS 2.0 works with AdSync, synchronizing banner or tile advertisements with the injected ads or content, allowing for direct call-to-action campaigns.
Finally, Abacast’s AIS 2.0 has a new interface making it easier to schedule and monitor all of the online content that can be injected. The new management system also allows the injected content for numerous stations with encoders in many different locations to be completely or partially controlled by a central interface making sharing inventory between local and "network wide" ad campaigns easy. Injected ads can also be pulled from external locations making reselling of ad inventory straightforward.
Adding AIS 2.0 to Abacast’s current product offering, including its patented, distributed streaming technology, creates a powerful combination enabling broadcasters to capitalize on solid, profitable business models for their streaming initiatives.
Abacast CEO Michael King will be a principal speaker at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
DWA Proposes MP3-Based Solutions
Excerpted from Digital Music News Report
Slowly, the industry is experimenting with MP3-based downloads, a step that foregoes security but greatly increases consumer flexibility. That has drawn opinions and input from a number of sectors, including the Digital Watermarking Alliance (DWA). The group recently noted that watermarking technology can enhance MP3-based sales by layering content tracking and extra features.
"The music industry has had a long and successful track record using digital watermarking for forensic tracking of pre-release and promotional content," said Reed Stager, head of the alliance. "It’s an opportune time to apply this proven technology to consumer-facing applications as a means to identify and better manage the distribution of digital music files."
The use of pre-release watermarking has been an effective method for identifying the source of a leak, though one expert questions whether the technology makes sense in the larger consumer arena. "The terrain is just so broad that it becomes difficult to track an individual needle in the haystack," the source said.
Regardless, the identifying technology can be used to access enhanced content and features, while also offering more data on user behavior. That steers clear of DRM, a sticking point among many consumers, and less intrusive technologies will probably face less resistance.
Other services, including those supplied by AMG and Gracenote, also offer track identification and subsequent buying opportunities. Looking ahead, labels may become more amenable to layering enhanced content into open, MP3 files if early sales experiments show strong results.
DCINFO Editor’s Note: DWA Representatives Rob Schumann, President & CEO of Cinea, and Tony Rodriguez, Chief Technologist of Digimarc Corporation, will be featured speakers at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
Clickshare Music 2.0 Proposal
Josh Bernoff, a key music-industry analyst at Forrester Research is saying the music industry might within about two years realize it should abandon digital encryption and sell all music downloads in a standard open MP3 format. The reason – in order to allow sales of digital downloads at tons of websites, besides just iTunes, as well as via P2P applications and social networks.
This is precisely the strategy that DCIA Member Clickshare has advocated for some time now: make it easy to do the right thing instead of hard to do the wrong thing, and the volume will be much greater.
The notion of thousands of online destinations selling music downloads implies a need for a distributed user management system like Clickshare, where a consumer can have one account at a single home-base and purchase digital content from any independent reseller that is part of the network.
Bernoff said in a recent interview: "While CD sales have dropped by over $2 billion, less than half of that is made up by iTunes sales. There is the possibility that by removing the protections you could have a whole lot of stores all competing to sell songs on iPods, whereas right now with the digital-rights protected music, only Apple is able to sell music that can go onto iPods."
"I think there is very little risk in selling unprotected music, whereas the rewards to the music industry would be to get them out from under Apple’s thumb to have more stores selling this and to potentially attract more consumers who are not as willing to buy music when they have to live with the restrictions that the digital-rights protections include."
Since the introduction of the iTunes Music Store, Apple has been steadily selling an average of just 20 iTunes tracks for each iPod sold, suggesting that at $0.99, most consumers aren’t sold on the value of digital music.
It’s time to launch the notion of Clickshare as a universal user management system for digital content. Please click here for Bernoff’s interview.
New Apple P2P Patent
Excerpted from MacNN Report
Apple filed for one new patent and one continuation patent, with the new application describing P2P N-way synchronization between devices that include a PDA and a cellular phone.
The US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple’s patent application titled "Apparatus and method for peer-to-peer N-way synchronization in a decentralized environment," which relates to an apparatus and method for synchronizing data between a plurality of P2P devices in a decentralized environment where no one device stores the most "recent" or "true" version of the data.
Apple states that most of the illustrations discussed in the patent "relate to PIM data and the synchronization of same, whether or not associated with specific applications." The new patent, which was originally filed in 2005, offers photos which include a laptop, PDA, cellular handset, home computer, and work computer all communicating with P2P technology.
Apple’s continuation patent is titled "Resolution Independent User Interface Design," relating to a means for specifying a graphical user interface object in a procedural and largely display resolution-independent manner.
Coming Events of Interest
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2007 International CES – January 8th–11th in Las Vegas, NV. With four decades of history, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) reaches across global markets, connects the industry and enables CE innovations to grow and thrive. The DCIA will moderate the "Next Generation P2P" panel on Wednesday January 10th, featuring DCIA Member executive Les Ottolenghi, Co-Founder & CEO, INTENT MediaWorks.
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P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY – February 6th–8th in New York, NY. The Winter DCIA Conference & Exposition will cover policy, marketing, and technology issues affecting commercial development of this emerging high-growth industry. Exhibits and demonstrations will feature industry-leading products and services, including the newest phenomenon, P2PTV. For sponsor packages and speaker information, please contact Karen Kaplowitz at 888-890-4240 or karen@dcia.info. Plan now to attend.
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Media Summit New York (MSNY) – February 7th–8th in New York, NY. Digital Hollywood’s premier international conference on motion pictures, television, cable & satellite, broadband, wireless, publishing, radio, magazines, news & print media, advertising and marketing. Your registration for the full P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY Conference & Exposition includes this event as well.
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CONSUMER 2.0: Meeting the Demands of the Connected Consumer - February 21st-22nd in Toronto, Canada. The era of mass media is giving way to one of personal and participatory media. People no longer passively consume media but actively participate, which usually means creating content, in whatever form and on whatever scale. To remain relevant, advertisers and the media need to tap into this energy for innovation and communication by integrating the social media with their marketing mix.
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