March 17, 2008
Volume XXI, Issue 5
A "Historic Day for P2P"
Excerpted from Online Video Watch
So said Pando Networks CEO Robert Levitan speaking of the collaboration led by Pando, Yale researchers, and Verizon, at the DCIA's Inaugural P2P MARKET CONFERENCE in New York.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) has come a long way since the Napster days. Progress shown by the fact that telcos are now engaging with P2P companies for the mutual benefit of users and business. The need for collaboration was a recurring theme of the conference.
Said Eliot Listman of PeerApp, "People think the bandwidth is free. A service provider is providing the bandwidth. Content owners are starting to deploy P2P; however, those content owners are concerned that the service providers could block P2P distribution. All the politics and talk of regulation bring to the front that business relationships have to grow."
Which is what the P4P Working Group is all about. Back in June of last year, the first New York P2P 2.0 Meetup took place, organized by Laird Popkin, CTO of Pando Networks, and attended by Verizon Senior Technologist Doug Pasko, at which Yale's Haiyong Xie presented his research on the benefit of "Proactive Provider Assistance for P2P."
The P4P Working Group grew out of the ensuing discussion, a collaboration among ISPs, P2P software distributors, and technology researchers to "accelerate distribution of content and optimize ISP network resources to provide the best possible performance for end-user customers."
Janko Roettgers at NewTeeVee has more on the specifics of the technology, but the short story is that ISPs, by implementing a mechanism through which they can communicate with P2P software programs about network status and policies, can ultimately benefit from customer use of P2P in a big way.
And the initial field trial results are compelling: P4P enhanced download rates for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) averaged 205% the speed of unmanaged P2P downloads. ISP internal data delivery (hop count) fell from an average of 5.5 hops to 0.89 hops. Traffic localization within metro locations increased from 6.27% for P2P to 57.98% for P4P enhanced delivery. Some FTTH users saw as much as 665% the download speed of unmanaged P2P!
P2P can be done legally, securely and for the mutual benefit of all parties. Thanks to the DCIA and a whole lot of smart people, we are headed toward more intelligent networks that will provide faster performance and a better experience to all users.
Peer-To-Peer Networks Go Legit
Excerpted from Associated Press Report by Peter Svensson
The technology best known for pirating movies, music, and software online is increasingly being adopted by businesses as a cheap way to get video content to customers.
A number of start-ups are embracing so-called P2P technology and have convinced some big-name media companies to use them to deliver legal content.
"In 2005 when we met with content owners, 'peer-to-peer' was a dirty word," said Robert Levitan, chief executive of file-sharing company Pando Networks. "In 2007, finally, content owners came to us and said 'Yeah, we think there's a role for P2P.'"
Levitan was speaking Friday at the first P2P MARKET CONFERENCE of the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA), a trade group with more than 100 Member companies.
Pando is a prime example of mainstream acceptance: it's providing the means for NBC to provide DVD-quality downloads of its shows, including "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.
But 90 percent of P2P downloads are still of illegally copied content, according to David Hahn, Vice President of Product Management at SafeNet, which tracks the networks.
Hahn said 12 million to 15 million people are file-sharing across the world at any one time, mainly on the BitTorrent and eDonkey networks. The attraction of file-sharing is not just that it's free - there's also content available that can't be had by legal means, like TV shows that haven't aired in Europe.
The BitTorrent software was invented and set free on the Net in 2002 by Bram Cohen. He later started a company to profit from the technology. In 2005, BitTorrent Inc. stopped providing links to copyrighted content and now helps studios distribute movies.
Overall, acceptance of P2P technology is higher in Western Europe, where piracy using the technology also happens to be especially rampant, according to SafeNet.
The British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) uses P2P technology from VeriSign for its iPlayer, which streams some of its most popular shows. French TV channels are using software from 1-Click Media, which claims 1 million users per day. The Norwegian public broadcasting service recently started using BitTorrent software to get its shows out.
Media companies don't need P2P technology to provide video over the Internet. They can hire so-called content delivery networks, or CDNs, to get the media to their customers, at a cost of about 25 to 35 cents per gigabyte.
Doug Walker, chief executive of BitTorrent, put the size of this market at $680 million this year.
But P2P technology can offload much of the work of the CDNs by having subscribers, who have downloaded the data already, send it to subscribers who haven't. That cuts the cost of delivery by anywhere from 50 to 90 percent, according to several of the companies presenting at the conference.
The P2P programs used by Pando and VeriSign are quite different from BitTorrent and eDonkey. They don't let consumers distribute their own content. What comes down the pipe is strictly from the media companies that contract with the P2P companies. The consumers may not even know they're using P2P software - all they know is that they've installed video player software on the computer.
So far, Internet service providers (ISPs) have been left out of the equation even though they're saddled with the burden of conveying all the extra traffic. Some of them have partially blocked or slowed down P2P traffic to keep it from swamping their networks.
But the adversarial relationship is changing: At the conference, Verizon Communications presented results of a test that showed that by sharing information on its network with Pando so it could optimize downloads, the companies were able to speed downloads and reduce Verizon's cost of carrying the traffic.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 We are very grateful to all who participated in the first-ever P2P MARKET CONFERENCE Friday at the Princeton Club of New York. The experience was valuable and stimulating, with the opportunities for networking as great as the information conveyed in well-executed keynote presentations and panel discussions.
In the coming days, we will post presentations online for DCINFO readers who were unable to attend the event, such as Advertising in Distributed Networks, the closing keynote by FTI Consulting's Senior Managing Director, Bruce Benson.
Keynote speakers included BitTorrent's CEO Doug Walker, 1-Click Media's CEO Arthur Madrid, RawFlow's President & Co-Founder Mikkel Dissing, Pando Networks' CEO Robert Levitan, Move Networks' East Coast Vice President Kevin Conlan, Zattoo's Co-Founder, Chairman, and CTO Sugih Jamin, Trispen Technologies' Founder & CEO Jaco Botha, TVU Networks' EVP of Business Development Kap Shin, and Microsoft's Director of P2P Networking See-Mong Tan.
Our conference luncheon keynote speaker was QTRAX's Chairman & CEO Allan Klepfisz, who generously opened up the session to an extended Q&A on the business strategy and substantial progress made by the "world's first free and legal P2P music service."
We were thrilled that 1-Click Media chose to announce its acquisition by Ipercast at the event.
A highlight of the day was the report from P4P Working Group (P4PWG) Co-Chairs Doug Pasko, Verizon Senior Technologist, and Laird Popkin, Pando CTO, on the just completed P4PWG initial field trial results.
"P4P" is defined as a set of business practices and integrated network topology awareness models designed to optimize ISP network resources and enable P2P based content payload acceleration. The basic thrust of the P4PWG is to exploit network intelligence to enable more efficient P2P file delivery.
The P4PWG's mission is to work jointly and cooperatively with leading Internet service providers (ISPs), peer-to-peer (P2P) software distributors, and technology researchers to ascertain appropriate and voluntary best practices for the use of "P4P" mechanisms to accelerate distribution of content and optimize utilization of ISP network resources in order to provide the best possible performance to end-user customers.
Active participants in the P4PWG include AT&T, Bezeq International, BitTorrent, Cisco Systems, GridNetworks, Joost, LimeWire, Manatt, Oversi, Pando Networks, PeerApp, Solid State Networks, Telefonica Group, Velocix, VeriSign, Verizon Communications, Vuze, University of Toronto, University of Washington, and Yale University.
P4PWG observers include Abacast, AHT International, Akamai, Alcatel Lucent, CableLabs, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, Exa Networks, Juniper Networks, Lariat Network, Level 3 Communications, Limelight Networks, Microsoft, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), NBC Universal, Nokia, Orange, Princeton University, RawFlow, RSUC/GweepNet, SaskTel, Solana Networks, Speakeasy Network, Stanford University, Thomson, Time Warner Cable, Turner Broadcasting, and UCLA.
Its primary objectives include: to provide ISPs with the ability to optimize utilization of network resources while enhancing service levels for P2P traffic; to provide P2P software distributors with the ability to accelerate content delivery while enhancing efficient usage of ISP bandwidth; and to provide researchers who are developing P4P mechanisms with the support to advance and the ability to publish their work.
Goals also include validating and encouraging the adoption of methods for ISPs and P2P software distributors to work together to enable and support consumer service improvements as P2P adoption and resultant traffic evolves while protecting the intellectual property (IP) of participating entities; and establishing appropriate and voluntary best practices for the deployment of P4P mechanisms to meet the above identified objectives in a way that can be sustained by all of the necessary participants.
As the P4PWG endeavors to bring a standardized mechanism to improve performance and reduce networking costs, a field trial was hosted to validate some of the assumptions made of the potential for success. The trial made use of Yale Researcher Haiyong Xie's implementation of the P4P principals, Pando Networks' application platform, and network topology data from Verizon and Telefonica.
Highlights of the initial field trial results include: P4P enhanced download rates for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) subscribers averaged more than twice the speed of unmanaged P2P downloads - and as much as nearly seven times the speed.
ISP internal data delivery (hop count) fell from an average of more than five to less than one hop.
And traffic localization within metro regions increased nine-fold for P4P enhanced delivery.
The P4PWG is open to all ISPs, P2P software distributors, technology researchers, information technology (IT) firms involved in digital media platforms, and DCIA Member companies. Please call 410-476-7965 or e-mail P4PWG@dcia.info for more information. Share wisely and take care.
Ipercast Acquires P2P Service 1-Click Media
A new union between the leading European content delivery network (CDN) and a top French peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) network operator will see the emergence of a unique hybrid solution, providing the media industry with a new economic model and the general public with high-definition (HD) technology.
Ipercast, a company specializing in the technical management of digital media on Internet protocol (IP) networks, announced at the DCIA P2P MARKET CONFERENCE its acquisition of 1-Click Media, the P2P solution provider for businesses, in particular media companies. Ipercast and 1-Click already have a connection, because the two companies worked together in 2004 on the launch of the first authorized P2P platform with M6.
The market for broadcasting video content on the web is very buoyant at the moment. The exponential demand for HD video content from users, as well as the fact that media companies are enriching their content catalogs in order to satisfy this demand, mean that the issues of high-speed Internet for everyone and bandwidth requirements have reached a new critical level.
It has therefore become necessary for technology to evolve, following the example of the various takeovers that have recently taken place in this sector in the United States. This explains why Ipercast's European development strategy is based on the implementation of a reliable global infrastructure in order to provide universal access to high-definition and legal video content.
At a time when websites broadcasting video content are struggling to find a viable economic model, due in particular to increased broadcasting costs, the announcement of this takeover will allow Ipercast to offer content publishers and broadcasters a hybrid broadcasting solution, guaranteeing an unrivaled quality of service and faster broadcasting speed at a reduced cost.
This new solution relies partly on Ipercast's CDN solution, which has a global network and provides high definition content, and partly on the 1-Click P2P platform, which has installed more than two million users during the last 3 years; and the technology of which allows the costs of bandwidth to be reduced by almost 90%.
In other words, the content will be initially delivered via the CDN then after a few seconds of reading, via "peers" (other people who already saw the video and are used as mini-servers).
Jean-Michel Laveissiere, President of Ipercast said, "This acquisition represents an important stage in our development, because it will enable us to extend our network by multiplying our broadcast points. This is of major importance to us at the moment because we will now be able to offer our customers an "intelligent" network, generating HD content more rapidly and with improved legal and security conditions."
Arthur Madrid, CEO of 1-Click commented, "The synergy of our P2P platform combined with Ipercast's broadcast network and its expertise in content management responds to all the current requirements of content providers and broadcasters. In other words, we have found a viable, reliable, high-quality and secure economic model for broadcasting multimedia content on the Internet."
P4PWG Breakthrough Speeds Large File Transfers
Large files can be moved over the Internet more quickly and efficiently using a new P2P file transfer system, recent tests over the Verizon network show. The new P2P protocol guides the selection of file sources and network pathways rather than letting the selection happen randomly, or using criteria that don't maximize efficiency.
P2P file transfers using distribution software that links content owners to authorized users is increasing, with companies like TV networks, movie distributors, and software firms taking advantage of P2P as a low-cost distribution option.
When deployed, the new system will move material authorized by the content owners - such as movies, TV programs, software, or large data bases - faster for consumers and more efficiently for network operators.
The new system and tests were described in a presentation Friday at the P2P MARKET CONFERENCE in New York by Douglas Pasko, Verizon Senior Technologist and Co-chair of the P4P Working Group (P4PWG), and Co-chair Laird Popkin, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Pando Networks.
The P4PWG is sponsored the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA). Yale University software experts worked on and monitored the project. Companies like Pando Networks and others provide content-sharing companies and customers with secure programs for their exchanges.
The new system addresses a growing challenge to Internet service providers (ISPs) and network carriers as P2P networking becomes more and more common. Because many files transferred today using P2P are so massive, P2P sharing can account for well beyond half of total Internet traffic, according to industry estimates.
No longer the dark-alley distribution system for unauthorized file sharing, advanced P2P delivery networks link content-seekers with licensed files they want and that are stored by other subscribed users rather than on servers maintained by content owners or ISPs. P2P is being mainstreamed by distributors like NBC Universal, which is beginning to distribute its NBC Direct programming by leveraging P2P technology and software provided by Pando Networks, rather than the traditional client-server approach.
"The results of the testing have been phenomenal," said Pasko. "Customer and network benefits were seen as soon as the test began. This new system, which routes files along the fastest, least expensive path, offers our FiOS customers P2P downloads up to six times faster than networks without the overlay, the study showed. On average, download speeds using other Internet access technologies improve by about 60 percent."
According to Pasko, the end result of the experiment and ultimate implementation could be "carrier-grade P2P," once focused routing and handling replace arbitrary delivery paths. The system could cut P2P network delivery costs for participating network companies by as much as 50 percent.
"We are thrilled with these results and look forward to helping Verizon and other ISPs deploy the technology more broadly," added Popkin,
The working group was set up within the DCIA to engage more industry players in the test and to share the results throughout the industry. The ultimate impact will be to relieve pressure on networks so that phone companies, cable companies, ISPs and content owners can limit or avoid system clogging of file delivery pathways.
"It is becoming abundantly clear that P2P networking has enormous potential," said Marty Lafferty, CEO of the DCIA. "It will likely be the next networking wave in a consumer-led drive for more video and other content that will soon include massive high-definition (HD) files, complex multimedia offerings, and a greater number and selection of the traditional content downloads that support consumers, businesses, and government. It is up to the industry to ensure that the P2P services work for everyone and live up to the demands users of all kinds put on them."
Pando's Popkin said, "The collaboration of various network and sharing companies through this effort indicates great promise for this distribution model because the more networkers who deploy it, the more the benefit accrues to the networks and the customers. There are more than 50 organizations engaged in the working group, and that kind of curiosity and engagement shows how aware the industry is of the need for efficiency and speed in P2P delivery."
Today, using host server technology, most files are requested from servers owned by content owners or ISPs. The customer requests a file and it is downloaded directly to the customer. With P2P, the file delivery leverages user computers or other places where the files are stored and then draws the files -- or parts of them, simultaneously -- from the other users' computers to the requesting one.
Traditionally, the P2P network has randomly selected where the file came from, ignorant of the physical location of the data and sometimes using a "brute force" approach to compensate for long-distance delivery delays. With the experimental software, developed by Yale University and Pando Networks, and using network data provided by Verizon, the network selects the sources that provide the least cost and fastest route for the delivery of the file to Verizon customers.
"It makes no sense for a customer to arbitrarily download a file from Singapore, consuming bandwidth on high-cost, high-traffic routes like Pacific undersea cables, when the file is stored right down the street and can be accessed more quickly and cheaply," Pasko said.
In a report to the DCIA on the trial, Pasko, Popkin and Haiyong Xie, a researcher from Yale University where the software design was created, said that the field test has clearly validated the value of P2P networks and ISPs working together to provide the most efficient, highest-quality service to their customers.
According to Pasko and Popkin, this live, active network role is fundamental to an ultimate solution for P2P traffic-management that eventually would likely involve additional, complementary tools such as caching, and content acceleration, among others. Getting networks engaged in the solution is critical, they said.
"This is a great example of an industry getting together and developing a solution to an industry problem," Pasko said.
Group Eyes Other Tests of P4P Technology
Excerpted from Beta News Report by Jacqueline Emigh
After achieving much faster than usual download and data delivery rates in a field trial with Verizon and Pando, the P4P Working Group (P4PWG) is now looking at doing trials with other ISPs and P2P network providers, said Haiyong Xie, the working group's lead researcher at Yale University.
In results unveiled at the DCIA's P2P MARKET CONFERENCE in New York City, the P4P technology was shown to enhance download rates by 205 percent over unmanaged P2P downloads, and to decrease the number of hops needed in ISP internal data delivery from 5.5 hops to 0.89 hops.
The trial made use of Xie's implementation of P4P networking principals, Pando's application platform, and network topology data from Verizon.
Essentially, P4P is designed to speed up P2P downloads by localizing network traffic and reducing the numbers of routers and transfers needed for distributing data.
"Before doing this field trial, we'd conducted simulations. But results of the trial prove that P4P also works in the real world," said Laird Popkin of Pando Networks, Co-Chair of the P4P Working Group.
A similar field trial is still under way with Pando - a company which partners with NBC Direct, for example, on P2P content delivery - and Spanish-based ISP Telefonica. Results from the Telefonica trial are expected during the next two weeks.
"But different P2P networks have different properties, as do different ISPs," said Xie. "We're also interested in seeing how the P4P technology works with other P2P networks and with other ISPs."
Cisco Invests in P2P Start-Up GridNetworks
Excerpted from CNET News Report by Marguerite Reardon
The Seattle-based peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) start-up GridNetworks said that Cisco Systems is one of two "strategic investors" that contributed to the company's $9.5 million series A round of funding announced in October. The venture capital firm Panorama Capital of Menlo Park, CA, was named as the lead investor when the funding was first announced.
GridNetworks, which launched its service in November 2006, has taken a hybrid approach to delivering high-definition movies and TV shows over the Internet. It uses both P2P technology, which leverages content distributed on users' computers all over the Internet, as well as content delivery technology, which essentially caches and stores content in server farms throughout the Internet so it can be served up more quickly to geographically close clients.
GridNetworks' software client called Gridcast Connector is installed on PCs and, when content is requested, it locates peers best suited to serve the content. It uses content delivery technology to buffer the first 30 seconds or so of a show or movie.
Cisco has been focused on video for the last couple of years. Eventually, the GridNetworks technology could work well with the company's cable set-top boxes and Linksys home routers. On the infrastructure side, Cisco also offers video-on-demand products. In 2006, it bought Arroyo Video Systems for $92 million. Cisco plans to use the Arroyo technology to deliver Internet video directly to set-top boxes. And this technology could help the company distribute high-definition video more efficiently.
Cisco is the largest Internet infrastructure provider in the world. And it's significant that the company is investing in a company that is developing a P2PTV platform.
Many networking experts say that P2P is actually the best and most efficient way to deliver video, especially high-definition video, which, when streamed, eats up vast amounts of bandwidth throughout the entire network. Cisco's investment in a budding P2P delivery platform could help speed up developments in the technology that will make even more efficient use of networks.
Another P2P Grabs Serious Cash, Pando Pulls $8 Million
Excerpted from Digital Music News Report
File sharing has been a headache for major content owners, though smaller artists frequently tap the platform to spark early-stage interest. Major labels are also watching the action closely, and using monitoring firms like BigChampagne to better gauge file-swapping trends.
A collection of other companies, including those represented by the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA), have been pushing the profitability possibilities for years.
VCs have also been interested in the potential returns, dating back to Hummer Winblad on the original Napster. But recent funding rounds have been quite impressive, and potentially part of a larger trend.
That includes a recent $8.1 million injection into Pando Networks, a company specializing in private, P2P-based media transfers. Pando solves a problem users frequently encounter when transferring heavyweight files like videos, songs, and photo galleries. But Pando transfer technology is also used by NBC, Blip.TV, and ROO Group. The latest funding is part of a $20.89 million Series B, according to regulatory paperwork surfacing Wednesday.
QTRAX & Finetunes Sign Digital Licensing Agreement
QTRAX, the "world's first free and legal P2P music service," has signed a digital licensing agreement with Finetunes.
For more than four years, Finetunes has been a pioneer in creating opportunities for independent labels in the digital music markets. Initially focused on providing digital solutions for the German independent labels, the Hamburg-based company now represents more than 1,000 record labels from around the world.
A leading distributor in the field of electronic music, Finetunes also represents labels from across the musical spectrum, from jazz to reggae, pop to world music. Finetunes stands out from other digital distributors in that it handles all its technical development and operations in-house, giving the company the ability to react and innovate - providing labels with solutions such as its recently-launched sales tracking software, enabling its partners to gain a detailed overview of their position in the digital market
Also at the heart of Finetunes' operation is its global network of satellite offices, which work together with Finetunes HQ to secure strategic, focused, and truly coordinated international retail marketing for new releases. Furthermore, Finetunes is developing new and innovative solutions for catalog marketing, and also focusing on providing digital marketing opportunities for labels outside of the core market of digital music stores.
"Finetunes has been at the forefront of the evolving music market online," said QTRAX Chairman & CEO Allan Klepfisz. "They truly pioneered digital distribution and have shown great vision. We are delighted to be able to offer Finetunes' catalog of top artists and songwriters."
Beggars Group Inks Deal with QTRAX
Excerpted from Paste Magazine Report by Tiago Moura
QTRAX seems like it could do quite all right for itself. The company recently signed a digital license contract with Beggars Group, home of indie label giants Matador Records, Beggars Banquet, 4AD, XL Recordings and several others.
The beta version of the free, ad-based music sharing network launched early this year.
The latest deal provides an immense step for the network's indie music selection. With the Beggars Group agreement, QTRAX expanded its ability to host hot new artists such as Beirut, M.I.A. and TV on the Radio, as well as double-platinum-level catalogs, including hits by The Cult, Pixies, and The Prodigy.
The Low Lows Hit New Highs with LimeSpot
Fans of the psychedelic Americana band The Low Lows all have something in common. They want more of The Low Lows' gut-wrenchingly poetic lyrics and gritty guitar noise. They want more Low Lows' music, videos, photos, and news. And they want to connect with other Low Lows fans.
Today the fans got what they want, with the Low Lows debut on LimeSpot, a new social network that brings indie bands and their fans together.
The Low Lows' LimeSpot site keeps fans current with the band's happenings, and connected with other Low Lows lovers around the world. Fans can find tour dates, read biographies, browse discographies, and interact with band members and others fans.
They can also buy songs from the Low Lows catalog on the LimeWire Store, LimeSpot's virtual store front.
Since their debut on LimeSpot, The Low Lows' online traffic increased 18 times over. And their latest music video, "Dear Flies, Love Spider," has been streamed over 1,200 times - a twenty-fold increase over the band's MySpace page.
Band members are also taking advantage of the ability to give LimeSpot's 60 million users instant access to their repertoire, through the integrated LimeWire Store.
"LimeSpot gives indie artists everything they need to market their music online," says George Searle, CEO of LimeWire. "It's all about bands connecting with fans, and fans connecting with each other. And by accessing LimeWire's huge user base, LimeSpot can boost artists' promotion and sales. It's no wonder that a number of bands have already signed on since the Low Lows debut, including Scissors for Lefty and Virginia Coalition."
With LimeSpot, artists can quickly build a blog, website, event calendar, and more, as new features and tools are added daily. Bands can tap LimeSpot's suite of customizable themes and templates, or design a service from scratch using LimeSpot's built-in creative tools.
For fans who want to connect on LimeSpot, finding their favorite bands, communities, and music couldn't be easier. In addition to links in the LimeWire client, LimeSpot band sites will also appear on Google and other popular Internet search engines.
Once they find their band's LimeSpot site, fans will stay "in the know" by browsing blogs, biographies, discographies, tour dates, press coverage, photos, and videos. They can join message boards to chat with other fans, or comment on blog posts written by band members. And fans can listen to free tracks and buy albums of DRM-free MP3s, as well as concert tickets and merchandise through the LimeWire Store.
"LimeSpot stands out from other social networking music pages we've seen," says Naomi Weisenberg, Publicist for The Low Lows and Misra Records. "Thanks to LimeSpot, outreach to both established and potential fans is simple and effective. When you look at the numbers-audience growth and interaction-it's clear that LimeSpot is an effective way for The Low Lows to have the broad reach that their music warrants."
Joost to Offer Live TV Starting with Sports
Excerpted from CNET News Report by Josh Lwensohn
If you're a college basketball fan, March clearly holds a special place in your heart. It brings the NCAA tournament (also known as March Madness), along with the occasional bit of that annoying thing called work or school.
If you're somehow in a position of being unable to make it to your giant, high-definition (HD) television, Joost's got you covered. The peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) industry leader is streaming all of the games (with limited commercial interruption) live, as they happen.
The resolution for the live streams is expected to fall in line with the rest of Joost's programming. This is aided by the fact that the stream is being given a hand by distributed P2P instead of a typical server farm - a system that's prone to fail or slow down without heavy infrastructure investment. Using distributed content serving can help, which is where Joost's P2P technology can show its chops for something other than prerecorded content.
To see how well the new system would handle the load, the company ran a stress test earlier this week, utilizing the live user chat hooked up to a video feed from the company's offices. It didn't last too long though, as the streams were discontinued about an hour after their start.
The move is an important step in differentiating Joost from some web-based content providers - notably Hulu, which left private beta yesterday and serves up archived television content (just like Joost).
With the right participation of content providers, Joost could serve up live television streams (not just this test run with the NCAA) as they happen.
Live video streams will show up in the content source bar in Joost.
Babelgum Debuts New P2PTV Software
Excerpted from World Screen News Report by Ned Berke
P2PTV leader Babelgum is kicking off the launch of its newest software with the Babelgum Online Film Festival, a competition to be judged by Spike Lee, among others.
More than a thousand productions from 86 countries have entered into the competition, and the Babelgum user community will decide the nominee shortlist by May.
The finalists will then be judged by director Spike Lee and a panel of film experts from across the globe, including the directors of established film festivals, film schools and film industry associations. The categories for the competition include shorts, "Looking For Genius," animation, music videos, social/environmental themes, "Spot/Advertising" and documentaries.
"The standard of the entries we've received thus far has been outstanding," said Lee. "It just goes to show there is a wealth of talent out there that wouldn't usually get recognition or exposure if it wasn't for festivals such as this. It really does represent a new era in filmmaking and puts the filmmaker in more control of getting their productions seen."
Valerio Zingarelli, the CEO of Babelgum, noted, "Films are now being made primarily for consumption online or on other smaller-screen devices, with 60 percent of entries received having been produced specifically for the small screen. This supports the realization that to be successful, filmmakers need to go where their potential audience is and Babelgum provides the perfect platform to do so."
All of the entries have been released onto the Babelgum platform, which has unveiled a set of new features for users and content producers. Users can now join and form communities, which are niche collaborative environments that include video clips, interactive message boards and links to custom profiles of other members. Viewers can also save their favorites and create personal playlists.
In addition to communities, content on the downloadable platform can continue to be accessed through the traditional genre or branded channels in the channel directory, the search engine, the smart channels (created by each user and personalized according to their interests), and the most-watched and highest-rated videos.
Babelgum users are now also able to share content with their friends and embed videos on personal websites, blogs and in outside social networks such as MySpace and Facebook.
Significant changes have also been made to the platform's content-management system, utilized by professional content producers, rights owners and program partners. In addition to the ability to upload their video, content owners can use a video preview option to see the video in its final format without making it publicly available, and using the "working copy" feature, they can modify the clip online without having to remove and re-upload it.
Furthermore, owners can add and edit "tags" to their content, controlling the keywords that the search function will look for when seeking out video; and a new multiple-upload tool allows producers to schedule the simultaneous upload of multiple pieces of content.
"At Babelgum we are committed to giving our viewers the best experience possible," said Zingarelli. "The new site's sophistication, along with an ever burgeoning content library, certainly ensures we are giving our users what they want and when they want to view it but with much greater ease and enjoyment."
Al Smith Live at P2P MARKET CONFERENCE
We live in an age where there is almost too much entertainment available. Small wonder it's so hard to keep audiences interested. There is just too much mediocrity around. Record companies release albums that basically sound alike, by people who essentially look alike, whose names you forget five minutes after you've heard them.
Sadly, most of those called on to perform in live situations have never learned how. Unfortunately, and this is not a knock on these musicians, but without the aid of studio tricks, most of today's artists would be just plain lost - they haven't learned their craft or paid their dues.
Not so with Al Smith, who may be one of the best kept secrets around. Al Smith has literally put bands together within a matter of days and then delivered knock-out performances that usually end with a standing ovation - not an easy task.
Somebody like this should have "happened," and in a big way, but timing is everything. For nearly twenty years now, the hip-hop world and the ambiance of what that genre represents has dominated the music scene, and thereby helped minimize opportunities for artists who appeal to a different, more mainstream demographic - and those artists who can not only write and sing, but also play their own instruments and deliver great live shows.
In the words of Sam McKeith, "In my thirty-plus years in the entertainment industry, beginning with the nine years as a William Morris agent, I have seen many great performances: the Rolling Stones, Sly, the Temptations, Springsteen, et al. They all had one thing in common; you always got your money's worth when you paid to see them perform. If Al Smith had just come along at a slightly different time, there's no doubt he would be included in that list of the great and the famous."
We count our lucky stars to have been able to enjoy a live showcase performance by Al Smith at the P2P MARKET CONFERENCE!
PeerApp Adds Don Casey to Board
PeerApp, a leading provider of media caching and content acceleration for Internet video, has appointed Don Casey to its Board of Directors.
Don has served the software and IT Services industries in positions ranging from development to chief executive to chairman. Don was President & COO of Exodus Communications and is currently chairman of the board for Mazu Networks and serves on the board of AspenTech and Ounce Labs.
His other notable achievements include leading the turnaround of Wang Laboratories from a bankrupt, proprietary hardware vendor to a $3.5 billion services company. Don was President & CTO of Wang and directly responsible for Wang's US Services business. Don previously served as Vice President of Lotus Development Corporation's Spreadsheet Division and was also Vice President of Networking and Multimedia for Apple Computer where he assumed responsibility for multimedia strategy and successfully planed and delivered the QuickTime product. Don began his career at IBM, serving over 20 years and achieving the role of Vice President of Communications Hardware.
"Don brings valuable experience working in high-growth technology companies and his guidance will be important as we seek to extend PeerApp's leadership position in the Intelligent Media Caching (IMC) market," said Robert Mayer, Chairman & CEO. "Don brings an outstanding and unique track record of success with networking, multimedia, and applications companies and will provide important leadership and guidance to PeerApp as we continue to rapidly grow our customer base."
"PeerApp is an exciting company with a compelling product and a significant market opportunity," said Casey. "PeerApp addresses a critical problem for both service providers and content owners. I look forward to working with PeerApp as it continues to innovate and deliver high-quality solutions." He also noted that PeerApp is in an "enviable position and can establish a key market leadership position in the rapidly growing Internet video marketplace."
Tom Patterson Joins DigitalContainers' Board
DigitalContainers, a leading company in digital e-commerce and content security announced that Tom Patterson, the Founder and former CEO of Command Information and a leading business advisor in the areas of security, technology, and governance, has joined DigitalContainers as Special Advisor and member of its Board of Directors.
Most recently, he founded the IPv6 Business Council on behalf of the global IPv6 community, and published a critically acclaimed book, Mapping Security, on information security, privacy and governance around the world.
Tom has been the partner in charge of security operations for Deloitte in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, the Managing Director of KPMG/Bearingpoint's global managed services business, and IBM's chief strategist for electronic commerce. Tom has served as a board member for several public companies, has advised all three branches of the US Government on Internet and security policy, and is a trusted advisor to company executives across the globe. He regularly comments on security and technology issues of the day for CNBC and other major media outlets.
DigitalContainers is a software product company with technology that works within search engines and online advertising to allow for the discovery and retrieval of all digital content directly from search results, online banner ads, links in e-mail, and RSS feeds. Content acquired in this manner is delivered in a Digital Container, which can be used for selling all kinds of digital goods in distributed networks enabling a new economic model called "super distribution." This allows each customer to create more customers by passing around the content in email, in P2P, in IM, on social networks, and on physical media.
"We are very excited to have the benefit of Tom Patterson's extensive knowledge and experience in the areas of security, e-commerce and IPv6 at DigitalContainers," said Chip Venters, CEO. "He is truly one of the global elite in this area."
According to Patterson, "I have been very impressed with the market vision and technologies that DigitalContainers has developed. To be able to find and acquire content from advertising and then pass it around with 'super distribution' is the next step in digital distribution. The fact that they have been granted patents covering this unique business model makes them even stronger."
How NBC Wants to Filter and Use P2P
Excerpted from Ars Technica Report by Nate Anderson
Rick Cotton, NBC Universal's top lawyer, is sitting across the table from me at a Midtown restaurant only blocks from Cotton's base at Rockefeller Center. Apparently, media moguls do not breakfast on a diet of puppies and children, as some consumers seem to think; bagels, toast, and oatmeal are the order of the day. George Kliavkoff, NBC's first "Chief Digital Officer," has also joined us to talk policy.
"I'm curious if you necessarily equate peer-to-peer (P2P) protocols like BitTorrent with piracy?" I ask after the orange juice arrives.
Cotton's opinion on that question matters. As General Counsel for NBC Universal, he has been one of the strongest US backers of the idea that ISPs have some duty to start filtering the undeniably massive volume of illicit P2P traffic that passes through their networks. AT&T has already publicly committed to take up the challenge, and Cotton hopes to see more action from other ISPs.
"Well, I think the answer today is yes," he says. "It's obvious that peer-to-peer is capable, and in fact may in the future be a significant mode of efficient transport of legitimate content. But today, in terms of that consumption of bandwidth, it's overwhelmingly pirated content. There's probably a percentage of pornography mixed in, but one is not talking about legitimate content."
Cotton and Kliavkoff are affable, intelligent, and interesting to chat with - but they also inhabit a conflicted world, and it shows as we talk. Take our discussion of P2P, for instance, with its lack of "legitimate content."
I ask about the current FCC hearing on Comcast's BitTorrent "delaying," where a company called Vuze is in fact offering just such legitimate content using BitTorrent (to say nothing of BitTorrent, the company, which is doing the same thing).
"You have to start with the first proposition," Cotton says, "which is: should we collectively be concerned about the fact that 50 to 75 percent of the total bandwidth of broadband ISPs is today taken up by P2P traffic which is in fact overwhelmingly pirated? I have to tell you, I think the answer to that is yes."
He goes further; P2P protocols themselves disrupt the Internet by passing bandwidth costs from content owners onto ISPs. Cotton told the FCC in a recent filing, "P2P applications shift the costs of centralized storage and distribution to end users and their broadband network providers."
In addition, installing P2P apps "can slow down the processing speed of [consumers'] computers, open up the contents of their hard drives to third parties and expose them to potential copyright liability," the NBC filing noted. Worse, P2P protocols "exacerbate the congestion" that Comcast's RST packet solution attempts to solve.
Fair enough: P2P is a hotbed of piracy, it's bad for ISPs, it disrupts the Internet, it can bog down computers, and it harms corn farmers in Iowa. It seems safe to say that NBC won't be using BitTorrent any time soon.
So it comes as a complete surprise when, at the end of our wide-ranging conversation, Kliavkoff drops a casual bombshell.
"We're coming up on an announcement of using some P2P technology for distribution of some of our own content," he says. "We generally think that P2P technologies are very useful for distributing large files, they can significantly reduce bandwidth costs, and generally they are technologies today without a business model. We think the distribution of legitimate content using that technology saves us a lot of costs and we're happy to share some of that savings."
I beg your pardon?
It's not that NBC is hypocritical, stupid, or worse; it's that the transition currently engulfing media businesses is both terrifying and the source of bold new opportunities. NBC hopes to transform itself from old media giant into a new media pioneer that makes its content available through MySpace, AOL, and Comcast, allows embedding and clipping, and fully supports the emerging world of widgets and web apps. With NBC's Hulu officially launching today, Kliavkoff estimates that its video content will reach more than 95% of the US Internet audience through its major portal partners.
It's a "groundbreaking thing for big, old, traditional media to do," he says, and he's right. Instead of ceding Internet video to distributors like YouTube, NBC and News Corp. have partnered on a bold plan to do the digital distribution themselves.
The site wasn't coded up over the weekend by a team of hackers slaving away in the basement, either; Hulu cost "tens of millions of dollars." Both Cotton and Kliavkoff face "a lot of concern reaching up to the board level that the material that's on Hulu is not available next door on a pirated basis," and it's easy to see why with that kind of money at stake.
This is the concern that drives Cotton's crusade against illicit file-swapping. He's convinced that the pirate problem is costing NBC Universal real revenue and that the scale of the problem is so vast as to discourage investment in the "carrots," positive solutions like Hulu.
"With all that pirated material available, it creates tremendous disincentives to content owners who need to invest in new content," Cotton says, "and that just hurts consumers over time." After all, if two video stores sit next to each other at the local mall and one charges for DVDs while the other hands free, illegal copies out without penalty, what incentive does the legitimate video owner have to invest any money in buying new DVDs?
It's a fair question, so I ask Cotton why NBC has, in fact, just invested millions in a service like Hulu. File-swapping, though rampant, is obviously not enough of a problem to stop this kind of investment yet, but Cotton suggests that if large projects like Hulu fail to show returns, there may not be many more attempts in the future. He fully recognizes the need to use both carrots and sticks, to "compete with free" while trying to shut down the illegal distribution channel, and he sees both efforts as complementary; "hand in glove," he calls them.
Which brings us to the stick: ISP filtering.
Back in June 2007, Cotton filed comments with the FCC that laid out NBC Universal's position quite clearly: ISPs have a role to play in protected copyrighted works, and if they won't play that role, the government should make them.
"The Commission should make unmistakably clear, as part of its regulations governing broadband industry practices, that broadband service providers have an obligation to use readily available means to prevent the use of their broadband capacity to transfer pirated content," he wrote at the time.
These efforts would include notification of users (Cotton doesn't appear interested in some sort of "sue-'em-all!" strategy), possibly followed by curtailing Internet access. It's a plan that has been mooted in both the UK and France, but all of the solutions would be based on accurate identification of copyrighted work flowing through ISP pipes. That means one thing: ISP deep packet inspection (DPI) of all P2P traffic, with attempted identification to follow.
When we talk, Cotton makes clear that he's not "a technology guy" and that he doesn't much care how the filtering is accomplished. He fully grants the importance of privacy and fair use, and he's concerned about casting a net too widely. But something, anything, needs to be done.
"In this conversation, we talked fairly cavalierly and easily about the notion of lots of people on the Internet accessing illegal content," he says at one point. "I mean, normally, if we translate that to the physical world and we were sitting here observing as a neutral social phenomenon that huge numbers of people were walking into stores and taking product off the shelf... I think the reason for that is that historically, the technology talks to people; certainly it talks to kids. And if it's totally easy, if the technology sends no message, I think the thought process of individuals and particularly kids is, 'If it's so easy, it can't be wrong.'"
This is technology as road sign rather than electric fence; it won't put a stop to piracy, but it will give people a clear warning when limits have been reached.
The same argument has been trotted out for years by digital rights management (DRM) proponents when asked why they bothered to keep hassling paying customers when illegal copies were widely available online. DRM could be breached, was the usual response, but at least it let people know when they start doing something they shouldn't be doing. The problem with this answer was that the "signposts" erected by DRM conveyed information that went far beyond the limits imposed by law; it told people, for instance, "No, you can't put a copy of that DVD you own on your iPod."
At least Cotton's solution has the virtue of not necessarily encumbering a user's digital property with locks and restrictions, since all the intelligence and filtering takes place in the middle of the network. He knows it won't stop piracy, but he points out that any real-world lock can be picked and "that hasn't led people to stop locking their doors."
What's needed, in NBC's view, is for technologists to put more trust in their own technology.
Cotton appears exasperated by the tech community's general hostility to his idea. "Among the technology community and the blogosphere, who are enormously enamored of and respectful of the capabilities of technology in every other respect... there's just this underlying assumption that technology is completely incapable of addressing the challenge of reducing the pirated content that's accessed online, and I just think that's naive or intentionally blind," he says.
In Cotton's view, privacy concerns and other problems raised by ISP filtering are real, and they need to be resolved. He and Kliavkoff are both cognizant of the need to tread carefully in this area, to avoid giving NBC Universal the slightly sinister reputation that now clings to the RIAA's name in much of the blogosphere.
"I do worry about it," he tells me when I ask about reputation, but he returns once more to the scope of the problem.
"Everyone wants to ignore the scale of the pirated material online," he says; "most of the concerns [about filtering] are really efforts to do nothing about it."
This approach to opponents pervades our discussion. I'm told that filtering has been attacked by people "with a vested interest in obstruction" who have put out a set of "bogeymen" that are, in reality, an attempt to avoid doing anything about the unfettered online trading of copyrighted work.
Cotton sees his position as eminently reasonable; after all, he supports privacy rights, he's not wedded to any particular technology, and he's far more concerned with the transmission of complete, verbatim TV shows and movies than any amount of "fair use" copying, sampling, or remixing. Surely, if everyone could just admit the scope of the problem and agree that it needs to be addressed, a solution could be found.
But so far it hasn't, due in part to the fact that the issue (like most interesting issues) is far more complicated than just filtering out complete copies of films.
ISPs like Verizon and Comcast aren't generally "pro-pirate." As Cotton and Kliavkoff point out, ISPs have an interest in curtailing the huge bandwidth slurped up by P2P users, and if it were truly as simple as installing a few racks of gear and flipping a switch, piracy would have been blocked from the tubes years ago.
There's a reason why ISPs don't want to get involved in this sort of filtering, and it's more complicated than "obstructionism." Network operators like Verizon and Comcast are protected by "safe harbor" rules found in the DMCA that exempt them from liability for what passes over their networks, but only if they do not control or alter that traffic. Filter that traffic, and it's possible that your safe harbor drains away.
Only AT&T has publicly signed on to the filtering idea, and the move led Columbia's Tim Wu to ask in a recent Slate column (aptly titled "Has AT&T lost its mind?") what the company could possibly be thinking.
"Once AT&T gets in the business of picking and choosing what content travels over its network," Wu said, "while the law is not entirely clear, it runs a serious risk of losing its all-important immunity. An Internet provider voluntarily giving up copyright immunity is like an astronaut on the moon taking off his space suit. As the world's largest gatekeeper, AT&T would immediately become the world's largest target for copyright infringement lawsuits."
Cotton scoffs at the idea.
"I frankly don't think it's an issue," he says, saying that there's "no incentive for us to sue them" if ISPs start filtering.
But lawsuits against ISPs go much further than the legal department at NBC Universal, and ISPs certainly don't want to cut similar deals with every industry or activist group that doesn't like some subset of material that passes through their networks. While AT&T has agreed to the plan in theory, it has yet to roll out any sort of filtering solution, making it too early to tell how the legal issues will develop. But by agreeing to be the first major ISP to filter, AT&T "deserves praise, not criticism," says Cotton.
Will such filtering even work? That's another huge unknown. Video filtering technology certainly works; YouTube has rolled out its own solution, while companies like MotionDSP offer commercial products. But deploying filters on user-generated content (UGC) sites, where the site has a full, unencrypted copy of the video; well, that's one thing. Rolling this technology out on the Internet backbone, where P2P files are broken into bits, come out-of-order from dozens of different machines, and can be easily encrypted is another. Doing all of that in real time is a daunting task, but AT&T apparently has confidence in a firm called Vobile.
Despite the desire for ISP filtering of P2P content, Cotton and Kliavkoff see in P2P technology a way to save money. Sure, it will exacerbate Comcast's current problem with limited upload bandwidth, a problem largely caused by P2P seeding, but NBC Universal is willing to spread its cost savings around in such a way that everyone in the ecosystem will benefit.
When NBC says that it doesn't hate P2P as a technology, it's serious, and the proof was on display late last week when the official announcement surfaced. NBC will start using P2P technology from Pando Networks to distribute its shows through NBC Direct. Using P2P allows the company to save on the massive bandwidth bills it would otherwise incur from distributing HD-quality video. Given the timing of the announcement, NBC's recent FCC filing is curious, since it sides with Comcast's right to block BitTorrent uploads during periods of network congestion (Pando's P2P component is based on BitTorrent).
The announcement raises all sorts of questions, among them: how would NBC avoid the very filters it's advocating? If the answer is that the shows are wrapped in DRM and encrypted, as they appear to be, then this only indicates how easily most packet inspection tools can be bypassed. If the answer is that NBC's content gets a pass from the filters, other P2P companies like Vuze will clamor for the same privilege, and groups like Free Press will complain that only large content owners get to avoid the communications dragnet while independent voices streaming Miro channels face a risk of being snagged, blocked, or delayed. We'll see how things shake out.
In the meantime, while enjoying your unfiltered 'Net access and Trent Reznor's new album (a copyrighted work conveniently and legally distributed through P2P), take a moment to say thanks to Cotton and Kliavkoff. Yes, they want to filter your Internet, but they (and the media moguls like them) are also legitimizing a promising technology that only a few years ago could reasonably be described as a pirate protocol.
Just this week, a House member of the subcommittee that deals with IP and Internet issues wrote an editorial in which he suggested that a total ban on P2P apps was a positive step for colleges to take. As major media companies become a part of the P2P ecosystem, though, suggestions like this will be harder to make and will soon become untenable. It's an odd thought, but P2P's one-time detractors, the content owners, have recognized the promise of the technology and could be the very group that fights to defend its legal uses.
Because of NBC and Vuze and Blizzard and Linux and Skype, P2P has quietly become ingrained in the computing landscape. And as the technology expands even further, it may force the world's largest ISPs to change the assumptions that underlie their network: servers in the middle pushing content downstream to users have given way to a model where upstream bandwidth is under severe pressure and ISPs are scrambling to keep up. Not bad for a one-time rogue technology.
Even Cotton, while convinced that illicit file-swapping is much like walking out of store with a DVD under your jacket, makes clear that he has no intention for pushing any sort of blanket ban on P2P protocols (though he'd still like you to stop swapping his TV shows). P2P is just too valuable for that, even to the Peacock Network.
Coming Events of Interest
AdMonsters Leadership Forum - April 22nd at the Digital Sandbox, New York, NY. The forum brings together senior members of the online ad operations community for a day of workshops, member-led presentations, and peer-certified best practice recommendations. This is truly a meeting of the minds for those leading operations online. David Clark, EVP of Joost, will keynote.
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA - May 5th in Los Angeles, CA. The third annual P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA. The DCIA's flagship event featuring keynotes from industry-leading P2P and social network operators; tracks on policy, technology and marketing; panel discussions covering content distribution and solutions development; valuable workshops; networking opportunities; and more.
Digital Hollywood Spring - May 6th-8th in Los Angeles, CA. With many new sessions and feature events, DHS has become the premiere digital entertainment conference and exposition. DCIA Member companies will exhibit and speak on a number of panels.
Advertising 2.0 New York - June 4th-5th in New York, NY. A new kind of event being developed as a partnership of Advertising Age and Digital Hollywood. The DCIA is fully supporting this important inaugural effort and encourages DCINFO readers to plan now to attend.
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT SV - August 4th in San Jose, CA. The first-ever P2P MEDIA SUMMIT in Silicon Valley. Featuring keynotes from industry-leading P2P and social network operators; tracks on policy, technology and marketing; panel discussions covering content distribution and solutions development; valuable workshops; networking opportunities; and more.
Building Blocks 2008 - August 5th-7th in San Jose, CA. The premier event for transforming entertainment, consumer electronics, social media & web application technologies & the global communications network: TV, cable, telco, consumer electronics, mobile, broadband, search, games and the digital home.
International Broadcasting Convention - September 11th-16th 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. Uniquely, the key executives and committees who control the convention are drawn from the industry, bringing with them experience and expertise in all aspects.
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