January 29, 2007
Volume 16, Issue 6
INTENT MediaWorks: Koch, Cohen & Cannes
DCIA Member INTENT MediaWorks, a leading provider of technology for the distribution of licensed digital media, has reached an agreement with North America’s largest independent record company, KOCH Entertainment, to release its entire catalog of music and videos across peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and the Internet.
INTENT’s digital platform will make KOCH’s extensive inventory available to the millions of people using open P2P applications. Additionally, KOCH Entertainment files packaged by INTENT will be syndicated to websites, social networks, and blogs.
"INTENT makes it possible for KOCH to connect with music and video consumers on their terms," said Michael Koch, CEO of KOCH Entertainment. "Over the past two decades, we have developed, acquired, and produced a vast library of recorded music and video. INTENT will be instrumental in helping us harness the viral nature of the Internet to spread and monetize our entertainment resources."
In other news, Ted Cohen, Managing Partner at TAG Strategic, has joined INTENT MediaWorks’ Board of Advisors. Cohen, a 30 year entertainment industry veteran, was a pioneer in digital business development at EMI Music and instrumental in crafting the licensing agreements upon which the Rhapsody subscription service and iTunes Music Store were built.
"Before the digital revolution, content providers were in charge of the consumer experience. Now, the distribution model has changed to an on-demand world operating on multiple platforms," said Cohen.
"Those that embrace the future will be the ones that prosper. INTENT’s unique ability to distribute and track music, video, and advertising over the spectrum of Internet channels opens up an array of opportunities for artists and companies that want to succeed in the emerging entertainment world."
Meanwhile at MidemNet in Cannes, INTENT MediaWorks’ CEO & Co-Founder Les Ottolenghi spoke on the subject of Sounds Like Free – Ad-Supported Music. Ottolenghi highlighted the transformation in online behavior of young people during the past three years. INTENT has perfected its techniques for the profitable distribution of ad-supported music through P2P as this has occurred.
He cited the company’s growth from 1,000 to 1.1 million files served daily at the same time that INTENT has improved its take rate for ad-supported P2P content from 9% to 85%. As a result, the percentage of revenue derived from ad-supported content versus paid downloads and other sources has increased ten-fold from 2% to 20%.
INTENT MediaWorks’ Chairman Gregg Freishtat will deliver a keynote address at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
QTRAX Licenses V2 Music, Appoints Nibley
DCIA Member V2 Music, a leading independent record label that is home to such artists as The Stereophonics, Little Man Tate, and Paul Weller; and fellow Member Brilliant Technologies have entered a global agreement to make the V2 catalog available for distribution via Brilliant’s QTRAX ad-supported P2P music service, offering music fans free access to high-fidelity digital music files.
Beth Appleton, Head of New Media and Business Development for V2, remarked, "V2 acknowledges the power of P2P technology and embraces business models that legitimize sharing music in ways that build revenues for artists and labels."
"The QTRAX service will provide the V2 stable of artists with a tremendous new outlet for connecting with fans, and we are excited to be working with the QTRAX team as they gear up for launch."
"V2 is a critical piece of our global licensing strategy," said Allan Klepfisz, Brilliant’s Chairman & CEO. "The music industry is in an undeniable shift in focus from traditional commercial exploitation models to business models that promise dynamic new income streams."
Separately, Brilliant named industry authority Andrew Nibley to lead the company’s newly-formed QTRAX Advisory Board. Nibley’s broad expertise in advertising, music, media, and the Internet is an ideal match for QTRAX.
Currently Chairman & CEO of Marsteller, the advertising, interactive, and promotions arm of Burson-Marsteller, Nibley previously served as CEO of GetMusic, the online music and media company backed by BMG and Universal Music Group, and as President of Reuters New Media.
"Brilliant Technologies is providing me with a rare opportunity to help shape a product that I believe will revolutionize the way music is consumed while helping to spur record company revenue," said Nibley.
QTRAX is the recognized leader in the ad-supported digital music arena and, in addition to V2, boasts music from major record labels and music publishers including EMI Music, Warner Music Group, Sony/ATV Publishing, and Universal Music Publishing, as well as independents including TVT and the hundreds of labels represented by The Orchard.
Brilliant Technologies’ Chairman & CEO Allan Klepfisz will deliver a keynote address at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 There are just a few days left to take advantage of pre-registration rates for the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY, which takes place next Tuesday, February 6th, at the Princeton Club of New York and save up to $200.
Please click here to register now.
The P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY is the only conference to focus totally on the phenomena of P2P, social networking, user-generated content (UGC), and the revolutionary advancement of P2PTV.
P2PTV refers to video distribution on the Internet using P2P technologies. Many DCIA Members now offer solutions to help content rights holders, ISPs, client applications, and other participants in this rapidly emerging distribution channel, accomplish this at astonishingly low costs and with astoundingly high quality of service (QoS).
The DCIA has reserved rooms for P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY attendees at the brand new Holiday Inn Express Fifth Avenue at a very special rate of $189 per night including breakfast, Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs with 150 channels, and 9 movie choices. Please call 888-643-4664.
Keynotes include Altnet’s Kevin Bermeister, damaka’s Siva Ravikumar, iMesh’s Robert Summer, INTENT MediaWorks’ Gregg Freishtat, Raketu’s Greg Parker, QTRAX’s Allan Klepfisz, and VeriSign’s Todd Johnson. Next New Networks’ Fred Seibert and FTI Consulting’s Bruce Benson will be our luncheon speakers.
A special highlight of the summit will be its live P2PTV workshop. Digital Containers’ CEO Chip Venters will conduct a demonstration of a P2P super-distribution ecosystem. Pando Networks’ CEO Robert Levitan and CTO Laird Popkin will conduct a live demonstration of its latest BitTorrent-based offerings.
The Content Distribution panel features Babel Networks’ Erik Lumer, CyberSky-TV’s Guido Ciburski, Jun Group’s Mitchell Reichgut, and Media Pass Network’s Daniel Harris, and will address the perspective of artists and rights holders – P2P for content creators.
The Solutions Development panel features Cinea’s Rob Schumann, Media Global Intertainment’s Steve Rimland, PeerApp’s Frank Childs, and RawFlow’s Ian Franklyn, and will address advancement – creating the commercial P2P ecosystem.
The Support Services panel features BUYDRM’s Christopher Levy, Friend Media Technology Systems’ (FMTS) Jonathan Friend, Keystone Tech Group’s Limor Schafman, and P2P Cash’s Tom Meredith, and will address accountability – tracking transactions and paying the players.
The Policy Track features Alston & Bird’s Aydin Caginalp, Dreier’s Josh Wattles, MasurLaw’s Steve Masur, the MPAA’s Fritz Attaway, and Oversi’s Dr. Nimrod Kozlovski, and will address the post MGM v. Grokster world – new rules for P2P.
The Technology Track features Abacast’s Michael King, CacheLogic’s Andrew Parker, Digimarc’s Tony Rodriguez, and Javien’s Leslie Poole, and will address P2P file sharing – the evolving distribution chain.
The Marketing Track features KlikVU’s Lowell Feuer, Polytechnic University’s Keith Ross, SafeNet’s John Desmond, and Ultramercial’s Dana Jones, and will address P2P business models – what’s working and what’s not.
All attendees will also receive a copy of the new P2P Digital Watermark Working Group (PDWG) white paper, now being completed with the participation of the Digital Watermarking Alliance (DWA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
Live showcase entertainers for the post-conference networking cocktail reception include Kirsten DeHaan, the "Internet’s First Rock Star" Scooter Scudieri, and Al Smith.
FTI Consulting is the summit’s luncheon sponsor; and INTENT MediaWorks, Digital Containers, Javien Digital Payment Solutions, and BUYDRM are event sponsors.
Registration can be done at www.dcia.info/P2PMSNY2007/register.html or by calling 410-476-7965. For sponsor packages and speaker information, please contact Karen Kaplowitz, DCIA Member Services, at 888-890-4240 or karen@dcia.info. Share wisely, and take care.
Zoom in on VeriSign
Excerpted from TheStreet.com Report by Kevin Kelleher
The television will be revolutionized. That much we know. We just don’t know who will start the revolution – or when.
We’re not talking blood-in-the-streets revolution, but more of a dinner-party one, in which someone comes up with a downloadable movie that’s as visually appealing as television but as interactive as the web. It means fast and cheap technology that will almost certainly employ some highly efficient P2P software.
Progress is coming in fits and starts. This month, Netflix rolled out its "Watch Now" feature, giving select subscribers the ability to stream movies on their PCs for free.
Netflix’s service, limited to 1,000 movies, is being rolled out to 250,000 subscribers a week, probably so Netflix can see how – and whether – customers use it. It could prove an end-run around postal fees if enough subscribers take to it, but for the next quarter or two it’s likely to eat into operating profit if it means fewer rentals.
Just as noteworthy a development is coming from Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, the creators of file-sharing legend Kazaa and VoIP program Skype, both of which are DCIA Member companies.
That service, titled Joost and created under the auspices of an entity called The Venice Project, allows for speedy downloads of images that will look good on a large-screen TV, let alone a standard-issue PC monitor. It’s interactive like YouTube, only with much better resolution.
And sure, Joost may be just the revolution everyone has been waiting for, but until it wins a large and loyal following, it will have to stand in line with Netflix and all the other would-be revolutionaries: BitTorrent, Amazon’s Unbox, the studio-sanctioned MovieLink, Apple’s iTunes, and whatever Google is planning through its ownership of YouTube.
Joost’s weak point right now is an absence of partnerships with film and TV production studios, which have been less keen on using the fastest, slickest technology than on making sure consumers watch their programs exactly when and how the studios instruct. So far, MovieLink, Amazon, Apple, and even BitTorrent have gained ground with studio partnerships.
But there’s another piece of the equation that could make a big difference in determining who wins share in the Internet-video market: people need software on their PCs to let them download movies there, so the company with the most widely distributed software program will have a key advantage.
This is no small matter. YouTube leapt past longtime stalwarts such as RealNetworks’ RealPlayer partly because users didn’t need to install a special program to watch videos. YouTube relied on Adobe’s Flash technology, which was already installed on most PCs.
And that brings us to the third piece of online-video news this month – the least noticed but potentially the most important. Adobe hasn’t yet monetized the ubiquitous role its Flash technology plays in video sites such as YouTube, but that may change with a deal it signed to integrate Flash with a P2P software program owned by DCIA Member VeriSign.
That’s right – VeriSign. Not Apple or Amazon, but security software company VeriSign, which last March paid $62 million for a P2P start-up called Kontiki that was backed by Benchmark Capital, ex-Netscape founders, and Adobe. The announcement said only that Adobe and VeriSign would reveal the fruits of their collaboration later this year.
But consider: suppose the next update of Flash, which is installed on 700 million devices, included Kontiki’s P2P software. Then, just possibly, those 700 million PCs and mobile devices could at a click download movies and TV shows with YouTube-like ease but with DVD-quality images.
I say "just possibly" because VeriSign has to deal with the other barriers – security, bandwidth hogging, and studio licensing. But think about what it means if they pull it off: For $62 million, VeriSign bought itself a high-resolution YouTube (which was sold to Google for 26 times as much.)
Robert Scoble, tech evangelist and former Microsoftie, raved on his blog about Kontiki’s clarity and speed. "It really rocks," he wrote in a post he titled "Netflix is Dead."
"The quality wasn’t distinguishable from the HD-DVD’s I get from Netflix," he wrote. "Why would any of us go into a Blockbuster in the future, or wait two days for a DVD to show up from Netflix?"
VeriSign has been quietly rolling out Kontiki through partners such as Time Warner’s AOL, the BBC, and SkyTV. A trial allowing all of the BBC’s content to be downloaded won praise but also brought the usual complaints about overly restrictive digital rights management (DRM) software and harsh limits on how and when the content could be viewed.
More than anything, those issues will stave off the long-promised revolution of Internet TV. But if they’re resolved this year and that revolution does happen, VeriSign might be the dark-horse candidate that could end up reigning in the new regime.
VeriSign CMO Todd Johnson will deliver a keynote address at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
PeerApp Enhances Ultraband 2000 for P2PTV
DCIA Member PeerApp, a pioneer in creating carrier-grade P2P solutions that allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to cut bandwidth requirements by caching huge video files, has enhanced its UltraBand 2000 to also accommodate P2P video streaming known as P2PTV protocols.
"Our newly introduced technology adds video streaming and improves the customer experience enabling ISPs to offer profitable value-added services in the face of surging broadband-delivered video," said Frank Childs, Vice President of Business Development for PeerApp.
P2PTV protocols overwhelm ISP infrastructure by creating flash crowd behavior during significant broadcast events, such as popular sporting events, musical concerts, major political announcements, and hot news events. As a result, bandwidth consumption soars almost instantly – from relatively low levels to gigabits of P2P traffic.
With normal P2P protocols, downloads are just delayed when the system is oversubscribed. However, since P2PTV protocols are used for real-time streaming, they break down when ISPs try to curb the traffic by throttling.
UltraBand 2000 enhancements eliminate this problem for ISPs by originating the P2PTV video stream closer to the subscriber. With UltraBand 2000, ISPs can now offer premium P2PTV to subscribers without having to overbuild their networks and server capacity for sporadic peak demand.
Explained Childs, "To keep up with demand for broadband video delivered to PDAs, cell-phones, and laptops, the movie and TV industries are increasingly turning to P2P technology. P2P offers unparalleled scalability by tapping into the bandwidth, computing, and storage capacity of broadband-connected subscribers."
"This drives down the cost of delivery by eliminating the need for content owners to lease additional server capacity and bandwidth. PeerApp is the first company to allow ISPs to participate in these value-added services based on P2P."
PeerApp VP of Business Development Frank Childs will be a featured speaker at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
RawFlow Creates Asia’s Largest P2PTV CDN
DCIA Member RawFlow, a leading provider of live P2P streaming technologies, is partnering with ChinaCache, the largest content delivery network (CDN) in China to promote P2PTV.
ChinaCache’s deployment of RawFlow’s technology enables it to offer customers live P2P broadcasting. China has the world’s second largest Internet population, with more than 132 million connections and 42 million broadband subscribers, making P2PTV an incredibly attractive medium for this market.
"ChinaCache is a key player in global CDN and well positioned in a market where live events attract the world’s largest online audiences by far," said Mikkel Dissing, CEO of RawFlow.
"This enormous demand for live rich media introduces capacity problems and peak demand risk. When RawFlow’s P2PTV solution is employed on top of ChinaCache’s CDN, it creates a distributed broadcast approach that not only decreases risk and cost, but also maximizes scalability, thereby allowing more people to watch high-quality live TV online."
With more and more content being consumed online, it becomes increasingly critical to implement new and more efficient distribution technologies such as P2P. With ChinaCache’s implementation of RawFlow’s live P2PTV, it is able to deliver simultaneous streams to an almost unlimited number of viewers without network congestion or server breakdown. Bandwidth peaks are removed making it possible to manage large live events.
"We are very pleased to have formed this partnership with RawFlow," said Wang Song, CEO of ChinaCache. "RawFlow’s P2P technology will bring much value to our customers in the China market. By combining our CDN Network with RawFlow’s superior live P2P technology, ChinaCache will benefit from lower costs, lower risks, improved broadcast quality, and greater scalability and reach," continued Wang.
ChinaCache announced earlier this year that the total capacity of its nationwide CDN network reached 100Gbps at the end of 2006, another historic milestone and further demonstration of its capability in network construction.
RawFlow VP of Business Development Ian Franklyn will be a featured speaker at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
Oversi: Set-Tops Next Stop for P2PTV
Excerpted from Light Reading Report by Mark Sullivan
DCIA Member Oversi can help service providers offer a wider variety of video content to consumers with its P2PTV servers. The company is marketing its P2P content delivery method as a viable alternative to blocking or shaping the P2P traffic traversing service provider networks today.
Here’s how it works: Oversi’s servers form a grid in the operator’s network, catching and caching video content that is transported in a P2P format like BitTorrent. Every time a user downloads a P2P file, pieces of that file are stored at Oversi’s servers. When another user on the network requests the same file, it’s accessed from Oversi "peers" close-by rather than from the far-away server where the file originated, which would eat more bandwidth and take longer.
The bulk of Oversi’s business so far is with ISPs trying to decongest their networks and provide faster download service to customers. But Eitan Efron, Oversi’s Co-Founder and VP of Marketing, says his company’s technology could boost telco IPTV networks as well.
Oversi has been working with several set-top box makers to ready the software "brains" of those boxes to receive P2P content as well. Ultimately, Efron believes Oversi servers and P2P-ready set-tops can help IPTV providers add professional-grade and user-generated video to their "walled garden" video services.
Efrom says "dozens" of ISPs are using Oversi’s P2P platform, including two Tier 1 telephone companies. And outside the US, carriers and tech companies are quickly warming to the idea of using P2P technology as a main method of video distribution.
The most visible proponents of P2PTV include DCIA Member Kazaa and Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. The duo’s new company, Joost (formerly known as the Venice Project), is beta testing a new P2PTV service that will use the public Internet to deliver high-quality video to the PC for free.
Google is also making strides in P2PTV with its investment earlier this month in the Chinese P2P file-sharing network Xunlei.
Oversi’s investors put another $6 million behind Oversi’s P2P vision. The December round was led by Carmel Ventures and included existing investors StageOne Ventures, Lab-One Innovations, and TempoPark Fund.
P2PTV is "getting a lot of initial attention, beta testing, and traction," says Heavy Reading analyst Rick Thompson. "It could be considered a niche at the moment, but I think it’s a viable means for Internet video to grow and be distributed, and certainly one that a lot of people are looking at."
Oversi VP of Strategy and Legal Affairs Dr. Nimrod Kozlovski will be a featured speaker at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
Raketu Launches Chinese P2P VoIP Service
Excerpted from TMCNet Report by Divya Narain
Raketu Communications, a leading provider of cutting-edge P2P Internet protocol applications, rolled out the Chinese language version of its dial-out P2P voice over IP (VoIP) service, "RakOut."
At present, both retail and enterprise pre-paid customers of RakOut have the benefit of calling free to more than 40 countries. Raketu now extends this offering to Chinese-speaking consumers around the world. These consumers, irrespective of their locations, will now be able to make free calls anywhere in the 40 countries. All they need is a Windows PC, Internet connectivity, and a mobile handset.
"In response to the tremendous interest in Raketu from China, Raketu has released its Chinese language version," said Greg Parker, President of Raketu. "With our Chinese language release of Raketu, we are continuing to deliver on our promise of localization, enabling our users to use Raketu in their native language."
The Chinese language version is the latest addition to RakOut’s bouquet of English, Czech, and Russian versions. The Spanish and Japanese language versions are also in the pipeline.
Raketu’s innovative P2P technology ensures seamless VoIP calling and the highest call-completion, devoid of the security concerns related to supernodes and other conventional P2P technologies. SoftPedia has confirmed that Raketu’s service is free of spyware, malware, adware, and viruses.
Raketu President Greg Parker will deliver a keynote address at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY.
Adobe and its P2P Ambitions
Excerpted from GigOM Report by Om Malik
Adobe Systems, owner of Flash multimedia technology, seems to be getting serious about spreading its tentacles into new product categories – from VoIP to P2P networking. But it is P2P that is at the heart of the company’s grand design.
In pursuit of this strategy, the company has acquired amicima, a privately held start-up founded in 2004 to "develop improved Internet protocols for client-server and P2P networking, and to develop new applications based on these protocols."
Amicima’s publicly available product is amiciPhone, a P2P-based VoIP client that combines presence, text messaging, and file transfers with voice chat.
Adobe also recently announced a partnership with DCIA Member VeriSign, owner of the Kontiki grid content distribution platform. Earlier this month, VeriSign told us, "We will be collaborating with Adobe for delivery of Flash video including movies, TV shows, broadcast media, and user interface technologies."
The two companies expect to work together to integrate future versions of next generation media technologies leveraging VeriSign’s Kontiki P2P technology and Adobe’s award winning Flash Video software.
Adobe could bundle Kontiki’s command-and-control P2P technology into a forthcoming version of Flash. Given the wide scale adoption of Flash, Adobe-Kontiki will be able to create an Internet-wide P2P cloud.
Publishers are expected to be able to lower their development, quality assurance, and customer support costs because the combined Flash/VeriSign service reduces the problems of deploying video on-demand applications across multiple platforms and browsers.
The Adobe-VeriSign combo could also help overcome some of the issues surrounding the current torrent-based content distribution systems.
Nareos Taps P2P to Mobilize UGC
Nareos, a pioneering digital content commerce service provider, unveiled a new version of their popular P2P mobile downloading application, PeerBox Mobile, complete with user-generated content (UGC) streaming capabilities and extra social networking features. Nareos has developed a unique technology enabling user-generated videos to be uploaded, streamed, and shared by mobile-phone users. The new interface allows PeerBox users to easily upload their videos, pictures, or sound recordings onto the PeerBox Mobile site either directly from their mobile or by means of a PC, and share with other mobile users, who can make recommendations on their favorite clips. PeerBox users can create their own personal channels filled with all the content they generate and want to share with their friends.
The move marks Nareos’ initial step into the world of user generated content on mobile phones with an additional cellular P2P platform, designed to stream high-quality video and audio at low cost, already under development. The company is already in talks with content providers to provide licensed video clips, although no names could be disclosed at this stage.
Alexander Lazovsky, CEO & Founder of Nareos, commented, "We’re very excited to be bringing the best of web-based social networking combined with rich user-generated and professional video content to the emerging mobile space. This compliments our P2P based offering of music, videos, games, ring-tones, images, and more. The new user-generated video feature enables our PeerBox Mobile users to go wild. They can share their creativity with others and recommend the best videos – without having to be fixed to a PC."
"Streaming content to the mobile represents instant fun – and we’re already embarking on our next feature – high-quality video streaming over mobile phones. Watch your clips on mobile…and watch this space…with our continued focus on P2P technology we aim to be the number one mobile social networking service."
PowerSnap P2P Photo & Image Sharing
A free, downloadable application that enables users to automate photo sharing and organize digital photos, is being introduced today by PowerSnap. The free application, PowerSnap 2.0, may be downloaded from www.powersnap.com.
"Until now, photographers – including folks taking pictures on their cell phones – had to juggle numerous different environments and passwords just to send, receive, and manage their photos," said Santosh Jayaram, Founder & CEO of PowerSnap. "There’s no easy way to manage and share the mountains of unorganized photographs buried in people’s computers.
"Now, for the first time, PowerSnap puts the user’s entire photo experience all in one place. It creates the first communities based on images, rather than words."
With the rise of digital photography, millions of people are taking billions of photographs and sharing them through the Internet. These pictures are stored on computers and shared using email or online photo sites, such as Flickr Yahoo Photos and Shutterfly.
PowerSnap 2.0 lets users automate photo sharing and enables digital photo organization so users can find all their pictures within a single easy-to-use application. For the first time users can manage all their photographs, automatically sending and receiving pictures in near real-time, and synchronize their uploaded albums with their desktop instead of struggling with multiple sites and applications.
PowerSnap not only creates the first true P2P network for photo sharing, but also offers a seamless, intuitive experience, comparable to sending e-mail amongst different e-mail providers – an experience that until now was not possible with digital photographs.
PowerSnap is extending its connected vision to other photosites, currently integrating with Yahoo Photos, AOL Pictures, Sony Imagestation, Webshots, Buzznet, and Smugmug. PowerSnap plans to announce further partnerships in the coming weeks. A Macintosh version of PowerSnap is expected this summer.
Movie File Sharing on Rise among Americans
Excerpted from Digital Media Wire Report
Twenty million Americans downloaded a movie from the Internet in the past month, with 80% of these reporting that they only use file-sharing software to do so – a figure that doubled between 2005 and 2006, according to a report from market research firm Solutions Research Group.
Overall, 32 million Americans, or 18% of the US online population, have downloaded one or more movies from the Internet.
The typical movie downloader is 29 years old (63% male, 37% female) and has 16 movies stored on a PC.
Only 40% of those surveyed said they believe downloading "copyrighted movies from the Internet" is a "very serious offense," compared to the 78% who would say the same of "taking a DVD from a store without paying."
"The current crop of "download to own" movie services and the new ones coming into the market will need to offer greater flexibility of use, selection, and low prices to convert current users to their services," said Solutions Research Group study director Kaan Yigit.
DCINFO Note from FTI Consulting Senior Managing Director Bruce Benson:
I can’t express how important I think this study is. The large number of people that are willing to download movies and their ideal advertising demographics SCREAM OUT for an ad-supported movie play. Learn more at Bruce’s upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT NY luncheon presentation.
TV Prepares to Join P2P Party
Excerpted from The Guardian Unlimited Report by Owen Gibson
For a brief moment, it feels like 1999 all over again. I am in a sparsely furnished office in the west end sitting on a comfy couch while an enthusiastic Swede demonstrates the technology that he insists will change the way we watch television. An enthusiastic puppy leaps around, and there is optimism in the air.
The difference is that the people behind the technology have already turned huge international industries upside down - twice. When the P2P file-sharing service Kazaa appeared, it sent music companies into a panic. Kazaa was followed by the Internet phone service Skype, which quickly attracted millions of users and was sold to eBay for £1.3bn. And by the time the Venice Project, last week renamed Joost, appears in less than six months, its executives expect to have dozens of content owners on board.
Joost is the latest big idea from Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, the founders of DCIA Members Kazaa and Skype. Just as Skype shook up the telecom industry, slashing the price for international calls by routing them over the Internet, they are convinced that Joost will do the same for television.
Fredrik de Wahl, Joost’s chief executive, said, "This is not another website where you go and find files. This is TV on the Internet the way it’s supposed to be. As soon as you see it you know it’s different." He describes the service as "the best of the Internet" combined with "the best of television".
Once downloaded to your computer, Joost looks very much like a digital TV service, with a "near-DVD quality" full-screen picture and a familiar-looking electronic program guide. But bring up the stylish overlaid menus and the Internet style features become apparent. You can navigate channels in the same way as you might toggle between Internet bookmarks. You can also skip through programs in the same way as you would using Windows Media Player, and move around the schedule at will.
Joost also lets you construct your own channels. So if you are interested in motoring, it will pull together all the available car content and "schedule" it into a bespoke channel for you. You can chat to other users watching the same channel, have a news ticker running along the bottom of the screen, or access online content provided by the broadcaster.
The goal, says de Wahl, is to tap into the communal aspects of watching television as well as the personalization offered by the Internet, and marry the power of channels to showcase content with the on-demand convenience of downloads. But it’s what’s under the bonnet that is really impressive, he says, claiming that Joost has a three-year lead on potential rivals.
Joost uses P2P technology, allowing it simultaneously to distribute video to millions of people cost-effectively. Until now, the more people who have watched an online broadcast, the more it has cost the company hosting that content. By applying the same principle as Kazaa, but "splitting" the signal so it cannot be pirated, Joost brings down costs dramatically. The BBC will use a similar principle for its much-vaunted iPlayer.
Joost will initially be available as a download for PCs, but de Wahl says it will be easy to transfer the software to mobile phones and television set-top boxes. He estimates that in a couple of years most set-top boxes and many televisions will be connected to the Internet.
De Wahl insists that Joost will finally deliver on the promises about convergence that have been made since the turn of the decade. Three factors have come together, he says. "We have timed this project just right; we have had the technology for three to four years, it’s nothing new to us.
The second dimension is Internet distribution becoming ripe. The third is that content is moving online."
It is the third element that will be key, persuading the big content owners to come on board. De Wahl believes it will be easier than some are predicting, with broadcasters and movie studios keen to work with as many secure partners as possible, from Apple to Amazon to Joost, as well as launch their own online platforms. "It’s complementary," he says. "There’s no reason why they shouldn’t do that and go with us at the same time. You don’t just sell Prada shoes in Prada stores, you sell Prada shoes in many different outlets."
Things have moved on since the panic created by Kazaa, which was demonized by the music industry for allowing millions of users to swap copyrighted tracks. Joost, says de Wahl, has a more measured approach. "We respect the content owners’ rights and needs on this platform. We will not do anything to endanger copyright issues, we will not do self-uploading until the copyright issues are resolved."
Endemol, Warner Music and September Films are among those supplying content for the Beta trial, and T-Mobile, Wrigley, and Maybelline are among the advertisers taking part. Viewers will be shown ads at strategic intervals, which they will not be able to skip.
Joost will launch into a crowded market, rubbing up against video services from aggregators such as Google and Apple, and IPTV services from broadcasters such as the BBC and BSkyB and telecom giants such as BT and Orange.
But de Wahl is convinced that Joost will become the means by which millions around the world consume video as broadband Internet and TV converge. "I haven’t seen anyone who has fundamentally redesigned what they do and integrated the content-owner needs or the advertiser needs or the viewer’s needs into one platform. We’re unique in that we get what viewers want - the end-user attraction, the simplicity of use."
Coming Events of Interest
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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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Digital Music Forum East – February 27th–28th in New York, NY. For the past six years, the most influential decision-makers in the music industry have gathered at Digital Media Wire’s annual music conference. They come to network, do deals, and share ideas about the future of the music business. Participants have described the event as a "melting pot of the best of the best in digital music" where ideas are shared and opinions don’t go unchallenged.
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IPTV World Forum – March 5th-7th in London, England. Mikkel Dissing, CEO of DCIA Member RawFlow, will speak on "TVoverNet: Threat or Opportunity." The company will also demonstrate SelfCast, its revolutionary new live publishing tool for user-generated broadcasting at Booth 70. SelfCast can be built into any existing social community site to allow for live broadcasting of video and audio.
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