May 28, 2007
Volume 17, Issue 11
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA Special Rates End Friday
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA and Digital Hollywood Spring (DHS) kick-off on June 11th. Please click here for the full P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA agenda, here for a list of speakers, and here to register – and save up to $250 if you register by this Friday June 1st.
The P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA is a must-attend event for content creators and rights holders, application developers and distributors, solutions providers and service-and-support companies – and all others interested in profiting from the realization of the exploding and multi-faceted peer-to-peer television (P2PTV), social networking, user-generated content (UGC), and file-sharing marketplace.
Sign-up now for P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA & DHS before these special pre-registration rates expire.
To reserve your room for P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA & DHS at Doubletree Guest Suites Santa Monica, please call 310-395-3332 today with the booking code "P2P MEDIA SUMMIT." Your rate will be $219 + tax per night for a 2-room king suite, high-speed Internet included. Doubletree Guest Suites are ideal for accommodating your private business meetings while at these events.
P2P and its Exciting Potential
Excerpted from IBLNEWS Report
The broadband industry sees exciting potential in P2P to enhance users’ video experiences. P2P’s big advantage is that it allows users themselves to become servers of content to other users, once they have installed client software on their computers. In doing so, these clients redistribute files among consumers requesting content that their user-networks have already stored. The load for delivering content is shifted from central servers to nodes made up of users on such P2P networks. Files can be delivered for either downloading or streaming. And with Joost’s launch upon us, BitTorrent going mainstream, Akamai buying Red Swoosh, and other initiatives underway, many players see it as an important, if not essential, way to deliver large quantities of video, especially live streams, in an economical manner.
P2P’s potential is big, but two important obstacles remain: consumers’ willingness to become P2P nodes and Internet service providers’ (ISPs) restraint from blocking P2P traffic.
To date, broadband ISPs have used traffic-shaping technology to identify and limit traffic. Virtually all ISPs offer asymmetric Internet access, meaning that the amount of bandwidth offered in the upstream path is only a fraction of that provisioned for the downstream path.
US broadband users already spend an hour-and-forty-minutes (48% of their spare time) online in a typical weekday, and more than a half of that is spent accessing activities related to entertainment and communication, according to a Media Screen study.
The managing director of the study said, "Currently, the proportion of advertising resources devoted to the Internet – about seven percent (7%) according to ZenithOptimedia – is nominal relative to the value it generates. Consumers, on a typical weekday, spend more than forty percent (40%) of their time consuming media online."
INTENT MediaWorks Ad-Supported Content
Excerpted from Adweek Report by Mark Dolliver
So, they aren’t heedless outlaws after all. A survey of people who’ve downloaded music and other entertainment files via P2P services finds seventy-seven percent (77%) claiming to be "concerned about the legal aspects of downloading content" in this way.
Conducted by Infosurv for INTENT MediaWorks, the poll found them so concerned that they’d be willing to sit through sponsors’ ads if that were a way to get free content in an authorized fashion. When asked if they’d be "willing to watch general advertising during the download process in order to obtain licensed copyrighted content either free or at a reduced price point," just twenty-six percent (26%) rejected the idea out of hand.
Fifty-four percent (54%) would be game to watch a commercial video of 30-seconds or longer if they could own downloaded content for free.
Elsewhere on the music front, a poll by Ipsos Insight documents the shrinking consumer base for physical CDs. Fifty-one percent (51%) of consumers age 12 and up said they bought a CD in the past six months, down from the sixty percent (60%) who said so in a 2002 poll.
Still, a majority of people who download music via the Internet "continue to purchase CDs of their favorite artists." Sixty-two (62%) percent of downloaders bought a physical CD of their fave’s last release; twenty-eight percent (28%) paid to download individual tracks.
Twenty-three percent (23%) of downloaders said they’d bought "a la carte" tracks from an artist they weren’t familiar with, vs. seventeen percent (17%) buying the whole CD.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 We are very pleased this week to announce the afternoon agenda for the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA. Please see last week’s DCINFO for details of the morning agenda.
This second annual DCIA Los Angeles Conference & Exposition is being held in conjunction with Digital Hollywood Spring (DHS), and is scheduled for June 11th–14th in Santa Monica CA.
Our focus will be on P2PTV, the industry’s newest high-growth phenomenon.
P2PTV refers to video distribution on the Internet using P2P technologies.Many DCIA Member companies 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 P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA will take place at the Doubletree Guest Suites Santa Monica. Following the morning tracks and keynotes, the FTI Consulting sponsored Conference Luncheon will take place at 12:30 PM in the Carousel Ballroom. More details about the luncheon session will be announced in next week’s DCINFO.
The CONTENT DISTRIBUTION panel will start at 1:30 PM and address "Artists and Rights Holders – P2P for Content Creators." What has been the experience to date of content creators who have embraced P2P? What changes do they need to more effectively harness file-sharing and related technologies? Are there innovative art forms in development for the P2P distribution channel?
Panelists will include Daniel Harris, CEO, MediaPass Network; Brent Muhle, General Manager, Nettwerk Music Group; Derek Broes, SVP, Digital Entertainment, Paramount Pictures; Brian McCarthy, SVP, Business Development, Revver; and Marc Campbell, Co-Founder & Owner, Westside Eclectic. Our moderator will be Elaine Reiss, DCIA Best Practices leader.
Allan Klepfisz, Chairman & CEO, Brilliant Technologies, Developer & Distributor of QTRAX, will be our keynote speaker at 2:15 PM. Allan is the Founder & Executive Chairman of Advantage Australia Group. This high profile company has attracted the participation of many of Australia’s largest corporations, as well as praise from all the major Australian political parties and unions in a rare display of political consensus. Allan is recognized in the Australian business community as a highly innovative marketing strategist and has extensive experience in establishing new ventures in areas as diverse as the restaurant, textile, chemical, and marketing industries. Allan is a founding shareholder of LTDnetwork.
Greg Parker, President & CEO, Raketu Communications, will keynote at 2:45 PM. Greg has over 20 years of technology industry experience, possesses multiple degrees in Astrophysics and Computer Science, and is the inventor of Raketu and Raketu’s unique P2P architecture. Raketu Communications is Greg’s fourth startup. His previous experience includes serving as CTO of Warp Technology Holdings, an application and network acceleration firm; CEO & Founder of SpiderSoftware, an Internet acceleration technology company; CTO of Brainium.com, a web-based multimedia interactive media provider; and Co-Founder & Director of Products and Partnerships, Enlogix, a CRM and online billing service.
The SOLUTIONS DEVELOPMENT panel will start at 2:45 PM and address "Advancement – Creating the Commercial P2P Ecosystem." What architectural, content-security, and other technological solutions are now in development that will optimize P2P deployment for the benefit of all participants in the distribution chain? Which of these have been tested and what have been the results to date? Can P2P streaming technology help broadcasters and content providers overcome the limitations of live streaming?
Panelists will include Michael King, CEO, Abacast; Charles Kalmanek, VP, Internet and Network Systems Research, AT&T; Sam Tarantino, CEO & Founder, Escape Media Group, Developer & Distributor of Grooveshark; Jim Ward, Director of Business Development, Philips; and Memo Rhein, CEO, Unlimited Media. Our moderator will be Limor Schafman, newly appointed to DCIA Members Services.
At 3:30 PM, there will be a refreshment and networking break.
Xavier Casanova, CEO, Wambo, Developer & Distributor of Swapper, will be our keynote speaker at 3:45 PM. Xavier is an entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley. He was born and raised in France, where he studied math, computer science, and physics. After attending Stanford University in the late nineties, Xavier started web-acceleration company Fireclick in 1999, which he successfully expanded into web analytics. Fireclick was acquired by Digital River in 2004. After transitioning the company, in 2005, with Arnaud Tellier and Guillaume Thonier, Xavier founded Perenety, the predecessor of Wambo, and developed the P2P application Shooter.
Robert Levitan, CEO, Pando Networks will be our keynote speaker at 3:45 PM. Prior to founding Pando, Robert’s fourth start-up, he was the co-founder of iVillage, the largest community website for women; Flooz.com, an online gift currency and corporate rewards company; and YearBook Enterprises, a publisher of video yearbooks for high schools and colleges. Robert was also a strategic marketing advisor for Oddpost, an innovative web-mail service company acquired by Yahoo. He helped Pearson LLC launch a television series in China and AT&T Wireless set up its Internet operating division. Robert also serves on the Board of Directors of Mobius Management Systems.
A highlight of this summit will be its closing DRM INTEROPERABILITY session that starts at 4:15 PM and will address "The Next Frontier – Business Practices and Open Standards." What are consumers seeking in terms of DRM interoperability? What interests need to cooperate in order to achieve the benefits customers demand? What are the obstacles to overcome and what are the milestones that will indicate progress? How can participants in the P2P distribution channel contribute to this? What different models are envisioned to achieve DRM interoperability, and what industry efforts should go on in this space?
Speakers will include Christopher Levy, CEO, BUYDRM; Stuart Rosove, Senior Director, Business Development, Digimarc; Chip Venters, CEO, Digital Containers; Steve Condon, VP of Marketing, Entriq; and Krishnan Rajagopalan, VP, Digital Media Technologies, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Our moderator will be Karen Kaplowitz, Member Services leader, the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA)
Our live entertainer for the post-conference networking cocktail reception starting at 5:00 PM, courtesy of Nettwerk Music Group, will be Shotgun Honeymoon.
In addition to Nettwerk, P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA sponsors include FTI Consulting, INTENT MediaWorks, Altnet, and Javien Digital Payment Solutions.For sponsor packages and speaker information, please contact Karen Kaplowitz, DCIA Member Services, at 888-890-4240 or karen@dcia.info.
Early registration rates, which save attendees up to $250, end this Friday, June 1st.
To register, please visit www.dcia.info/P2PMSLA2007/register.html or call 410-476-7965. For general information about the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA, please visit www.dcia.info/P2PMSLA2007. Share wisely, and take care.
Online Ad Spending Hits New Record
Excerpted from eMarketer Report
US Internet ad revenues totaled $16.9 billion in 2006, up 35% from 2005, according to the "Internet Advertising Revenue Report" from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Search, display, classifieds, and lead generation all grew, as performance-based and CPM pricing both increased. Consumer advertisers continue to represent the largest category of Internet advertising spending.
"The results for 2006 show the Internet continues to offer marketers the widest spectrum of advertising formats, from search-based text ads to dynamic rich-media and broadband video ads," said Peter Petrusky of PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Online publishers may continue to experience growth as marketing budget allocations to all interactive forms continue to increase."
The numbers topped eMarketer’s revised estimates for 2006 by half a billion dollars. The estimates were based on IAB and PWC data, for which the last full year measured had been 2005.
"One key market shift can be seen in how display ad spending grew at a higher rate than even paid search advertising," said eMarketer Senior Analyst David Hallerman. "Brand-oriented marketers are just starting to ramp up spending, and we’ll see greater growth in that area over the next few years."
eMarketer’s Online Ad Targeting report will be published in June. To be notified when it is released, please click here.
The Next Big Thing
Excerpted from World Screen News Report by Peter Caranicas
What’s a multibillion-dollar media company to do?
Everyone knows the world is changing. Go to any television industry conference and you’ll hear pundits universally agree that technology is enabling audiences to move from the previous age of appointment viewing – during which viewers tuned in to watch shows at the time they were broadcast – to the new era of content abundance, where any video can be consumed anytime, anywhere, on a device of one’s choosing.
Of course, we’re not there yet, but it’s really just a matter of time. The question is, how much time? And media companies around the world are experimenting with a variety of initiatives – including broadband streaming, broadband downloading, short-form material for mobile devices, time shifting and place shifting – in a wild free-for-all as they throw ideas at the wall, waiting to see what sticks and what doesn’t.
As they reach out to different markets, the major companies cannot lose sight of the value of the content they are distributing. "That’s where our biggest debates and challenges tend to be – in making sure we’re getting the right value for the content," said Beth Comstock, President of Integrated Media at NBC Universal. "We believe you can’t just say all content is created equal."
Another company whose main concern is offering value to its customers is Joost, the new P2PTV platform created by the founders of Skype. "Joost offers the best TV experience and the best Internet experience in one combined package," explained Fredrik de Wahl, the company’s CEO.
"It takes the TV experience and what is good with TV today – high entertainment value, full-length programming, full-screen experience and channel concepts – and brings that online. You can watch what you want to watch, when you want to watch it, and where you want to watch it. You can bring many more interactive features, social networking, all of the best Internet technologies."
De Wahl added that Joost’s business model sets it apart from other online TV ventures. "That is very important for us," he said. "We fundamentally respect the content owners, the advertisers, and the viewers of this platform. You cannot have a long-term sustainable business model online unless you respect all of these three groups."
The buzzword that perhaps best describes what is happening in media distribution today is disruption. While big TV events are less affected, most other forms of programming are likely to be battered in the changing landscape. "There will continue to be major occasions like the Super Bowl or the World Series, where everyone will gather around the TV and have parties," said Frank Childs, the VP of Business Development at PeerApp, a company that provides infrastructure to Internet service providers (ISPs). "That will never go away. But when it comes to day-to-day media like news, TV shows, and movies, it’s hard to compete with an experience that gives you the ability to watch it anytime, anywhere, on any device. And that’s what you’re seeing. That’s the disruption."
The disruptive trend started back in the ‘70s with the VCR, says Childs. "The next step was TiVo. The next stage is the web, and Slingbox, which place-shifts television so you can watch what you want anywhere you want. Most people want their television anytime, anywhere, and on any device. That will create disruption. Companies who adapt to that model are the ones that will be successful. It poses new threats, but also new opportunities."
But even as media companies and others try out different schemes to embrace new technology, technology itself moves ahead so fast that it outpaces their efforts to remain current. While the buzzword that best describes what’s happening today may be disruption, the buzzword that describes the means by which it is happening in the broadband arena is peer-to-peer – or P2P – in computer jargon.
The advantage of P2P networks, compared to traditional networks, which use a limited number of central servers, is that P2P relies on the aggregated computing power of its individual users and the available bandwidth of all the network participants. This is a far more flexible and capacious system than centralized network management and may well be the way most high-bandwidth traffic, like Internet video, will be handled in the future.
BitTorrent, the P2P company most in the news these days, launched a movie-download service in late February to handle licensed downloads of films and TV shows. The company has now signed deals with such film studios as Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM, and Paramount.
Known as BitTorrent Entertainment Network (BEN), the service will also support video-sharing communities, allowing users to post their own videos online – a service that the company expects many independent filmmakers to take advantage of.
"Until now, all we’ve had is free promo content, trailers, music videos, and the like," said Ashwin Navin, the President, COO, and a Co-Founder of BitTorrent. "But BEN will have the media from 34 studios and TV networks available for a price tag. You can rent movies, purchase TV shows and music videos, try out videogames, and if you like them, you can purchase them. All is downloaded with BitTorrent protocol."
BEN charges $3.99 per movie rental for new releases and $2.99 for older titles. TV shows are set at $1.99. Self-publishing is free. The movie rentals last for 24 hours, after which the file locks up and the user must rent the movie again if he or she wants to see it beyond the rental period.
More than 135 million people already use BitTorrent software and, according to Navin, P2P technology is "revolutionary" because the more people use it, the faster and more efficient it becomes.
Where will we be ten years from now? Navin believes that in a decade the consumption of television will have undergone a total revolution and that 100 percent of all TV content will be available online. "Media companies will no longer have to guess how to schedule limited shelf space or air time. They’ll be able to create a personal experience on demand for every single customer. There will be one channel, one medium, to get whatever you want."
Navin also believes that P2P technology is the key that will unlock what many see as the dilemma of today’s media evolution. On the one hand, large plasma screens and HDTV are starting to dominate the high-end home-viewing experience. On the other hand, drawn by convenience of time and place, consumers now also view content at a much lower quality on computer screens and the tiny screens of portable devices.
BitTorrent’s flavor of P2P, said Navin, is the "secret sauce" that will turn the Internet into the main video distribution medium, making file delivery very efficient: "There’s no more sensible way to deliver HD video over the Internet than with a peer-assisted architecture."
CAA Boosts Joost Brand Image
Excerpted from MediaPost Report by Wayne Friedman
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) will look to boost the Joost name and image in linking the new company with other entertainment content.
Michael Yanover, head of business development at CAA, said that CAA will provide Joost "greater access to programming through our relationships with networks, studios, record labels, artists, and other independent content."
Scheduled to officially launch next month, Joost will feature 150 channels for animation, entertainment, film, sports, comedy, lifestyle, documentaries, and sci-fi. Joost already has deals with CBS Corp., Viacom, and others.
Joost is founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, who also started music Internet sharing service, Kazaa, and telecommunications service Skype. They have built Joost in a similar way, using P2P technology, which they say will help avoid future Internet storage capacity concerns.
All Joost content will have deals with rights holders.
MSFT Files Trademark for Joost-Like Service
Excerpted from CyberNet Technology News Report
Microsoft has filed a new trademark for a service that sounds remarkably similar to Joost. The logo being trademarked is supposed to represent "arrowheads diverging from a disc." While the symbol doesn’t seem all that intriguing, the services behind it certainly grab your attention:
Computer software for delivery of broadcast-quality video and television programming over broadband, cable, satellite, and wireless networks;
Computer software for providing downloadable films and TV programs provided via video-on-demand;
Computer software for transmitting personal photos, video, and music over broadband, cable, satellite, and wireless networks;
Computer software for digital video recording; and computer software for providing a programming guide to display available video and television broadcasts and downloads;
Broadcasting services, providing video and television programming over broadband, cable, satellite, and wireless networks; and video-on-demand services via broadband networks;
Entertainment services, providing information concerning television and video programming, online user-guides featuring information on television and video programs available over broadband, cable, satellite, and wireless networks and available via video-on-demand services;
Provision of non-downloadable films and TV programs via a video-on-demand service; and distribution of television shows, movies, and videos for others.
This almost sounds like what Joost is already doing by offering high-quality programming over a broadband Internet connection. This will probably be a new feature in the next version of Windows Vista Media Center that will help make it more interactive. Users might be able to download movies on demand (probably for a fee) and watch them immediately.
This being incorporated into Media Center also makes sense because the trademark says that it can be used for "transmitting personal photos, video, and music over broadband, cable, satellite and wireless networks." That could be referencing an easy way to share photos, videos, and music with friends and family through Media Center. Simply select the photo, choose someone from a contact list, and hit "send."
RawFlow Provides P2P Streaming for RAI
RawFlow, a leading provider of live P2P streaming technologies, will run a technology trial with Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), the largest broadcaster in Italy. RAI will apply RawFlow’s Intelligent Content Distribution (ICD) technology to live streaming of its broadcasts from Giro d’Italia, which started May 12th. The benefits of applying ICD mean that RAI will be able to feed more "cycling-hungry" fans with live coverage of the entire cycle race, because the technology allows broadcasters to maximize the scalability of their live streaming without increasing risk or cost.
"The RawFlow P2P live streaming solution is an important evolution for the technical and strategic approach of RAI’s web streaming of events and television channels," commented Gianluca Stazio, Marketing Director of RaiNet.
"We hope to increase audience size while improving efficiencies compared to the 2006 streaming of Giro d’Italia, and are planning to broadcast other live sports events in the summer season. We’re also experimenting with insertion of dedicated adverts."
RawFlow’s Intelligent Content Distribution (ICD) is software-based P2P bandwidth sharing technology that allows content to be streamed live at a fraction of the cost of traditional streaming. It is an infinitely scalable solution that saves cost and prevents network congestion while maintaining peak media quality.
"We’re really happy to be working with RAI for the live streaming of the Giro d’Italia," commented Mikkel Dissing, CEO & Co-Founder of RawFlow. "RAI is not only Italy’s largest broadcasting corporation, but also a leader at innovating and reinventing itself by providing new services like webTV and extensive online coverage of a great sports event," continued Dissing.
The Giro is the second most important stage race in the world, after the Tour de France, and has been running annually since 1909, and the live online broadcasts will be available from RAI’s website.
Abacast & TV Worldwide Forge Alliance
Abacast, a leader in real-time streaming solutions and TV Worldwide, a fast-growing web-based global Internet TV network and streaming media pioneer, have entered into a strategic alliance.
The arrangement means that TV Worldwide will offer the Abacast solution to all new and existing Internet TV channel and content partners on the TV Worldwide network for live event webcast programming. Abacast’s patented technology will take the security, quality, and control from central server (unicast) technology and combine that with the redundancy and efficiency of P2P technology to reduce bandwidth costs while providing a measurable improvement in viewer experience. As part of the deal, Abacast has signed on as a channel sponsor for TV Worldwide’s Internet TV channel for the digital media industry, TV MainStream. "We are excited to be partnering with Abacast," said TV Worldwide CEO, Dave Gardy. "Abacast has terrific technology that provides high-quality yet cost-effective delivery. The integration of their solution for our live event webcast partners on the channels of the TV Worldwide Internet TV Network will provide increased options and even higher revenue generating potential, enhancing our ability to monetize content."
"TV Worldwide is an innovative leader in building robust demographic and private label Internet TV channels in partnership with enterprise and government partners and creating marketing strategies to attract webcast audiences that generate real revenue," commented Michael King, President of Abacast.
"As a sponsor on the TV MainStream Internet TV channel for the new media industry, we know we’ll be able to reach our target audience during TV MainStream live events while actually demonstrating the Abacast solution in the process, helping TV Worldwide realize a huge leap in price/performance," he added. Abacast’s Distributed Streaming Network (DSN) harnesses unused listener or viewer capacity to serve other nearby listeners or viewers, enabling Internet broadcasters and their service providers to stream to a virtually unlimited audience. The Abacast server continually monitors the network, achieving up to 98% efficiencies in content distribution, which translates directly into huge cost savings for content producers.
AT&T U-verse Rollout Update
Excerpted from MediaPost Report by David Goetzl
AT&T’s telco TV service, which the company says is taking a quality-versus-quantity approach to rollouts, has entered its fifth DMA in the top 15, adding the Detroit market.
As of last week, AT&T U-verse only had 26,000 customers, giving it a penetration rate – before Detroit – of perhaps 5% in homes where it’s available, maybe even lower. That pales beside the 348,000 customers the other telco TV entrant, Verizon’s FiOS, had at the end of March, earning a penetration rate of 11%.
Verizon is also a step ahead in the ad sales business, hiring ViaMedia as a rep firm to sell the local avails it gets, similar to cable and satellite operators. AT&T has formed a unit to implement the process – looking to sell packages across its broadband, TV and wireless offerings – but has yet to launch.
AT&T says its rollout has been slow in order to ensure that it offers a top-notch product when it hits a market, including a DVR that records up to four programs at once, picture-in-picture for every subscriber, regardless of set, model, and HD capabilities. Verizon has tried to compete on price.
While Verizon has run TV spots promoting its service, AT&T has focused on grassroots efforts for U-verse, including having ice-cream trucks in serviced neighborhoods hand out treats and offer demonstrations.
So far, the two are attempting to mount challenges to cable and satellite providers, but not each other. They are concentrating their efforts on areas where they operate traditional phone service. To date, there are no regulatory barriers to competing.
With cable operators making an increasingly aggressive play to attract phone customers – in bundles with TV and broadband – telco providers are fighting back. They offer a package with the same services, but lag considerably in customers. Telco can also pitch a fourth option: wireless.
Still, the companies predict they will be in millions of homes – though nowhere near the large MSOs or DBS operators – by 2010 or so.
Besides Detroit, U-verse is in other top-15 DMAs, including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Dallas, and Houston.
Cisco CEO Looks to Web 2.0
Excerpted from Computer World Report
John Chambers has found a technology that can keep up with his fast-talking style, and it’s at the core of Cisco Systems’ push to bring Web 2.0 technology into enterprises.
"I clearly communicate at 200 words a minute, and I’m much better with the video capability that goes with it," the Cisco Chairman & CEO said Tuesday in an Interop keynote address that emphasized collaboration via forms of communication. The way young people communicate now, through video, text messaging and social-networking, is how enterprises will communicate in the next few years, he said.
However, IT executives will have to translate those technologies for business management. Employees will need easy, one-click tools that are secure, Chambers said. Video is the ultimate tool for executives, who may not know what Web 2.0 is but understand what they can do with Cisco’s Telepresence, a line of high-definition videoconferencing systems the company introduced last year, Chambers said.
Enterprises can seize on new collaboration tools from the consumer market, he added.
"It’s been a way that people kind of communicated in spite of the IT department. Now the IT department has to lead," Chambers concluded.
YouTube on P2P
Excerpted from WebProNews Report by Jason Lee Miller
These guys seem to be on to something – probably the reason Tribler racked up about $8 million in funding on the other side of the Pond.
The P2P network is raising some eyebrows with its YouTube-compatible BitTorrent system throwing down Last.fm-style.
NewTeeVee‘s Janko Roettgers notes the difficulty torrent users have finding niche content in a P2P world where mainstream media dominates.
Holland-based Tribler has a mission of helping its users locate and share user-generated media, including YouTube.
But the neatest function of Tribler keeps track of user downloads, compares them to other users’ downloads, and recommends media based on that history.
And this is how the fringe content is introduced into the mainstream.
Tribler’s "P2P infrastructure for user-generated content that also helps with content discovery" has not only attracted significant funding, but also has captured the attention Netherlands Public Broadcasting and other European television networks.
Expect to hear more about Tribler and the BitTorrent clients that arise like it in the future.
Azureus & ITVF Team for Television Creators
Azureus, a global leader in aggregating and distributing long-form, high quality video via the Internet’s most popular media P2P application, has entered a unique partnership with the Independent Television Festival (ITVF) and Azureus’ leading global video aggregation and distribution platform, Vuze.
Vuze will become the exclusive host of the online Webseries competition, the exclusive online submission point for all high-resolution (DVD/HD quality) video entries into the Festival and an alternate submission point for ITVF’s television pilot category starting June 4th. Additionally, Vuze will be the only submission point for the television pilot category after June 8th.
Both the Vuze community of users as well as a panel of industry experts will judge all Webseries and television pilot video entries submitted on Vuze. Winners will not only receive cash prizes, but the partnership with Vuze will also give independent creators two unequalled points of contact: exposure to the makers and breakers of the television industry, with the bonus of a built-in global audience of millions to support their production through release. All Webseries entries and television pilot winners and finalists will continue to be showcased on Vuze after the completion of the competition.
"We are proud to join ITVF in recognizing the vast creative talent in the television industry and believe Vuze is the perfect platform to share that talent with the rest of the world," said Gilles BianRosa, CEO of Azureus. "Through Vuze, festival entrants will have the opportunity to present their submissions in the way that they want them to be seen – long-form and high definition – and share their work with an established user-base of millions."
Recently launched in April 2007, Azureus’ new platform, Vuze, serves as an alternative, low-cost distribution and marketing platform to distribute compelling, high-resolution content to a fast growing global audience of millions of active users. Both large and small content owners can promote their works to their fan base through comprehensive discovery tools including search, browsing, channels and tagging, as well as gauge market interest in specific territories. The entire experience from search and discovery, to payment, download and play, is tightly integrated into the application.
"As more and more entertainment moves towards the online medium, it has been our goal to ensure our pilot-makers are involved with and aware of all of the opportunities therein presented," said AJ Tesler, executive director of ITVF. "Our new relationship with Azureus is very exciting in that regard. We are thrilled that the most popular P2P provider joined us in our goal to bring the world and entertainment industry undiscovered creative talent and content."
Grooveshark Licenses Naxos Classical Catalog
Excerpted from Digital Media Wire Report by Mark Hefflinger
Grooveshark, a P2P music network that compensates artists, has signed a licensing agreement to add tracks from classical music label Naxos to its service.
Under the deal, more than 5,000 classical works will be made available on Grooveshark, where users pay no more than 99 cents to download DRM-free MP3 song files, and are rewarded for participation in the community – such as writing reviews and allowing downloads from their computers.
Study Shows P2P Affect on Italian Music Sales
Excerpted from Afterdawn Report
According to research from Italy’s Luigi Einaudi Foundation, file-sharing of music cuts into consumers’ purchasing of physical products like CDs. The research shows that nearly a third of file sharers (30%) have cut back on the amount of physical music products they buy.
Only six percent (6%) of those surveyed said that file-sharing increased their propensity to buy CDs, while sixty-four percent (64%) of respondents said their habit did not change their music buying habits.
Seventy-seven percent (77%) of all those who said they download music have used P2P networks to obtain music, while only twenty-three percent (23%) have used an authorized online service. The research showed that thirty-one percent (31%) of those questioned had downloaded music or video from the internet in the last month. Nine-in-ten of the tracks downloaded were singles (91%), predominantly current chart hits. The most popular device for playing this material was a music player (84%), followed by hi-fis and MP3 players (39%).
The most popular P2P software among those asked was eMule (51%), followed by WinMX (25%) and Kazaa (13%). Three in five of those interviewed (61%) said the bought less than one CD a month and more than 30% of this group buy no physical copies of recorded music at all.
Researchers interviewed a wide cross-section of Italians, with fifty percent (50%) of respondents aged between 15 and 34 years old, twenty-five percent (25%) between 35 and 44 years old and twenty-five per cent (25%) between 44 and 54 years old.
Nearly a third of those interviewed were office workers (29%), a quarter were students (25%) and the remainder were blue-collar workers, managers, self-employed, and retired people.
Attorney Says OU Should Fight RIAA
Excerpted from The Post Online Report by David Hendricks
An Ohio University student facing a lawsuit from the recording industry has retained a local attorney who is urging the university to fight subpoenas for students’ personal information.
Joseph Hazelbaker, an Athens attorney, is representing one of the ten students identified by their Internet provider (IP) addresses in an April 13th federal court filing. The student, whom Hazelbaker would not name, did not pay $3,000 to settle the file-sharing lawsuit in March.
Hazelbaker sent a letter to the university Wednesday claiming that the RIAA is using improper legal tactics and that the university should not respond to anything but a "lawfully issued subpoena."
The RIAA’s lawsuit should be dismissed, Hazelbaker said, because grouping the ten unassociated file sharers, identified only by their IP addresses, together in its court filing isn’t standard legal procedure. Hazelbaker said that the recording industry should file individual subpoenas.
"The recording industry complaint is insufficient because it simply represents a dorm room," Hazelbaker said, adding that there is no way of knowing which student or if any student living in a dorm room and sharing an IP address was responsible for the alleged file sharing.
Barbara Nalazek, Associate Director of the university’s Office of Legal Affairs, would not comment on the letter. Lloyd Pierre-Louis of Pierre-Louis and Associates of Columbus, who is representing record companies in their lawsuits with ten OU students, did not return calls for comment.
RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy, a 1995 OU E.W. Scripps School of Journalism graduate, could not comment on the specifics of the university’s litigation with the recording industry. As an alumnus, he said, he is "torn," by the attention OU has garnered from the RIAA’s anti-piracy efforts.
"I am a proud alumnus and it has been painful to see my alma mater be in the national spotlight as it is and has been," Lamy said. "There are far too many students at Ohio University who are getting their music without proper authorization."
By blocking unlicensed P2P file-sharing on its network, educating students who receive the letters, and allowing authorized file-sharing, Lamy said the university "has really stepped up."
Coming Events of Interest
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P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA – June 11th in Santa Monica, CA. This is the DCIA’s must-attend event for everyone interested in monetizing content using P2P and related technologies. Keynotes, panels, and workshops on the latest breakthroughs. Held in conjunction with the new Digital Hollywood Spring conference and exposition.
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Digital Hollywood Spring – June 12th–14th in Santa Monica, CA. Now expanded to Le Merigot as well as Loews Anatole Hotel. With many new sessions and feature events, this has become the premiere digital entertainment conference and expositions. DCIA Members will exhibit and speak on a number of panels.
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NXTcomm – June 18th–20th in Chicago, IL. The next-generation global forum and marketplace for the business of information, communications, and entertainment technology. The forces that drive communication and the solutions to harness it converge here. The DCIA will participate with Digital Hollywood.
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Edinburgh Television Festival – August 24th-26th in Edinburgh, Scotland. Janus Friis, Co-Founder of P2PTV service Joost, will deliver the inaugural Futureview Lecture at this year’s festival. The aim of this year’s event is to assemble a cast list from the hottest shows, the most exciting new technologies, and the biggest TV controversies of the year
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International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) – September 6th-11th in Amsterdam, Holland. IBC is committed to providing the world’s best event for everyone involved in the creation, management, and delivery of content for the entertainment industry, including DCIA Members. Run by the industry for the industry, convention organizers are drawn from participating companies.
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PT/EXPO COMM – October 23rd-27th at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing, China. The largest telecommunications/IT industry event in the world’s fastest growing telecom sector. PT/EXPO COMM offers DCIA participants from all over the world a high profile promotional platform in a sales environment that is rich in capital investment.
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