November 12, 2007
Volume XIX, Issue 11
CES: Where Hollywood Meets High-Tech
Why are leaders and visionaries from Best Buy, BMW, Circuit City, Target, the Emmy Awards, and Yahoo all rehearsing and prepping for the 2008 International CES right now? Because they know it's the place to be January 6th-10th, 2008. It's where the present meets the future, where Hollywood meets high-tech, and where you can meet your next business partner.
Please register now for the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LV scheduled for January 6th and save up to $300. For the first time ever, the DCIA's flagship event will be a featured day-long Conference within CES.
Sign up now for the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow, touching down in Las Vegas, NV soon. Please use priority code C1 and sign-up for the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LV when registering.
PBS Partners with BitTorrent
BitTorrent and PBS this week announced the availability of PBS programming via the BitTorrent Entertainment Network, BitTorrent's content distribution platform.
PBS, which serves 355 public television stations reaching more than 75 million viewers each week, is now also making its content available for purchase and download to the millions of BitTorrent users.
Titles now available include prime-time programs such as "History Detectives," "NOVA," and "Scientific American Frontiers;" PBS kids programs such as "Caillou" and "Teletubbies;" as well as programming from selected local PBS stations.
"PBS is committed to making content available wherever consumers are accessing media," said Andrew Russell, Senior Vice President, PBS Ventures. "We are thrilled to be working with BitTorrent and its unique distribution platform to expand the reach of public television's content, including programming from some of our local PBS stations."
"BitTorrent has enabled more licensed video for downloads and streams than any other company in the world," said Ashwin Navin, President & Co-Founder of BitTorrent. "We are proud to partner with PBS to make its award-winning national and local station programming available with our distribution platform."
PBS joins an established roster of leading content partners, including 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, MTV Networks, MGM, Paramount, and Warner Bros., who utilize BitTorrent's entertainment platform to provide feature-length films, TV shows, and music videos direct to consumers.
Not only does BitTorrent's entertainment platform provide fast, on-demand access to the most comprehensive licensed catalog of thousands of movies, TV shows, music, and games; it also provides content creators a publishing platform to list their works in high-quality alongside the most recognizable titles from major movie studios, TV networks, and record labels.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 Peer-to-peer (P2P) software programs are essentially decentralized – and highly efficient – search-and-discovery-and-delivery applications.
While websites are destinations on the Internet that contain files which can be viewed and downloaded, P2P, instant messaging (IM), and e-mail are mechanisms for sending and receiving files, including those that may initially have been discovered on websites.
P2P software programs function in a manner similar to search engines: P2P users enter search terms and the programs return responses to their queries. Whereas search engine results generally come from websites, P2P results typically come from published directories stored on PCs of other users connected to the P2P network.
P2P users download their file-sharing software programs in a manner identical to that in which they download any of literally thousands of other applications available on the Internet. And in contrast to other Internet-based activities, P2P software programs can afford their users potentially more security.
While P2P file sharing clearly does not represent an enhanced risk per se, steps have been and continually are being taken to protect consumers by taking advantage of the unique configurations of P2P file-sharing programs.
The DCIA worked with the top twelve open P2P software program distributors in early 2005 to ensure follow through on implementing standardized consumer disclosures and links, which were developed by the DCIA-sponsored Consumer Disclosures Working Group (CDWG) in the second half of 2004. Two areas represent continuing opportunities for greater consumer protection.
First, communications: clear and conspicuous warnings about risks such as inadvertent sharing of data can be placed prominently at critical points in the user interface of P2P software programs. Most P2P programs have implemented such disclosures, but it would be advisable to revisit and update these communications to increase user safety and to prove industry naysayers wrong – we need not permit what is currently a rarity to spread until it becomes widespread.
Second, default settings: significant protection against accidental uploading of files and folders by users can be accomplished by having the settings of P2P software programs set to only redistribute content coming from the network itself. To change from these settings, multiple affirmative steps can be required, essentially asking consumers to verify that they really wish to make particular files or folders available for redistribution.
In addition, more refined filters, including file extensions, metadata, etc. could increase the security associated with known file-types that are most likely to contain personal or sensitive data.
The DCIA reviewed the report issued by the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) earlier this year. At the time it was issued, the DCIA offered to meet with the PTO to discuss its findings; and to sponsor a new working group to explore and address the concern raised in this report: unintended redistribution of personal and sensitive data by P2P users.
Certain of the P2P software companies cited by the PTO are no longer in operation. Others have made significant changes that have improved their ability to protect users from inadvertently sharing private or sensitive data. In addition, there are new challenges, including the popularity of open-source P2P software programs, which are not developed and distributed by an established, responsible entity, but rather by anonymous individuals, often in offshore locations, which were not addressed by the report.
It is extremely important to emphasize that leading P2P software developers and distributors take the issue of the safety and security of their users very seriously, and are willing to voluntarily invest the time and resources to work with federal agencies to address various aspects of this issue, including open-source, and ensure that it is properly addressed.
Prior to the July Congressional Hearing on this subject, the DCIA similarly offered to work with Congressman Waxman's Committee to address this concern. And at this point, the DCIA would like to clearly reiterate our willingness to work with appropriate agencies to conduct additional tests and take further actions as warranted.
In any case, the DCIA intends to develop industry best practices for protecting consumers from inadvertently uploading files and folders that they do not intend to share. This will be accomplished in part by expanding on upgrades, improvements, and enhancements that individual P2P software developers and distributors already have in process.
According to Javelin Strategy & Research, identity theft cost US businesses and consumers an estimated forty-nine billion three-hundred million dollars ($49,300,000,000) in 2006. Of this amount, the total losses associated with P2P file sharing were seventy-three thousand dollars ($73,000).
Of the estimated fifteen million (15,000,000) cases per year, only two (2) have resulted in the conviction of a criminal abusing P2P applications to search for personal or sensitive data that consumers may have uploaded in error. Of the five hundred (500) cases prosecuted by the Secret Service last year, none (0) were related to P2P.
According to a Utica College Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP) study released on October 22nd, about half of identity theft cases are the result of criminals accessing data in retail establishments, financial institutions, or other businesses. The most common tools for ID theft are "technology devices," a broad category that includes ATMs, credit card encoders, computer printers, and telephones.
The CIMIP study describes Internet ID theft sources as e-mail, phishing, hacking, 419 scams, malware/viruses, online database searching, only ID purchase/sale, PayPal accounts, chat-rooms, and online purchases. P2P file sharing receives no mention whatsoever.
Among the cases cited in the published President's Identity Theft Task Force (PITTF) fact sheet: 658 from the DOJ, 2,521 from the FBI, 6,113 from USPIS, and 2,398 from SSA OIG – were FEMA fraud, skimmers, counterfeit immigration documents, stolen identifications to open new accounts, and counterfeit checks – but none related to P2P.
The DCIA's understanding is that P2P file sharing was not considered as a potential risk, because its impact is minimal, if not virtually non-existent, compared to more prevalent threats. Nevertheless, leading file-sharing software developers and distributors would like to completely eliminate this potential future threat from the P2P distribution channel by responding pro-actively.
The industry is voluntarily working to continually improve its consumer communications and upgrade technical measures to protect the safety of P2P users and enhance the value of their usage experience; and the identity theft problem, although rare, is considered by the DCIA and our Member companies to be unacceptable in any occurrence. There should be no instances of ID theft where P2P file-sharing programs were abused as part of such criminal activity. Share wisely, and take care.
Making Money from File Sharing
Excerpted from LA Times Report by Jon Healey
The market is creating interesting experiments for turning file-swapping into advertising dollars.
One of the sticking points in the contract dispute between Hollywood studios and writers has been how much the latter should be paid when their work is redistributed online. The negotiations have been complicated by the fact that the most vibrant video outlets online have been file-sharing networks, which generate little or no revenue for anyone in the entertainment industry.
Even popular paid outlets such as Apple's iTunes Store have produced comparatively little money for studios, leaving producers and writers with few clues as to which business models will work and how significant the revenue will be.
A handful of start-ups, however, are developing potentially lucrative video distribution systems that put file-sharing networks to work for content owners and consumers alike. These include Hiro Media and YuMe (pronounced "you-me"), whose advertising networks can feed commercials into video files wherever they go online, and Brand Asset Digital, which applies Google-style advertising techniques to file-sharing programs.
Their shared goal is to convert the rampant online copying of video files that has plagued Hollywood into revenue-generating commerce that still feels free to consumers.
These companies start from the assumption that people don't want to have to pay for video online. They then try to find a way to incorporate advertising without driving viewers away.
Hiro, an Israeli start-up, and YuMe, a venture-backed firm in Silicon Valley, insert targeted, interactive advertisements into video files after they've been downloaded. Here's how Hiro's technology would work for an episode of a TV show. The company would feed authorized copies of the episode onto the major file-sharing networks, using the same format as many bootlegged files.
People searching for that episode would find and download the authorized copies, but when they started playing them, they would see a message scrolling across the bottom of the screen prompting them to download Hiro's software in order to watch the entire episode. As they install the software, they're asked a few questions about themselves and their interests.
The software then downloads a customized set of advertisements to run during the episode. Unlike the rest of the video, the ads cannot be fast-forwarded or removed because they're protected by digital locks. After the ads play, the software reports back to Hiro so advertisers will know when and where they played, as well as some demographic information about the viewers. If the episode is played again on the same computer, Hiro will download new ads. And as the episode spreads online through file-sharing, each successive viewer receives a new, customized set of ads.
Hiro and YuMe are developing multiple ways to personalize ads, varying pitches according to the viewer's location, demographics and, eventually, the videos they're previously downloaded. Their approach offers several advantages over traditional broadcast or embedded advertising techniques, which blast the same pitches to every viewer. The most important is that ads delivered dynamically by Hiro and YuMe are less likely to be ignored or resented, for the simple reason that they're more timely and relevant to the viewer.
"The reality is, if an ad is relevant, you will watch it," said Thom Kozik, president of the US division of Wazap, a search engine for video games.
That translates into higher rates paid by advertisers. The ability to customize ads by time and place is critical to unleashing the commercial potential of file-sharing networks, which can distribute video files globally at very low cost but with little control. The tools provided by Hiro and YuMe restore the control demanded by advertisers, letting them dictate where their messages are seen and by what demographic group.
The revenue generated may not be enough to fulfill Hollywood studios' expectations for new movies, said Ronny Golan, Hiro's Co-Founder. But the model works well for full-length TV shows, which have long relied on advertisers to pay the freight.
Advertiser-supported distribution online is winning fans among the studios – witness what all the major TV networks are doing this season – but those are based on streaming, not downloading. One well-publicized example is Hulu, the joint venture by News Corp. and NBC Universal.
Hulu supplies clips, TV shows, and movies with embedded advertising to a handful of major websites for streaming, while allowing users to post links to those videos on their own blogs and social network pages. One drawback there is that streaming full-length episodes can be costly, especially when they're in high definition.
Letting users download and redistribute files is much less expensive, which is why Hiro and YuMe's have developed ways to insert ads into media after it's been downloaded. The firms' strategy is a 180-degree shift for major entertainment companies, which have been playing defense on file-sharing networks.
Today, studios and record labels are flooding those networks with bogus files in an attempt to block real copies of their content from spreading online.
"Imagine, instead of flooding them with fake files, flooding them with legal ones," Golan said.
Brand Asset Digital – the company created by the recent merger between INTENT MediaWorks and Beyond Media, two firms that used file-sharing techniques to distribute media commercially – also tries to load file-sharing networks with legitimate copies of videos and songs.
Instead of dynamically inserting ads, though, Brand Asset Digital treats the content itself as the promotional material. Its slogan - "content is the new store front" - reflects its efforts to intertwine creators and advertisers within digital files.
One technique is to insert advertisers' promotional messages into music or video files in such a way that the messages appear whenever users search for that content.
For example, a search for songs by rapper 50 Cent might return a page or more of results that include the phrase, "free download brought to you by Glaceau's Vitamin Water," a beverage that the artist is backing.
Search results on file-sharing networks are a rich and largely untapped resource for advertisers; according to Joey Patuleia, Vice President of Business Development for Brand Asset Digital, more searches are done on those networks than on Google and other major web search engines.
Brand Asset Digital recently announced a strategic partnership with a talent agency representing 50 Cent and several other top hip-hop artists.
Hiro's technology is being used by an Israeli TV network and NBC's soon-to-be-defunct DotComedy.com. (Tellingly, perhaps, when I downloaded one of DotComedy's offerings, Hiro fed me ads for beef jerky.)
YuMe is supporting online video efforts by Microsoft, DAVE Networks, BitTorrent, Vuze and Pando. You don't see these companies distributing hit TV shows through file-sharing networks yet, but studios and advertisers are much more receptive to the idea now than they used to be.
Jayant Kadambi, Co-Founder & CEO of YuMe, said he found virtually no interest among content owners in advertiser-supported file-sharing three years ago. So his company bought the international rights to a number of Bollywood films and distributed those to theaters and the Net simultaneously.
As YouTube rocketed in popularity, a number of smaller content owners, such as San Francisco's Mondo Media, started looking to spread their content as far as possible online – with YuMe's help on the advertising side.
Today, Kadambi said, even the largest content owners and advertisers are dipping their toes in. "We're more than past the halfway mark," he said.
"Everyone's pretty clear that the broadband networks and the Internet, if managed correctly, can be an additional source of revenue for their content."
Besides, it's hard to argue with the numbers put up by the file-sharing networks.
Just look at the stats recently reported by a single BitTorrent index site, Mininova: 3 million users and 3 million downloads daily. In plain English, that means people who go to Mininova to search for digital goods (a video, game, album, or piece of software) start downloading files 2 thousand times per minute on average. (Click on these links to see Mininova's search and download stats.)
It's safe to say that television programs make up a sizable portion of those downloads; as BayTSP, an anti-piracy firm, points out, one of the fastest growing phenomena in the file-sharing world is index sites dedicated to TV shows.
Just as the demand is enormous, so is the opportunity. And the emergence of companies such as Hiro, YuMe and Brand Asset Digital is a sign that the Internet may soon give producers and writers a pot of cash worth fighting over.
Petition to Keep P2P Networks Open for Marketers
Excerpted from Marketing Daily Report by Laurie Sullivan
Paramount Pictures, Atlantic Records, EMI Records, and Sony BMG could hit a snag in efforts to increase their marketing of products and services through P2P file-sharing networks.
The SavetheInternet.com coalition and a number of advocacy groups last week filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to stop Comcast from violating customer rights after reports surfaced that the ISP plans to cut service to P2P file-sharing programs, which sometimes require higher throughput to deliver content.
Entertainment companies working closely with technology and digital media entertainment firms SafeNet, Ultramerical, and ArtistDirect want to tap P2P networks to promote, market, and provide samples of new songs and movies. Marketing messages are attached to the music and movie files distributed through the service. They link back to sites that provide additional information about the distributed content.
Some of the top wireless carriers and technology companies are spearheading efforts to increase marketing and advertising through P2P networks.
AT&T, Telefonica Group, Verizon, Cisco Systems, BitTorrent, LimeWire, Pando Networks, and VeriSign, which operates commercial P2P networks based on its Kontiki technology, are members in the P4P Working Goup (P4PWG) sponsored by the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA), which is spearheading legitimate uses of P2P technology.
The group aims to provide solutions and protocols that would eliminate Comcast, and other ISPs, from having to take channel-harming measures to successfully deliver P2P content across their networks – without increasing bandwidth requirements.
The benefits from the group's work aim to support higher-quality targeted results for consumers entering search queries, as well as less-bandwidth requirements for ISPs in delivering the results, according to DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty. "We encourage Comcast to join this effort," he says. "It's a shame that Comcast has handled this matter as they have, but we welcome them to the group to solve the issues that concern them."
Comcast denied unlawful behavior in a statement issued Thursday.
"Comcast does not, has not and will not block any websites or online applications, including peer-to-peer (P2P) services, and no one has demonstrated otherwise," says Executive Vice President David L. Cohen. "We engage in reasonable network management to provide all of our customers with a good Internet experience, and we do so consistently with FCC policy."
The FCC must declare that blocking digital media and content delivered across P2P networks is a violation of Internet policy, which guarantees consumer access to all applications, content and services, according to the petition filed with the FCC by several groups.
Those who filed the petition were Free Press; Public Knowledge; Media Access Project, Consumer Federation of America; Consumers Union; Information Society Project at Yale Law School; Prof. Charles Nesson, faculty co-director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School; and Barbara van Schewick of Stanford Law School and Center for Internet & Society.
Two services announced at last week's DCIA P2P ADVERTISING UPFRONT marketing conference in Hollywood, CA reinforce the move by major brands toward marketing and advertising across P2P networks. QTRAX, a P2P advertising-supported music service scheduled to debut in late-January, licensed four major music labels, including EMI Music, will provide between 25 million and 30 million music tracks at launch.
Brand Asset Digital, formed by the merger of INTENT MediaWorks, and Beyond Media, offers marketing and content distribution tools that support independent labels, such as Nettwerk Music Group, Violator, and V2 Music.
Predictions for 2008
Excerpted from Online Spin Report by Cory Treffiletti
Of course, now that it's November, there's no better time than the present to lay out predictions for 2008! Some of you might think it's a little early, but I like to be first, so that none of my predictions are too heavily influenced by what everyone else is thinking. So with that brief explanation for jumping the gun, here are some of my bold and not-so-bold predictions for 2008:
1. P2P will become an important, ad-supported vehicle for reaching consumers. The P2P market is fast trying to push forward with ad-supported models and they are being very aggressive in trying new ideas. Patience is no longer a virtue in the music business, as more people are recognizing that digital has effectively increased the opportunity for interaction directly between the artists and the consumers. This is especially important as it's not all about music in this environment now - it's about video as well. This market will mature quickly simply because there is a lot of volume, and it provides an untapped resource with detailed behavioral information. The dirty word of "P2P" will likely go away and advertisers will begin to be more enticed by this environment.
2. The maturation of mobile as an ad-supported medium is still 1-2 years away, but mobile search will increase dramatically and usher in the beginning of this stage of growth. Mobile search has been promised for many years, but hasn't yet met expectations. This year saw the iPhone launch, and the game here effectively changed because of the interface and the integration of such application as Google Maps, etc.
3. The Google phone and version 2.0 of the iPhone (increased memory, more applications) will dominate the sales of smart phones. With the Google phone getting coverage in The New York Times, it is close to becoming a reality. Other players will launch new phones, but none will come as close to the cool factor as these two companies. 'Nuff said.
4. Standards for online video advertising will be announced... by NBC, CBS and ABC. The fact that standards will be announced is not the surprising part. The surprise is that this movement will be led by the major television networks, notoriously slow to lead the packaging of online video. Still, the networks are also the leading source of quality video content that is accessible and of interest to the mass audience!
5. Social media will develop the "killer app": an aggregate buying tool for groups. I have always said that social media is the digital extension of multi-level marketing (Amway, Mary Kay, etc.). The common element between these two models is commerce and the aggregation of consumers to purchase products (though in different ways).
For my final prediction: The role of the media planner will become even more difficult, as these emerging formats become more widely used by consumers and a more viable opportunity for interaction with brands.
US Regulator Urged to Act on Comcast P2P Blockage
Excerpted from Telecom TV Report
Consumer advocates have pooled to demand that the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) take action against cable operator Comcast for allegedly stifling P2P traffic. The collective wants the agency to mandate Net Neutrality for data traffic and fine Comcast $195,000 per offense.
The demand is likely to foment an industry-wide debate as the FCC has yet to formally move on Net Neutrality provisions despite previously having proclaimed general support for the principal. The filing was presented by the Consumer Federation of America, the Consumers Union, Free Press, the Media Access Project, and Internet law professors from Harvard, Stanford and Yale.
The issue recently returned to the limelight after the Associated Press (AP) claimed independent tests proved Comcast has been throttling and blocking P2P traffic on its network. The operator rejected that report, stating it only delays file sharing to ensure other services are not affected. Which surely means that it blocks some traffic while letting other messages through? But perhaps there's a different meaning at the deep semantic level.
Comcast employees last week told reporters the company has banned public discussion of its traffic shaping activities on pain of the order of the boot. The top operator has 12.9 million ISP subscribers.
"They’re blocking an innovative application that could be a competitor to cable TV," said Free Press General Counsel, Marvin Ammori, who warned that an endorsement of Comcast’s behavior will inevitably lead to a wholesale attack on file sharing.
He believes the practice is commonplace within Comcast and notes that the company failed ever to mention it until its highly questionable tactics were outed by the AP.
The collective request to the FCC says, "Comcast is doing exactly what we most feared ... secretly degrading an application. We didn’t expect the first violation to be so blatant."
Comcast claims that there is no need for FCC intervention, falling back on a previous Commission policy statement that says operators have the right to "reasonable network management."
The question is, of course, is this "reasonable network management?" Many will say it is anything but.
Joost Partners With Meebo
Excerpted from ReadWriteWeb Report by Marshall Kirkpatrick
Joost, the peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) company that aims to take on the old TV model, is hooking up with chat service meebo. Essentially, the announcement means that users will be able to chat with all their friends on MSN, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, and GoogleTalk while watching the high-resolution, professional video content on Joost. It's a good combination.
If you haven't checked out Joost lately, it looks nicer, has far more content (and ads) than before and appears more stable on a Mac. It's free for anyone to download. The meebo integration has just gone live.
A web-based cross-platform chat client, meebo says more than 1 million people spend over two and a half hours each, daily, on its site.
Joost, which has started by Skype Co-Founder Niklas Zennström among others, has raised almost $50 million in venture funding and has more than 1 million beta testers.
It's a good distribution deal for meebo, and some cross promotion to meebo users won't hurt Joost either. That will likely happen, at the very least, every time a meebo user chatting with his/her IM friends on MSN or Yahoo messenger through Joost is asked "what are you doing?"
Meebo is a VC darling as well - this is the kind of deal that high-powered investors can help make happen, a great example of why people say it's as much about the connections as it is about the cash.
Joost launched a developer platform for widgets at the end of this summer. Meebo launched a platform of its own last week with selected partners offering everything from integrated audio to live streaming video. Complex features are all well and good, but this announcement is likely to be one of the most significant features either of these companies can offer.
Babelgum Teams with Encounters
Excerpted from Animation World Network Report
Leading P2PTV network Babelgum has announced a partnership with the Encounters Short Film Festival in Bristol, UK, which is currently celebrating its 13th year. Encounters participants will now be able to broadcast their short films on Babelgum, making them available to a potential 300+ million audience worldwide. Film directors and rights owners can upload content on Babelgum through November 20th.
Encounters entrants will also be given the opportunity to enter the Babelgum Online Film Festival, which will award winning filmmakers a 20,000-euro cash prize for each of the seven categories, two of which are dedicated to shorts and animation.
To protect filmmakers' work, Babelgum supports a host of digital rights management (DRM) facilities, such as geographic restrictions and time-limited licenses, and content is delivered in a highly encrypted format to provide protection from infringement.
In order to make their work available to a global audience, filmmakers can simply upload their festival submissions to Encounters and they will be subsequently made available on Babelgum.
Babelgum is the next generation global Internet TV network, using P2P technology to provide the immersive viewing experience and picture quality of traditional TV with the interactivity and personalization enabled by the Internet.
Babelgum allows users to enjoy free, on-demand, and personalized channels, using niche to mainstream content to satisfy individual needs for tailored entertainment.
Instead of user-generated clips, it features only professionally produced content spanning film, news, sports, documentaries, music videos, concerts, lifestyle and trends, animation, and scripted programs.
Babelgum provides independent content owners with a protected platform on which to gain global exposure of their work and a unique model to monetize their content online. Babelgum's content partners include 3DD, the Associated Press, Shine Limited, BBC Motion Gallery, Reuters, Entertainment Rights, Gong Anime, IMG, ITN, Ministry of Sound TV, Zed, and Off the Fence, among others.
Founded in 2005, Babelgum is a privately held company, with headquarters in Ireland and offices in the UK, France, Italy, and soon the US.
CacheLogic Scores with Connexia
CacheLogic, provider of the world's leading Digital Asset Delivery Network, has been selected by Connexia, the web partner of acmilan.com to deliver online streaming video content to the huge global fanbase of legendary Italian football club AC Milan.
In order to support the increasing demand for multimedia content by sport fans, Velocix Video - Windows Media Streaming will be used to power live streaming and on-demand video for the AC Milan official website. The club's supporters worldwide will be able to access exclusive video content through the Official Website of the Club - acmilan.com, all with the highest quality viewer experience available over the web.
The service will be delivered in partnership with Connexia, the Web and Communication division of Visiant Group and leader in the European ICT market; a partnership that ensures AC Milan will receive a robust and highly cost effective solution for its video streaming services.
"The selection by Connexia of our Velocix Video solutions to deliver AC Milan streamed content is tremendously exciting, because we will be helping to bring one of the footballing world's most revered clubs closer to its millions of fans worldwide," said Haran Sold, Vice President and General Manager, EMEA at CacheLogic. "Being chosen to deliver this service confirms our belief that CacheLogic delivers the highest quality video experience over the web and is unrivalled in terms of quality, price, and versatility."
"The Partnership between Connexia and CacheLogic will help bringing the immediacy of football action and the strength of AC Milan's community together to create a seamless, Internet experience for those who are most passionate about the club," said Massimo Cortinovis, Connexia's CEO. "Our collaboration with CacheLogic raises the industry standard and provides the best possible on-demand viewing experience for the club's supporters."
CacheLogic's Velocix network is designed to enable content owners, movie studios, and broadcasters to deliver video and other large digital assets over the web, with unprecedented performance, breakthrough economics and an asset delivery lifecycle management system that provides content owners the control, analytics and reporting they need to manage their asset libraries through the digital distribution chain.
BUYDRM’s KeyOS to Power SambaTech
BUYDRM, a media services innovator helping companies market, monetize and monitor pay media content, has been selected by SambaTech of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to provide its KeyOS Pay Media Platform with digital rights management (DRM) services for use in South America.
BUYDRM's KeyOS services have been seamlessly integrated into SambaTech's Liquid Platform -- a media management console that offers CMS file distribution through a robust GridNetwork and granular reporting. Using KeyOS, SambaTech's customers will be able to offer secure Windows Media Audio and Video files to their end-users in five distinct business models: PPV, Subscription, Token, Ad-Supported, and Marketing.
With the launch of the Microsoft PlayReady DRM for SilverLight in early 2008, Samba Tech's offering will extend to include the secure delivery of games, images, and ringtones, and a wider range of audio and video codecs including WMA/WMV, AAC and H.264.
"This new partnership with BUYDRM will in turn make Samba Tech's service offering more valuable, productive and safer for our customers," said Gustavo Caetano, CEO and founder of
Samba Tech. "BUYDRM is the right partner for us and our clients."
Christopher Levy, CEO & Founder of BUYDRM, was equally excited about the new venture.
"The integration of KeyOS into SambaTech's LIQUID Platform will provide a turnkey pay media offering that is uniquely equipped to meet the media distribution needs of its customers," he said.
"BUYDRM looks forward to expanding our offering in South America at a time when the market is very dynamic."
Zattoo Takes ABC News Now
Excerpted from Variety Report by Steve Clarke
ABC News and Disney ABC International Television have inked with fledgling Swiss-American P2PTV service Zattoo to distribute the ABC News Now channel in Germany, Spain, and Belgium.
Other territories, including the UK, could be signed up in the next six months.
ABC News Now is a 24-hour news and information network available to nearly 34 million users across cable, broadband, and mobile platforms.
Zattoo, based in Michigan and Zurich, Switzerland, was founded in 2005 by Sugih Jamin, Professor of Computer Science at University of Michigan, and Beat Knecht, a software marketing professional.
The service, providing free TV channels via computers, is available in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Denmark, and Belgium, but expansion plans are under way.
JumpTV Chooses Abacast for Hybrid P2P CDN
JumpTV, a leader in broadcasting international television and sports over the Internet, has chosen Abacast as its hybrid P2P CDN technology partner.
JumpTV represents an opportunity for broadcasters worldwide to develop a new online audience for their networks, enhance internationally based revenue streams, and develop previously unavailable demographic targeting of their audiences.
With more than 300 channels from 75+ countries, JumpTV delivers its viewers news, sports, and entertainment content on a real-time basis (live) from all corners of the globe. Using Abacast’s unique hybrid P2P technology will enable JumpTV to more economically offer its exclusive, hard-to-reach content without sacrificing quality or performance. JumpTV offers video at 100Kbps, 450Kbps, and 1000Kbps.
Abacast created the hybrid P2P technology that takes the quality and control of central server (unicast) technology and seamlessly and dynamically couples it with the scalability and efficiency of P2P. The result is high quality live delivery to any size audience while providing a significant reduction in bandwidth costs.
"JumpTV has looked at virtually every P2P streaming media delivery solution," said Sean Coutts, Group Head, Business Operations of JumpTV, "and we are very impressed with and excited about Abacast’s capability to deliver a high-quality broadcast with P2P cost efficiency."
"JumpTV represents a great opportunity to further showcase Abacast’s unique hybrid technology," said Mike King, President of Abacast. "Our solutions were designed specifically for content distributors like JumpTV. We are thrilled to have a customer of JumpTV’s caliber utilizing this technology."
BroadRamp Launches P2P-Enabled CDN
BroadRamp, inventor of the only seamless, universal multimedia content and application delivery platform, announced the release of its Managed Content Delivery Service (MCDS), the first end-to-end content delivery solution to integrate encoding and content conversion, media hosting, streaming media services, and P2P-enabled content delivery network (CDN) bandwidth.
A key pillar of the MCDS platform is BroadRamp’s CDS Content Delivery System. The unique compression approach and embedded player architecture of CDS enables quick-launch, full-screen high definition quality video (WebHD) with Dolby 6.1 Surround Sound. The CDS compression reduces media file sizes by 50-90% while maintaining quality levels and delivering an outstanding user experience.
Applications, e-commerce, and dynamic database linkages may be integrated into the CDS content stream and managed in a thin-client architecture by the CDS Player, enabling new ways to monetize online content. One such implementation of this CDS capability is BroadRamp’s v-Commerce, which enables the user to accomplish an e-commerce transaction by clicking on hot-spot product placements within the CDS video, without exiting the content stream.
To prevent copyright infringement, BroadRamp has implemented a nine-layer security architecture within CDS, and enabled a digital rights management (DRM) solution called Total Rights Management (TRM).
MCDS supports these unique CDS capabilities, and delivers the resultant content online utilizing BroadRamp’s media hosting, streaming media service, and P2P CDN bandwidth capabilities. The combination of the innovative CDS compression approach with a P2P-enabled CDN drives a total cost of delivery that is radically lower than other media delivery alternatives. MCDS also quickly converts virtually any type of offline content into an online rich multimedia format that is usable by all web enabled devices.
"MCDS is the only content delivery offering to provide P2P networking options and is the only end-to-end solution for publishing your content easily and quickly to any web enabled device," said BroadRamp CTO & Founder Sean Darwish.
"The user experience is unrivaled. Content is delivered instantly and there are no applications or players to download," continued Darwish. "Full-screen WebHD output is accompanied by Dolby 6.1 Surround Sound. Managed CDS makes your content easy to distribute, view and a pleasure to watch."
The Hidden Risk of File Sharing
Excerpted from Wall Street Journal Report by Joseph De Avila
Many of the hundreds of millions of people around the world who swap music, movies, and other digital content on their personal computers over the Internet have inadvertently put themselves at risk of identity theft.
Users of popular file-sharing services such as LimeWire have found themselves victims of identity theft when their personal information was inadvertently shared on a so-called P2P network. And recent high-profile breaches via these networks have put thousands of people's financial information at risk. The problem typically arises when users set up file-sharing software and create a folder for their downloads in the same location as their personal files.
Precise data on the incidence are hard to come by, in part because personal information can be accessed many different ways, and victims may not think to blame their file-sharing activities. But identity-theft experts say the problem is real and growing.
The risk from file sharing "will get worse before it gets better," says Don McGillen, Executive Director of Carnegie Mellon CyLab, an initiative of the university in Pittsburgh that develops computer-security technology.
In the latest incident, a Seattle man this week pleaded guilty to charges of identity theft for using LimeWire to steal tax forms, credit reports, and student-loan applications from the computers of more than 50 people. He used the information to set up phony credit accounts to buy merchandise online.
Citigroup in September confirmed that it was looking into a data breach where the names and Social Security numbers from 5,200 customer accounts were inadvertently leaked by an employee using LimeWire. And in June, Pfizer said the names and Social Security numbers of 17,000 current and former employees were leaked after the spouse of an employee downloaded file-sharing software onto a company laptop.
Both companies say they aren't aware of any identity theft linked to the breaches, but they have offered the affected employees or customers free credit monitoring.
In another case involving charges of identity theft, computer crime, and racketeering against a group in the Denver area, the final defendant pleaded guilty last week to racketeering. The group had used LimeWire to access several financial records and used the money from their practices to buy methamphetamine, according to the indictment.
"Once the meth addicts have discovered it, it is in widespread use" for identity theft, says Tom Sydnor, Director of the Center for the Study of Digital Property with the Progress and Freedom Foundation in Washington, DC.
Regulators, identity-theft experts, and the file-sharing services themselves acknowledge the growing risk and are taking steps to address it. Last month, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging it to expand its focus on file sharing to protect users from identity theft.
At least one company, Tiversa, based in Cranberry Township, PA, is offering products to monitor the sharing of files online. And LimeWire and other file-sharing services say they are seeking to limit how files are shared. Many identity-theft experts, however, say the steps are inadequate or confusing.
File-sharing allows users to swap personal files on their hard drives – from music files and videos to documents and PDFs – via a peer-to-peer network (often called P2P). Users download software from one of a number of services that operate on these networks, with names like BearShare, Kazaa, Morpheus, and LimeWire. The software then lets users access one of several P2P networks. Once users are connected to the network, they can search for and download copies of files that other users have shared from their hard drives – even users of other software that use the same network.
P2P networks are often disparaged by critics for enabling users to download unauthorized copyright material. P2Ps first came to national attention in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the original version of Napster battled litigation from the music industry. The possibility of identity theft wasn't really on the radar then. But now, the newer applications such as LimeWire – which unlike Napster don't house a database of files on their own servers – have led to a surge in popularity. At any given time, as many as 12 million people world-wide are logged on to P2P networks, according to Tiversa, and 450 million copies of P2P software have been downloaded.
With growing use has come growing abuse, say identity-theft experts. But trying to pinpoint when inadvertent disclosure occurred is extremely difficult for law-enforcement agencies, says John Lynch, Deputy Chief of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section with the US Department of Justice (DOJ). Identity theft on the Internet can come from several sources, including leaked files on a P2P network, an online phishing scam, or a hacked credit-card company, Mr. Lynch says.
Here's how inadvertent file-sharing often starts: When a user sets up the software for the P2P service, one of the first steps is to create a folder for the files the user will be downloading. Often, the user will place that folder within the computer's "My Documents" folder – where people also typically put their personal files, including tax returns or other financial documents. Depending on how the user set up the program, all the files in the "My Documents" folder or whatever convenient host folder was chosen – and all of the subfolders – are then available to others in the network.
Someone who searches a network for, say, "tax return" may be able to download a copy of those personal files off other users' computers. If a user has a company laptop, or has access to company files on their home computer, these files can get leaked, too – even from the corporate server, Tiversa says.
Even tech-savvy users often don't have a clear understanding of how this works and how to protect select files on their computers, say identity-theft experts. The P2P services' software can be confusing, these experts say, and sometimes users think they have limited the sharing of their files, when in fact, they haven't.
Each service requires different steps. Consumers can try to consult with their software provider, but some are located overseas, identity-theft experts say. And even some experts disagree on the correct steps to use. A recent report from the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) reviewed several online sources that offered instructions on how not to share files on P2P networks, and said most of the instructions were dated and inaccurate.
But for people who do want to use P2Ps, some experts advise reserving a separate computer just for file-sharing.
LimeWire – one of the most popular P2Ps with an estimated 50 million users – says confusion is mainly a problem for neophyte users. Mark Gorton, Chairman of LimeWire, says the company doesn't track how much inadvertent sharing goes on, but he says the company has been tweaking the software to make it easier for people to avoid inadvertent sharing. For instance, he says that in the latest version of LimeWire, users are no longer able to share their entire C drive. The company has also added a warning icon that tells users how many files they are sharing and will show them a list if they click on it.
Another popular P2P service, BearShare, has had trouble in the past with users inadvertently sharing files. In 2006, BearShare was bought by a unit of iMesh as part of a larger settlement between the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and BearShare creator Free Peers. Talmon Marco, President of iMesh, says that the current iteration of BearShare helps to curb inadvertent sharing: Users can swap only media files, such as those for music or movies. Other files, such as PDFs, Word documents, or text documents can no longer be shared.
Marty Lafferty, chief executive for the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA), questions the significance of file sharing in the total cases of identity theft. Still, he says, the organization is developing best practices for the industry with regards to inadvertent file-sharing. For example, the DCIA is advising its members to rework their programs' warnings to make it clearer when users are sharing files that they might not intend to, says Mr. Lafferty.
Tiversa offers a consumer product that monitors customers' file sharing, for an annual charge of $24.95. If a group of files that might contain sensitive information has been designated to be shared, the company will alert the customer and explain how to stop the sharing. Tiversa can also tell the user whether a shared file has been downloaded by another user.
P2PCleaner Available to Help Manage Software
P2PCleaner, first of a new family of software designed to bring law-and-order to home, office, and campus computers and networks that run P2P applications, has been introduced by Peer Innovations.
A free home version of the patent-pending P2PCleaner for Windows XP and Vista is available at www.p2pcleaner.com. The free version of P2PCleaner is fully functional, and gives users "ability, not liability," said Steve Lerner, CEO of Peer Innovations. The company, he said, plans to offer university, business, ISP, and SDK licenses for P2PCleaner.
"P2P file sharing is spreading like wildfire," he said, "and before the public availability of P2PCleaner, sharing of files also carried a substantial downside, including loss of system performance, consumption of substantial bandwidth, and a myriad of legal issues."
"Over time, P2P technology becomes a very elegant solution for reducing performance bottlenecks on networks," Mr. Lerner explained. "Our software enables transparent usage and management of P2P software and protects the user."
The P2PCleaner approach uses low impact technology that does not further consume bandwidth or resources. P2PCleaner is designed in recognition that there are many uses for P2P file sharing, some of which may create a burden on a local network due to uploads of music, videos, and software. P2PCleaner provides the ability to identify and manage P2P applications.
P2PCleaner is also intended to address the inherent liability for copying and storing unauthorized content files.
"As recent court cases show," Mr. Lerner said, "liability can often fall on the owner of the network or computer for copyright infringement. P2PCleaner addresses this issue by offering customized solutions that enable network and computer owners to manage P2P file sharing."
Performance issues created by P2P software, he said, are likely to continue to grow as P2P delivery systems gain acceptance among content owners including media, video game, and software companies. Problems will increase for home users in particular as each content owner requires installation of different P2P software to access the content they wish to deliver.
"Companies want control over end-user computers to lower their bandwidth cost," Mr. Lerner added. "Just imagine 10 or more different P2P programs running in memory, fighting for network capacity and computer resources. P2PCleaner is the first publicly available software to help mitigate this situation."
Copyright Reform For The Digital Age
Excerpted from MediaPost Report
Gigi Sohn, the President of Public Knowledge, a lobby group advocating free speech and the fair use of copyright, this week proposed a six-step plan to reform copyright laws that technology advocates feel are outdated and harm innovation.
At the top of Sohn's list is expanding the scope of incidental and non-commercial fair-use. She says the 1984 Betamax decision that gives users the right to record materials for personal use should become a law covering all digital media; the idea is to limit the number of "spurious" lawsuits handed out by big media for unauthorized use of their content.
Sohn also suggested reform for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) – the foundation on which many a user-generated content site is built – saying that limitations are needed to contain the number of frivolous takedown notices, while consumers deserve to see in clear language exactly what their rights are in terms of uploading, using, and distributing content.
Sohn said the music industry suffers from a "Byzantine" licensing system that favors traditional broadcasters thanks to a "solely historical accident." She said the playing field must be leveled to make way for digital innovation. Please click here for the full Ars Technica report.
Coming Events of Interest
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LV - January 6th in Las Vegas, NV. 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. The Conference will take place in N260 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Conference Luncheon in N262-264. This DCIA flagship event is a Conference within CES - the Consumer Electronics Show.
CCNC 2008 - The Fifth Annual IEEE Consumer Communications & Networking Conference, January 10th-12th at Harrahs, Las Vegas, NV. Now co-promoted by the DCIA. The latest research developments and technical solutions in the areas of home networking, consumer networking, enabling technologies (including middleware), and novel applications and services. See www.ieee-ccnc.org for details.
P2P ADVERTISING UPFRONT NY - Sponsored by the DCIA March 11th in New York, NY in conjunction with the Media Summit New York (MSNY). The industry's premiere marketplace focused on the unique global advertising, sponsorship, and cross-promotional opportunities available in the steadily growing universe of open and closed P2P, file-sharing, P2PTV, and social networks, as well as peer-assisted content delivery networks (CDNs).
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