April 14, 2008
Volume XXI, Issue 9
Why P4P Could Become the New P2P
Excerpted from Tech Radar Report
Leading peer-to-peer (P2P) content delivery services provider Pando Networks this week announced that field tests of advanced new P2P protocols - known as P4P - have demonstrated that P4P is capable of operating at far higher speeds while also optimizing network costs for ISPs.
Pando's tests - conducted using data from over 3,000 ISPs around the world - revealed a 235% increase in delivery speeds across US cable networks alongside an 898% increase for international broadband networks.
The tests also revealed that P4P and Pando Network Aware technology were able to route data internally across the broadband networks instead of pulling data from external sources. This resulted in a reduction of inter-ISP data transfers by 44% in the US and 75% internationally.
The potential impact of P4P technology to the Internet is huge.
Not only could it make distribution more scalable, it could also help ISPs to manage their networks more cost effectively.
Indeed, in response to the tests some ISPs have already come out in support of the technology.
"We're interested in approaches to content delivery that are good for users, content providers, and network providers. These trials are a first step in that direction," said Charles Kalmanek of AT&T Labs.
Could it be that ISPs and P2Ps will be able to live in perfect harmony after all? According to Robert Levitan, CEO of Pando Networks, there's every chance.
"Finally, ISPs and P2P technology providers can work collaboratively. Our goal is an important one: scale the Internet into a better media distribution platform," he said.
P4P Protocol in Comcast's Future?
Excerpted from Content Agenda Report by Paul Sweeting
Could the nascent P4P file-sharing protocol be part of Comcast's planned revamp of its network management system? Its participation in this week's announcement of results from a global test of the technology could certainly lead you to think so.
"These newly released test results demonstrate the applicability of P4P to cable ISP infrastructures," Comcast CTO Tony Werner is quoted as saying.
"The initial results are promising, and we look forward to continuing our mutual efforts with P2P companies distributing legitimate content in order to improve the efficiency of their applications on our network."
In the semaphore of press-release writing, providing a quote like that, attributed to a high-ranking executive (as opposed to a spokesperson) is a way for Comcast to associate itself strongly with the rest of the announcement.
Why is that important? Up to now, ISP interest in the P4P approach - which involves close collaboration between ISPs and P2P developers - had been confined largely to telcos, in particular Verizon.
Comcast's participation in the announcement represents the first public endorsement of the approach from a cable MSO. Comcast, of course, is also under pressure from the FCC to alter its current network management practices to avoid throttling P2P applications and last month announced an agreement with BitTorrent to collaborate on a new application-neutral approach.
This week's announcement of the P4P results represents the first concrete indication of at least one technological approach Comcast is pursuing as it looks to fulfill its commitment.
Spearheaded by Verizon and the P2P provider Pando Networks, the P4P initiative seeks to reduce the burden imposed on ISP networks by bi-directional P2P traffic by more intelligently routing the traffic among the lowest-cost transfer points.
By fulfilling download requests from within a local network wherever possible, for example, the P4P protocol can significantly reduce the connection charges ISPs incur when subscribers' computers are recruited to fulfill P2P requests from outside the network. It also promises to increase download speeds for users by reducing the distance files have to travel.
Results from early tests conducted by Verizon and announced last month showed that 58% of the traffic generated by P2P requests came from nearby Verizon subscribers, compared to an average of 6% without using the P4P protocol. Download times also improved by as much as 60%.
One of the questions hanging over the early P4P results, however, was whether the protocol would work as well on cable operators' networks, which rely on sharing bandwidth among multiple users.
According to this week's announcement, the approach works equally well on DSL, cable, and fiber-optic networks.
The results also show Pando's ability to use P4P and Pando Network Aware technology to route data internally across the broadband networks instead of pulling data from external sources that put more strain on the networks.
For example, across US cable carriers, Pando increased the percentage of data routed internally across their networks from 2.2% to 43.4% of all downloads.
As part of the test that began February 21st, Pando Networks delivered video content to more than 1 million people across global broadband networks.
Pando used ISP-supplied topological data for some of the networks, while using proprietary Pando Network Aware technology to deliver content across other networks such as Comcast and AT&T.
Pando Networks CEO Robert Levitan called the results "a historic turning point" in the development of P2P technology.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 We are very pleased to announce that A. Robert Pisano, President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Motion Picture Association of America (www.MPAA.org), will be the Conference Luncheon Speaker at our upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA.
This third-annual DCIA flagship event is scheduled for Monday May 5th in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, and is being held in conjunction with Digital Hollywood Spring.
It is imperative that the P2P industry proactively improve and expand relationships with the entertainment sector.
The MPAA plays an essential role in combating copyright infringement and securing meaningful protection of its members' content, and we are honored to have its President & COO Bob Pisano address our conference.
While rapidly evolving distributed computing technologies offer unprecedented new opportunities for MPAA members and other content rights holders, they also pose new challenges. We want to increase our support of content providers in addressing those challenges.
As President & COO of the MPAA, Bob has day-to-day operating responsibility for all association operations, domestic and international, other than Washington, DC based external and governmental affairs.
The MPAA, and its international counterpart, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), are the voice and advocates of the American motion picture, home video, and television industries.
Today, these associations represent not only the world of theatrical film, but also serve as leaders and advocates for major producers and distributors of entertainment programming for television, cable, home video, and future delivery systems not yet imagined.
Other P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA keynote speakers include AT&T's Charles Kalmanek, BitGravity's Perry Wu, BitTorrent's Eric Klinker, Comcast's Rich Woundy, HIRO Media's Ronnie Golan, KlikVU's Lowell Feuer, LimeWire's George Searle, Manatt's Jeff Biederman, Motorola's John Waclawski, Move Networks' David Rice, Pando Networks' Robert Levitan, QTRAX's Allan Klepfisz, TVU Networks' Bob Creager, Unlimited Media's Memo Rhein, VeriSign's Eric Armstrong, and Vuze's Gilles BianRosa.
The opening session will be a panel dedicated to the P4P Working Group (P4PWG). Established in July 2007, the P4PWG's mission is to assist ISPs and P2P software distributors in accelerating content distribution and optimizing network resource utilization to provide the best possible performance to end-user customers. It is co-chaired by Doug Pasko (Verizon Communications) and Laird Popkin (Pando Networks).
Active participants include Abacast, AHT International, Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Bell Labs, BitTorrent, Bezeq International, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Joost, Juniper Networks, LimeWire, Manatt, Microsoft, Nokia, Orange, Oversi, PeerApp, RawFlow, Rinera Networks, Solid State Networks, Telecom Italia, Telefonica Group, Thomson, University of Toronto, Velocix, VeriSign, Vuze, Washington University, Yahoo, and Yale University Laboratory of Networked Systems (LANS). There are a similar number of P4PWG observers.
Microsoft's See-Mong Tan will present a special P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA closing keynote session.
Featured panelists at the SUMMIT include Abacast's Michael King, ATRTISTdirect's Jonathan Lee, Audible Magic's Vance Ikezoye, Beat9.com's Jay Rifkin, Brand Asset Digital's Joey Patuleia, DigitalContainers' Tom Patterson, Digital Watermarking Alliance's (DWA) Reed Stager, GridNetworks' Jeffrey Payne, Jambo Media's Rob Manoff, Javien Digital Payment Solutions' Leslie Poole, Manatt's Bill Heberer, MediaDefender's Chris Gillis, MediaPass Network's Daniel Harris, the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) Fritz Attaway, Oversi's Jeff Anker, Pando Networks' Laird Popkin, Paramount Pictures' Derek Broes, PeerApp's Eliot Listman, Rebel Digital's Lance Ford & Robin Kent, Rightscom's Mark Isherwood, RightsFlow Entertainment Group's Patrick Sullivan, TAG Strategic's Ted Cohen, Ultramercial's Dana Jones, Verizon Communications' Doug Pasko, Wingman Media's David Shor, Yale University Laboratory of Networked Systems' (LANS) Haiyong Xie, and YuMe Networks' Rosanne Vathana.
There will also be a VIP networking cocktail reception with live entertainment.
The P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA will address such topics as network resources - reducing bandwidth usage and improving P2P throughput; technology advancement - creating the commercial P2P ecosystem; artists and rights holders - harnessing P2P for content creators; acquisition and accountability - affiliating with rights holders; and revenue generation - executing ad-supported and consumer-paid models.
The P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA is being held in conjunction with Digital Hollywood Spring (DHS), and registration for both events yields a substantial savings for attendees. For more information, please visit www.dcia.info/activities/p2pmsla2008.
Pre-registration rates, which save attendees up to $400 end April 28th. To register, please visit www.dcia.info/activities/p2pmsla2008/register.html.
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA sponsors include the Association for Media & Entertainment Counsel (AMEC), FTI Consulting, Javien Digital Payment Solutions, Manatt, Nettwerk Music Group, QTRAX, and Unlimited Media. For sponsor packages and speaker information, please contact Karen Kaplowitz, DCIA Member Services, at 888-890-4240 or karen@dcia.info. Share wisely, and take care.
Study Gives High Marks to US Internet
Excerpted from NY Times Report by John Markoff
Contradicting earlier studies, conventional wisdom, and politicians' rhetoric, European researchers say that the Internet infrastructure of the United States is one of the world's best and getting better.
The Global Information Technology Report issued on Wednesday found that the United States now ranked fourth in the world behind just three European nations: Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland. Last year the United States was ranked seventh.
The study, which has been issued annually for the last seven years, is an effort to draw a more complete picture of national network readiness.
The study was done by Insead, the business school near Paris, on behalf of the World Economic Forum, a policy and conference group based in Switzerland. It used an index generated from 68 variables including market factors, political and regulatory environment, and technology infrastructure, rather than just bandwidth capacity and data transmission speeds.
Some Internet industry veterans were skeptical of the positive claims about the United States compared with the rest of the world. "My gut feeling is that we don't have the type of deployment you have abroad," said David J. Farber, an Internet pioneer and a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. "If you are looking at broadband, we have a lot of problems. We are slow as molasses in deploying the next generation."
The Insead assessment offers a stark contrast to other appraisals based on single measures that have portrayed the United States, the nation that invented the global data network, as both lagging and declining in the broadband boom. Last year a range of statistics on global bandwidth use indicated that the United States was trailing other industrial nations in both broadband network consumption and penetration as a percentage of population.
For example, statistics maintained by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) gave a conflicting message. The average advertised broadband download speed of 23 American providers was 8.8 megabits a second, while the average for 23 providers in Denmark was a considerably slower 5.9 megabits. At the same time the number of broadband subscribers in Denmark was 34.3 for every 100 inhabitants, compared with 22.1 in the United States, according to a study in October 2007.
However, one of the authors of the Insead report said the narrow measures had failed to capture the true impact of the Internet when it was considered in a cultural, economic, and political context.
"What the US has is a number of strengths along a number of dimensions," said Soumitra Dutta, a professor of information systems at Insead and the director of the study. "It is not just a question of technology. Political and economic factors become extremely important."
He pointed to France as a country that was a technology leader in terms of network services that had trailed in the study, ranked at 21. "It's not because France is lacking in technology," Professor Dutta said. "If you look at other kinds of regulatory issues and labor conditions, you find a rigid situation that prohibits companies from making the most effective use of technology."
An OECD economist acknowledged the nuances in taking into account government regulatory and related factors, and said it was hard to draw a single conclusion from the data. "I think we can say that a lot of the situation in the United States is a result of the lack of competition," said Taylor Reynolds, an economist in the Internet and Telecommunications Policy section of the OECD. "In Europe we have adopted an unbundling strategy wholeheartedly."
That has led to more competition in markets outside the United States, he said, which in turn has driven Internet service providers elsewhere to offer speedier service and lower prices.
One aspect of global competition that is being watched closely, he added, is the way fiber optic networks are being introduced in different regions. Even though the United States has begun to accelerate the availability of fiber optic services, it is lagging Europe and Asia in network speeds.
While Verizon is offering 50 megabit FiOS in the United States, 100 megabit services are common in Europe, and the Japanese are offering 1 gigabit services.
Still, there are puzzling aspects to the American market, which has higher broadband availability than many countries but lower adoption rates.
More customers have retained dial-up services than most countries, which might be explained by price or lack of attractive broadband services.
Industry executives in the United States said the Insead report was a significant counterweight to the one-dimensional OECD statistics. "Being an optimist, I'm seeing some significant and promising things happening in the United States," said Robert Pepper, Senior Managing Director, Global Advanced Technology Policy at Cisco Systems, the world's largest networking equipment company.
The study portrayed a number of global trends. Five Nordic countries were reported among the world's top 10. South Korea posted one of the most significant improvements in the last year, moving up 10 places in the ranking to ninth, and China moved up five positions to 57th.
Building a Better P2P Mousetrap
Excerpted from Broadband Reports
ISPs continue their collaborative efforts with P2P protocols under the banner of the DCIA's P4P Working Group (P4PWG). The group is working on making a more efficient P2P protocol that saves transit time by only serving file parts from local peers to reduce hops.
Participant Pando Networks this week released more details of its coordinated tests with AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and many other ISPs.
As part of the test that began February 21st, Pando Networks delivered video content to more than 1 million people across global broadband networks including AT&T, Bell Canada, Bezeq International, BT, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox, Orange, Sasktel, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Time Warner, Tiscali, and Verizon.
Pando used ISP-supplied topological data for some of the networks, such as Verizon and Telefonica, while using proprietary Pando Network Aware technology to deliver content across others.
The company believes they can speed up P2P transfers by up to 898% across international broadband networks.
In tests, Pando increased the percentage of data routed internally across their networks from 2.2% to 43.4%, which it claims reduced inter-ISP data transfers by an average of 34% (up to 43.8 % in the US and 75.1% internationally).
"Our goal is to address the needs of ISPs, content owners, and consumers," said Robert Levitan, CEO of Pando Networks. More detail on P4P technology is available at Pando's website.
GridNetworks' Launches Next Gen Technology Platform
GridNetworks, the leading provider of managed Internet television delivery services, this week announced the release of the next generation of its GridCasting technology platform. The new release delivers a better viewing experience for online consumers, as well as improved service integrity, usage reporting, and analytics for content providers.
GridCasting is based on a unique suite of technologies that include the GridCast Connector consumer client application, and Grid Network Control - a network-hosted system that orchestrates real-time service management and network-friendly video streams.
Grid Network Control and GridCast Connectors work in tandem to ensure that millions of viewers can simultaneously watch television programming from Internet broadband connections, and have a compelling television experience without the re-buffering or interruptions from which typical Internet video streaming suffers.
The new GridCasting service provides advanced features for both viewers and content providers, enabling a better, more "sticky" viewing experience for consumers, and a highly-reliable Internet broadcast delivery service for the entertainment industry.
"We're unlocking the power of Internet television by enabling media companies to predictably scale and monetize content while providing a seamless, high-quality viewing experience for their audiences. Our new GridCasting service provides the data and analytics needed to build profitable, sustainable business models for Internet Television," said GridNetworks CEO, Tony Naughtin.
Service operators and consumer electronics vendors working with GridNetworks can take advantage of Gridcasting's service quality, and its network-friendly attributes, by integrating the technology into the networks and devices used to provide Internet video capabilities.
Through these integration efforts, along with Gridnetworks' service relationships with content and media companies, consumers will have access to full screen, HD content for a compelling, seamless television experience.
GridNetworks' CTO Jeffrey Payne will be a featured speaker at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA.
P2P Tests Show Speed Boost on Cable, Telco Networks
Excerpted from Multichannel News Report by Todd Spangler
A technology designed to improve the performance of P2P applications sped up file transfers 235% on cable networks in the United States, according to a wide-scale test by a P2P software company.
Pando Networks, a New York-based company that offers a free P2P client and sells content delivery services to content owners and service providers, released details of a test analyzing the results of video-based content delivered to more than 1 million broadband users served by 3,000 service providers.
The test culled data from users on networks operated AT&T, Bell Canada, BT, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon Communications, among others.
Comcast Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Tony Werner said, "These newly released test results demonstrate the applicability of P4P to cable ISP infrastructures. The initial results are promising, and we look forward to continuing our mutual efforts with P2P companies distributing legitimate content in order to improve the efficiency of their applications on our network."
Among US cable operators, Pando increased the percentage of data routed across internal networks from 2.2% to 43.4% of all downloads.
That reduced inter-ISP data transfers by an average of 34%.
P4P technology, based on research from Yale University, more intelligently directs P2P traffic instead of letting the software pull data indiscriminately from anywhere in the world.
The P4P protocols and specifications are being shared within a working group sponsored by the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA).
Initial results of the test, reflecting data exclusively for Verizon Communications' broadband network, were presented March 14th. Verizon claimed that using P4P, 58% of P2P traffic came from nearby P2P users on its network, compared with 6% before.
"We are certainly thrilled with the results from our global test," Pando CTO Laird Popkin said, adding that the company is "now ready to help ISPs deploy 'carrier-grade' P2P technologies."
Pando, founded in late 2004, is backed by Intel, BRM Capital, and Wheatley Partners.
Velocix Deal Struck in Singapore
Excerpted from Business Weekly Report
Digital media delivery specialist, Velocix, has been contracted by Singapore's version of the BBC to transmit the international TV hit shows "Star Search" and "Deal or No Deal" live over the Internet.
Rapid growth in demand has pushed national broadcast group, MediaCorp - which beamed the nation's first TV pictures in 1963 - to select the Velocix Digital Asset Delivery Network to provide live, on-line, bi-weekly broadcast streaming services.
Koh Peck Kheng, MediaCorp AVP, said, "We are seeing increased demand from viewers watching live on-line episodes of our hit TV programs, as well as our subscription VOD service MediaCorp On-line Broadband TV (MOBTV)."
Formally known as CacheLogic, Velocix has developed a new generation hybrid P2P content delivery network (CDN), the technology needed to deliver the increasingly large amounts of media content demanded across the internet.
The company also recently closed a £12.5 million VC funding round with participation from 3i, Amadeus Capital Partners, and Pentech Ventures to fuel ambitious growth plans based on the huge growth of the CDN market.
A report by Tier1 Research estimated 2007 CDN industry revenue to reach £500m (48% growth over the 2006 total), while Cisco Systems expects consumer IP traffic to quadruple in the next four years to 8 exabytes (8 billion gigabytes) a month.
Velocix says that much of this will be fueled by a massive increase in demand by consumers of large digital assets such as delivery of video, software, and games and many leading brands would look to create the next era of digital media on-line.
Does the Net Need More Roads or Better Traffic Signals?
Excerpted from GigaOM Report by Stacey Higginbotham
If the Internet is a highway, then the companies responsible for maintaining the roads are increasingly at odds with the ones producing a lot of the traffic. An example can be found in the arguments of a British ISP that's seeking to get the BBC to pay for network upgrades, claiming the broadcaster's peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) iPlayer is hogging too much bandwidth.
The request for funding to build more robust networks made by Simon Gunter, Chief of Strategy at ISP Tiscali, is akin to asking car companies to pay a tax for building more roads. It's one way to address the issue, but there are other options, among them better traffic management, which would decrease the distance cars need to travel.
Network management is necessary in a world in which backhaul is limited and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is still a luxury. Recall that the FCC had no problem with Comcast engaging in network management practices, but rather that Comcast "managed" a specific application without disclosing that fact to consumers. And the application attacked was competing with Comcast's own cable offerings.
Many of these media files are delivered via P2P networks. They've long been the most efficient way to get large amounts of data across a network, and now they're working hard to be even more efficient.
Nine months ago, Verizon and Pando Networks stepped up to create the P4P Working Group, which is working to create a standardized protocol through which P2P firms and ISPs can work together. The idea is that sharing an ISP's network topology will help P2P companies route traffic in ways that are advantageous to both the ISP and the end-user. Test results included a 235% increase in delivery speeds for US cable networks and keeping more traffic inside an ISP's own network.
The other way to reduce traffic involves each P2P company making tweaks to its software. In October 2007, BitTorrent launched a function called BitTorrent DNA that recognizes when a network point is too congested and shunts the traffic flow through different areas.
Jay Monahan, General Counsel for Vuze, says his P2P company started paying more attention to congestion within the last few months as well.
At some point, new roads will have to be built. But in the meantime, there are ways to prevent network congestion that don't involve kicking certain cars off the road.
Preview: QTRAX Music-Sharing Service
Excerpted from PC Advisor Report by Carrie-Ann Skinner
QTRAX was announced in a blaze of publicity at the Midem music industry conference in Cannes earlier this year.
The service will let users tap into file-sharing networks and search for music, which can then be stored indefinitely on PCs and transferred to music players. All downloads will feature DRM to help fulfill and track associated advertising.
QTRAX will be able to access an estimated 30 million tracks and use revenue from advertising to pay licensing fees to rights holders.
QTRAX will be suitable for anyone who likes to download their digital music for free - but isn't in a hurry to do so, because it could still take some time to get the service fully up and running.
Pando Field Test Results Attract Cable and Telco Ops
Excerpted from ScreenPlays Magazine
Managed P2P content delivery service provider Pando Networks detailed field test results that show cost savings for broadband ISPs and open a path to cable and other broadband network operators embracing legitimate P2P players.
The field tests employed new protocols known as P4P that advance the efficiency of P2P media streaming by optimizing data sharing to peers located on the same local cable, DSL, or other broadband network. The protocols reduced P2P traffic between ISPs, thereby substantially reducing requirements for costly inter-ISP transit infrastructure.
The ability to localize and reduce distances of many P2P data exchanges also increases delivery speeds for consumers and better ensures quality sought by content owners exploiting the technology, according to test results.
The test, which began February 21st, compared three methods: traditional P2P, P4P, and P4P plus Pando Network Aware technology. The combination of P4P and Pando Network Aware technology increased the percentage of data routed within US cable networks from 2.2 percent to 43.4 percent of all downloads, thereby reducing cable's inter-ISP data transfers by up to 43.8 percent - a benefit heralded by cable and telco ISPs.
"These newly released test results demonstrate the applicability of P4P to cable ISP infrastructures," said Tony Werner, CTO for Comcast Cable. "The initial results are promising, and we look forward to continuing our mutual efforts with P2P companies distributing legitimate content in order to improve the efficiency of their applications on our network."
Although Comcast has allegedly throttled down or blocked P2P traffic on its networks as a threat to broadband service performance among non-P2P users, the largest US cable ISP announced exploration of joint technical development with P2P streaming service provider BitTorrent last month.
Now P2P players like Pando Networks, which offers managed P2P services to content partners including NBC Universal, hope that P4P breakthroughs will benefit consumers, content companies, P2P companies, and ISPs alike and attract more ISPs to participate in further trials.
"There are a lot of companies like Pando focused on distributing legitimate content, and there are, however, a lot of P2P technologies being used to distribute content that is not authorized," says Pando CEO Robert Levitan. "Comcast wants to know they're assisting legitimate content, and only the legitimate P2P companies will work openly with ISPs. This is going to force P2P companies to identify themselves as good guys or bad guys."
Levitan notes that the key to claims of legitimacy by managed P2P players lies with their ability to disable any piece of content from moving across their networks, thereby enabling them to protect legitimate content from unauthorized sharing. This maturing of the technology "may force the P2P industry to grow up and be as responsible as possible in working with content owners and ISPs," he says. "They can no longer say, 'We can't control what content is moving.' This is P2P delivery, but with central control. Because we work with NBC, ISPs are eager to work with us."
Levitan believes P4P can significantly ameliorate heavy P2P traffic burdens for ISPs by shifting traffic patterns. While "normal" P2P comprises approximately 98% inter-ISP and 2% intra-ISP traffic, P4P shifts the intra-ISP figure to 50%.
"That has real cost implications for physical network and operating investment to expand connections with other ISPs," he says. "The second step, making that internal data movement even more local, translates to fewer routers the ISP needs to deploy. The implications are potentially billions of dollars in infrastructure cost savings."
Initially developed by Yale University researchers, P4P protocols are implemented on P2P servers which communicate with P2P client software at user desktops. When coordinated with user-anonymous network map data provided by an operator like Verizon, the servers can instruct individual desktops where to find the shortest hop for the data, optimizing route efficiency.
During the test, Pando delivered video content to more than 1 million people across global broadband networks including AT&T, Bell Canada, Bezeq International, BT, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox, Orange, Sasktel, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Time Warner, Tiscali, and Verizon.
Among those operators, Verizon and Telefonica participated directly by sharing network topology data with Pando. That additional intelligence enabled the Pando Network Aware technology to enhance the ability of P4P protocols to localize data sharing in those networks.
"If you and I are on Comcast, and we want to download a TV show, P4P will connect us to nodes within the same Comcast cable network, instead of connecting randomly to users and nodes across multiple ISPs and regions," Levitan explains.
"Local is most efficient. If content is on your block, it can travel the fewest links or hops. That's the whole point of this: let's try to have data move internally and, as much as we can, locally."
Verizon released its own P4P test results in mid-March, describing them as "phenomenal" and yielding immediate benefits to both its network and customers.
Telefonica is expected to detail its results later this month.
"We are particularly pleased with the positive indication of these expanded test results for international ISPs with multiple diverse broadband operations in multiple territories, given our unique requirements for balancing internal and external traffic loading to optimize user quality of service (QoS) and infrastructure usage," said Emilio Sepulveda, Senior Manager, Strategy & Business Innovation for Telefonica International Wholesale Services.
"It was time for everybody to come out with public announcements that we're working with this," Levitan says. "Hopefully Comcast will be among those involved in the next tests."
The P4P protocols and specifications are being shared within the P4P Working Group, which is open to all ISPs and P2P technology providers, and sponsored by the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA).
The P4PWG now claims more than 50 core members and observers, including Verizon and Telefonica, from the ISP, P2P, and caching / content acceleration services markets. Verizon Senior Technologist Douglas Pasko and Pando Networks CTO Laird Popkin are Co-Chairs of the P4PWG.
P4P "makes the Internet a more scalable media distribution platform while benefiting various online media constituencies," said DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty.
"It helps ISPs reduce network operating expenditures as well as enabling content owners to distribute longer form, higher quality content. The fact that P4P demonstrated enormous benefits worldwide for cable as well as telco-based ISPs, and for small as well as large network operators, augurs extremely well for profitable mutually beneficial collaboration."
Content owners like NBC have started to experiment with P2P for quality and cost benefits, but "the history of P2P and ISPs is not a pretty one," Levitan says.
"P2P companies have been trying to outsmart ISPs, and ISPs have been trying to block P2P. Our field tests say it's possible to work together and everybody benefits. P4P is highly efficient. Pando Network Aware improves it more, where ISPs share their network data. The ISP doesn't want to facilitate illegitimate content. It has to be for legitimate P2P networks. This is good for consumers and network operators and for content owners."
P2P Filters Show Excellent Capabilities
Excerpted from TelecomTV Report
Filter devices from two companies showed "excellent performance" and "very good" P2P detection and regulation capabilities during a new test. The test, commissioned by Internet Evolution and Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique, was carried out by the European Advanced Networking Test Centre to assess the functionality and performance of P2P filters.
The test is purported to be the most detailed product evaluation ever done on P2P filtering products. Of 28 companies contacted to participate in the testing, two agreed to have their results publicly released, Arbor Networks and German Ipoque.
According to the report, Peer-to-Peer Filters: Ready for Internet Prime Time? the presence of both the Arbor Ellacoya E30 and Ipoque PRX-5G devices had little or no effect on network performance. The network delay always remained below one millisecond, and latency did not increase even when the devices were tested with a complex traffic mix.
Both of the vendors' Gigabit-attached systems showed that it was possible to limit P2P traffic at the edge of an ISP network. Most well known P2P protocols were successfully detected, including BitTorrent, eDonkey, Gnutella, and FastTrack.
In addition, the systems regulated P2P with an accuracy of more than 90 per cent without any reported false positives.
According to the test data, "Most of the important ISP network scenarios are supported by both solutions," including encapsulation, asymmetrical routing, fragmentation, and jumbo frames.
"While we are pleased with the results of the testing, the fact remains that the Arbor Ellacoya e30 is actively deployed in 150 networks around the world, which is the ultimate test. Deep packet inspection (DPI) will remain a critical technology for providers because diversity and volume of traffic will continue to be a major problem for their networks. Five per cent of users are consuming more than 40% of bandwidth," said an Arbor spokesperson.
BuyDRM to Support Microsoft Silverlight
BuyDRM announced today that it will support Silverlight DRM, Powered by Microsoft PlayReady, a content protection solution for online content, advertising, and interactive experiences.
Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the web. In addition to being compatible with the broadly deployed base of Windows Media 10 DRM content, Silverlight DRM, Powered by PlayReady, will enable content owners to protect live and on-demand connected streaming and progressive download experiences.
BuyDRM will provide key product development and deployment support in an ASP and dedicated solutions model for Microsoft's customers, Internet service providers (ISPs), broadcasters, and media companies globally, via its award winning KeyOS Pay Media Platform. KeyOS includes support for the industry's leading business models including Pay-Per-View, Subscription, Token, Ad-Supported, and Silent monitoring for live and on-demand delivery scenarios.
"The deployment of Silverlight DRM via the KeyOS Pay Media Platform will offer customers a flexible, robust business-centered rights management solution that will broaden the consumer marketplace for pay media," said Christopher Levy, BuyDRM CEO and Microsoft MVP for Digital Media. "We have been working closely with Microsoft to develop one of the industry's first Silverlight DRM-enabled service offering that is flexible, easy to deploy and provides powerful rights management solutions for a variety of industries."
"BuyDRM is an industry leading provider of robust DRM solutions, and has a long history of securing premium content delivered to millions of consumers, said Tom Honeybone, Senior Director, Silverlight Business Development, Microsoft Corporation, "We are excited to work closely with BuyDRM to enable the next generation of Silverlight-enabled protected content and advertising."
Big ISPs Push P4P as Substitute for Net Neutrality
Excerpted from Ars Technica Report by Matthew Lasar
In their latest filings with the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T and Comcast argue that new breakthroughs in P4P network management lessen or eliminate the need for the agency to enact stronger net neutrality rules.
Comcast's statement, filed with the FCC on April 9th, hails an announcement by P2P developer Pando Networks that its experiments with P4P technology on a wide variety of broadband networks have boosted delivery speeds by up to 235%.
This news, Comcast Vice President Kathryn A. Zachem wrote to the Commission, "provides further proof that policymakers have been right to rely on marketplace forces, rather than government regulation to govern the evolution of Internet services."
P4P stands for Proactive Network Provider Participation for P2P, a system of support for P2P protocols that allows tracking devices to communicate with network management systems about P2P flow.
The objective, as four University of Washington and Yale scholars recently concluded in a paper on P4P, is to encourage "a more effective cooperative traffic control between applications and network providers."
In short, the technology helps file sharers pick each other in ways that contribute to a more efficient network.
Ars spoke with Verizon Senior Technologist and DCIA P4P Working Group Co-Chair Doug Pasko in March, who reported 200-to-600% boosts in download speed in their experiments with Pando.
Pando's April 9th release says that since late February it has now performed experiments in broadband video delivery to over one million people via networks that include AT&T, Bell Canada, Cablevision, Comcast, Telefonica, Time Warner, and Verizon - all with positive results.
On April 7th, AT&T filed comments with the FCC's net neutrality docket that included the Washington/Yale study and a presentation on network management. Three top AT&T reps also met with legal advisers to Commissioners Deborah Taylor Tate, Jonathan Adelstein, and Michael Copps.
The presentation asserts that AT&T end-user bandwidth has been increasing by about 35% a year from 2001 through 2007. In addition, "heavy bandwidth applications such as streaming media (web and multimedia) and P2P are driving approximately 80% of total bandwidth on AT&T's broadband network."
The AT&T presentation concludes that "the need to manage shared networks doesn't go away as bandwidth increases."
The filing claims that in the end there's no escaping the fact that certain P2P technologies have "upset network architecture assumptions - increasing the challenge and complexity of network management."
AT&T's solution? The telco points to the DCIA P4P group's efforts as one solution.
In the meantime, "resolve disputes as to what constitutes a reasonable network management practice on a case-by-case basis."
Pando's press release includes a comment by Comcast CTO Tony Werner praising "the applicability of P4P to cable ISP infrastructures."
Comcast's FCC comments promise collaboration with Pando "to ensure that all of us can continue to deliver ever-improving services to consumers."
AT&T and Comcast's remarks come as the FCC prepares for its second hearing on network management practices, scheduled to take place at Stanford University on April 17th.
Joost CEO on Strategic Plans
Excerpted from GigaOM Report by Om Malik
Mike Volpi, CEO of industry leading peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) service Joost, provided an update on strategic plans.
"We are focusing on US, Western Europe, China, and a few other Asian markets, taking a measured approach to our expansion, and keeping it in sync with markets where online advertising is mature," he said.
Volpi pointed out that Joost launched in China two weeks ago, and has recently signed content partnerships in Scandinavia. When you add to the mix the UK, France, and a couple of other Western European countries, the company clearly has global ambitions.
"What we are not doing is chasing every market, because as a start-up we need to be focused," Volpi added.
Due to its heritage - it was started by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis - Joost had received a lot of press coverage.
It is now run by Volpi, a highly regarded former Cisco executive, and funded by the likes of uber VC funds Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures. The company raised about $45 million in May 2007.
Joost has Viacom and CBS as its primary US partners, and is working to sign-up more A-list type content providers. The BBC's iPlayer (where the former Joost CTO currently works), Kangaroo, and other players are beginning to challenge Joost on its turf in Europe.
The company has plans to improve its client and platform. Volpi said that Joost is going to announce a new web-based platform in a few months.
He said the company has also realigned its work force. As a result, Joost of today is a trimmer version of its former self, thanks to pruning by Volpi, who became Joost CEO in May 2007. Some of these details were outlined in a Portfolio article.
Volpi also said that the company is adding more engineering folks in its New York office and maintaining its Netherlands operation.
Babelgum Unveils First Fund Project
Excerpted from Variety Report by Ali Jaafar and John Hopewell
Leading P2PTV service Babelgum has announced that the first project to be funded from its $15 million Digital Studio Initiative will be "Oil Sands," a feature-length environmental doc about the threatened Athabasca Oil Sands region in Alberta, Canada.
The project will look at the tensions between the indigenous population in northern Alberta and the controversial technology attempting to harness the natural resources of the Athabasca Oil Sands region.
Canada has the world's second highest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.
The film will be produced by Insomnia Media Group, Emmy-award winning producer Philip Alberstat and Emmy-nominee Randy Bradshaw. Leslie Iwerks ("Recycle Story") will helm.
The budget of "Oil Sands" is believed to be in the mid six-figure dollars range.
The project is the first to come out of Babelgum's fund dedicated to commissioning original content. The company uses P2P technology to deliver professionally produced content, instead of the user-generated clips of sites such as YouTube.
"Oil Sands" will be available on the Babelgum site in the form of 15-20 minutes clips. Principal photography is set to start in a month's time with the project completed by late summer.
"We're not going to turn into a studio overnight," said Babelgum Director of Content Mark Cranwell.
"We'll be picking and choosing our projects on the basis of getting the most amount of attention to the widest public possible on issues, such as the environment, which are important to Babelgum. This was a good starting point."
Even after "Oil Sands" is completed - and Babelgum exec are looking to sell the long-form version of the project to traditional broadcasters - Iwerks and the project's creative team will continue to revisit the citizens of Alberta and the oil execs interviewed to offer auds updates on the story further down the line.
In March Babelgum formally opened its online film festival by making more than 1,000 shorts available for public viewing and voting.
The winners in seven categories will be announced May 20th at a gala awards ceremony in Cannes, during the film festival.
EU Parliament Opposes ISP P2P Policing
Excerpted from MediaPost Report
The European Parliament on Friday voted to outlaw the kind of anti-piracy legislation introduced recently in the UK and France.
The European Parliament bill, introduced, ironically, by a Frenchman, claims that "criminalizing consumers so as to combat digital piracy is not the right solution," and that individual countries should "avoid adopting measures such as the interruption of Internet access."
In France and the UK, recent proposals have placed the responsibility on users' shoulders.
Last year, French President Nicolas Sarkozy introduced a policy that warns consumers three times before disconnecting them for unauthorized downloading. The UK was mulling a similar policy that would hold ISPs accountable for warning and then disconnecting users.
The European Parliament proposal would protect consumers from these disconnection policies.
"The repressive measures are dictated by industries that have been unable to change their business models to meet the needs imposed by the information society," said Guy Bono, who drafted the proposal.
Gerd Leonhard Releases Music2.0
The Wall Street Journal calls Gerd Leonhard one of the leading media futurists in the world. Gerd has been an activist, pioneer, and thought-leader in digital music for the past 10 years.
Many of his predictions on the future of digital music are coming true: the death of DRM for music downloads, the advent of digital music flat-rates, and the fact that social networks are becoming broadcasters.
Music2.0 presents an edited collection of Gerd's most popular blog posts, white papers, essays and talks from the past 4 years, and further expands on the key issues that were raised in his previous book "The Future of Music."
"Music2.0" offers 228 pages of hard-hitting yet engaging and inspiring views on what the new music industry will look and feel like, covering topics such as copyright versus usage right, the future of music marketing and promotion, user-generated content (UGC) and the explosive rise of music social networks, viral music syndication and widgets, next generation revenue models, mobility, P2P, the logic behind the music flat rate, the culture of participation, the attention economy in music, and the future role of labels, managers, and publishers.
If you are interested in forging a new path and creating the music company of the future, this book is for you.
Coming Events of Interest
FCC En Banc Hearing - April 17th at 12:00 PM PT in Stanford University's Dinkelspiel Auditorium. There will be two panels of interest: "Network Management and Consumer Expectations" and "Consumer Access to Emerging Internet Technologies and Applications." This will also serve as the April Monthly Meeting of the FCC.
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.
Streaming Media East – May 20th-21st in New York, NY. SME is the place to learn what is taking place with all forms of online video business models and technology. Content owners, viral video creators, online marketers, enterprise corporations, broadcast professionals, ad agencies, educators, and others attend. The DCIA will participate in the P2P session.
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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