June 16, 2008
Volume XXII, Issue 6
Comcast's Speed Boost is Good News for the P2P Industry
Excerpted from Silicon Alley Insider Report by Dan Frommer
Comcast is more than doubling the maximum upload speed for many of its cable Internet subscribers. Upload capacity on its cheaper plan will nearly triple to 1 megabit per second, and on its more expensive plan will more than double to 2 megabits per second.
These still aren't lightning-fast speeds, but the upgrades are a nice update for subscribers.
They're also good news for peer-to-peer (P2P) companies like BitTorrent, Joost, Pando, and others, which rely on users to send files so others can receive them.
American broadband connections are engineered so that users can download much faster than they can upload. That's been a problem for P2P, because - assuming everyone has a similar connection - there's sometimes more bandwidth demand from downloaders than supply from uploaders.
Comcast's upgrade should help there.
Of course, that still doesn't solve a lot of the business problems P2P content distribution companies have, like ease-of-use, reliability, etc.
Downloading Torrents through Browsers
Excerpted from Lifehacker Report
Give website TorrentRelay the URL of any torrent on the Internet and it'll automatically download it for you through your web browser.
Not only does that mean you can download files over BitTorrent without installing a new BitTorrent client if you're on someone else's computer, but it also means you can download torrents directly to hardware that doesn't support BitTorrent clients, like your Wii, PS3, or even iPhone.
Currently TorrentRelay downloads are limited to 400MB. For an interview with its developer, Kevin Kowalewski, please click here.
For a similar solution, give website BitLet the URL of a .torrent file and it downloads the file using its web-based BitTorrent client.
Beyond that, BitLet is pretty simple: just paste the address of the .torrent file, click "Download Torrent," and select the directory to which you want to save the file. If all works well, your download will begin.
BitLet is certainly not a replacement for a full-fledged desktop BitTorrent client like uTorrent, but it does provide a simple way to download content via BitTorrent without installing any new software - assuming you've got the latest Java VM browser plug-in installed.
QTRAX - It's Back and Ready for Action!
Excerpted from Idolator Report by Maura Johnston
After an initial launch of a content-free version of its site, the ad-supported P2P music service QTRAX is ready to try again, with a relaunch set for this Wednesday June 18th.
QTRAX's initial launch was plagued by the major labels holding their content back from the service at the last minute.
Since then, EMI and Universal Music Group (UMG) have signed their wares to the service, although both labels have stipulated that their music has to be distributed initially through a method that's more traditional (and less BitTorrent-like) than QTRAX's licensed P2P service ultimately will offer when fully operational.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 During the coming week, we plan to solidify plans for our first-ever P2P MEDIA SUMMIT Silicon Valley (P2PMSSV) scheduled for August 4th in San Jose, CA in conjunction with Building Blocks, the joint endeavor of CEA and Digital Hollywood.
Our goal is to make this conference as meaningful and valuable as possible for DCINFO readers and prospective participants in our rapidly emerging industry. Your input is welcome and encouraged.
We want to hear from you if you'd like to speak at this event - or if there are specific organizations or individuals you'd like us to recruit as presenters.
We also want to hear from you regarding whom you'd like us to attract as attendees. While we focus our attention on customers, investors, and strategic affiliates of DCIA Member companies, please let us know in particular the additional companies and people you would like to meet at this conference.
Please e-mail P2PMSSV@dcia.info or call 410-476-7965 with your input this week. We promise to give every suggestion an open-and-honest hearing, and will respond to you directly.
For three years now, the template for the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT conference program series has been fine-tuned based on experience. Speaker selection has favored those on the cutting edge of commercial advancement of P2P from all over the world. Our conference luncheons have featured prominent industry outsiders or leaders at the pinnacle of their achievement.
Based on the recommendations of DCIA Member companies and industry observers at the time, we originally built the morning format for the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT around three major themes: Policy, Technology, and Marketing. Each had a dedicated track of panels and relevant keynotes.
In the afternoon sessions, we explored the latest developments of P2P from the perspectives of content rights holders (CRHs), P2P software distributors, and vendors, particularly those working on solutions that would advance traffic monetization and accountability.
We would usually end the day with a topical presentation, sometimes featuring a live demonstration.
Over time, we have evolved the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT to reflect emerging trends of importance to our still nascent industry. The fact is we are still engaged in a quest for the fundamental business model(s) that will optimize the value of P2P for all participants in the distribution chain.
Most recently, at the third annual P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LA, the morning sessions explored relationships among Internet service providers (ISPs) and P2P software distributors, which have been marked by steadily increasing progress in recent months.
This is exemplified by the P4P Working Group (P4PWG) led by Verizon's Doug Pasko and Pando Networks' Laird Popkin - now with more than eighty participants - and such groundbreaking initiatives as BitTorrent's recently announced partnerships with leading cable ISP Comcast and leading telco ISP AT&T.
We discussed in depth the key issues surrounding network resources - managing bandwidth usage and improving P2P throughput - answering such questions as what are the mission, objectives, history, and status of the P4PWG? What tests have been conducted to date and what have the results shown? What are the next steps for the P4PWG? How does the P4PWG plan to move from testing to standards setting and best practices? How can interested parties get involved?
The conference luncheon, featuring Bob Pisano, President & COO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), served as our transition to afternoon sessions dedicated to issues of import to content rights holders (CRHs) as they endeavor to harness P2P for the authorized distribution of copyrighted works. Specifically, we delved into distribution strategies, content licensing, file protection, and traffic monetization.
What has been the experience to date of professional and user-generated content (UGC) providers who have embraced P2P? What changes do they need to more effectively exploit file-sharing and related technologies? Which business models are showing the most promise? Are there innovative art forms or packaging approaches in development for the P2P distribution channel? How should P2P relate to other distribution channels?
What are the business strategy and licensing issues that must be addressed in order to distribute rich media using P2P? How can the industry ensure that the benefits of P4P and similar mechanisms are applied to authorized content distribution? What do participants at various levels of this channel need to do to gain support of content rights holders (CRHs)? Which identification and filtering techniques (e.g., watermarking and/or fingerprinting) should be used to protect content and enhance the ecosystem?
What do sponsors and advertising agencies need from P2P and social networks in order to monetize the enormous traffic that they generate? How should these networks organize their inventory of advertising and sponsorship availabilities to maximize value? What is the relative worth of the different formats and amount of interactivity that this channel can support? Beyond CPM and click-through payment regimes, what are other opportunities?
And we ended the day with two extraordinary presentations - which provided complementary visions of the future of P2P - from Motorola's John Waclawsky and Microsoft's See-Mong Tan.
Please take time to send your recommendations for the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT Silicon Valley (P2PMSSV). We want to make this event as worthwhile as it possibly can be for you. Call 410-476-7965 or e-mail P2PMSSV@dcia.info. Share wisely, and take care.
PPLive Receives Online Broadcasting License in China
PPLive, a leading peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) company in China with over 100 million users worldwide, announced this week that it obtained an Internet audio and video broadcasting license from the PRC State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT), the top government regulator.
PPLive is the first international VC-invested Internet video streaming company to obtain a PRC governmental license in all video sharing, P2P streaming, and P2P downloading sectors, ahead of Sohu, NetEase, and other Nasdaq listed PRC Internet companies. So far, there are very few companies to receive such licenses in China, especially among international VC-invested firms.
PPLive is supported by leading international VCs including Draper Fisher Juverston, BlueRun Venture, Softbank China Venture Capital, DFJ Dragon, and New Access Capital.
Bill Yao, Founder & CEO of PPLive commented, ''We are very pleased to be the first international VC-invested internet video media company to receive the central government's license. We will continue to provide creative online video products and high-quality content through our world-class P2P streaming platform to our viewers and users worldwide.''
As a leading player, PPLive offers smooth, clear, rich media; interactive online video; live broadcasting; and video-on-demand (VOD) experiences to Chinese and International users. It also provides a brand new, powerful, precise, and interactive online video advertising product and service to advertisers, including domestic and famous overseas brands.
As the world's most popular P2PTV platform, PPLive offers 900+ live broadcasting channels and 700+ VOD channels.
Current ad partners include Sony, Nokia, Pepsi, China Mobile, Estee Lauder, and Pizza Hut among others. Most ads are flashed interactively during the 30-second buffer delay.
PPLive has accumulated the largest market share in the online video streaming market that is projected to reach 180 million by 2010, according to iResearch. PPLive appears to be well positioned to maintain its growth momentum.
Amazing Development of P2PTV
Excerpted from YaHooka Forums Report
Just have a look at this: MyP2P.eu - Free live sports on your PC...
The link might be old when you click on it, but it shows a page with links to live streams of one particular football match at the EURO 2008.
There are more then 50 channels with more then 150 different streams of this one-and-the-same event, with some in really good quality and all for free, available online.
What MP3 did for the music industry peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) is going to do for the TV industry!
How to Promote Your TV Show on P2P Networks
Excerpted from NewTeeVee Report by Janko Roettgers
This summer's TV season is creeping up on us, and the networks are once again trying to get us hooked on a bunch of new and not-so-new shows. A lot of money is being spent on traditional promotion, but you can also expect an increased number of free downloads, too.
Some producers are even more brave (or desperate, depending on your point of view), leaking their material to file-sharing networks. Usually that's something people don't talk about. One exception is Spike TV's new show "Factory."
The network hired the P2P promoters of the Jun Group to distribute the show's pilot on the LimeWire file-sharing network, according to the LA Times.
This might not have been the best choice. After all, LimeWire is primarily used to download music, and the network is completely search-based, meaning users have to know what they are looking for, and who would search for a still-unknown TV show of a not-that-popular cable network? But don't worry, it's not all that complicated to get P2P promotion right. Here are five essential points to get your show popular with file-swappers.
Chose the right network. LimeWire is a great file-sharing tool, it's just not all that popular with the TV downloading crowd. People tend to download their shows via BitTorrent instead - if they're in the US, that is. Other countries have other favorites, so the right choice really depends on the market you want to target. There's a great overview about different global file-sharing habits in the Ipoque Internet Study 2007.
Go with the big guys. There are tons of BitTorrent sites out there. Some are invite-only while others are open to everyone. While it would be great if you could slowly infiltrate a closed community of hard-core file sharers and then wait for your show to organically find its way onto the bigger platforms, chances are you don't have the time for that. So relax, and just upload your content on the Pirate Bay, isoHunt and Mininova. Together these three sites generate a billion page views per month, according to TorrentFreak. A great guide to Mininova can be found here, and here is a guide that explains how to upload torrents to the Pirate Bay.
Be a good seeder. You really need to get the ball rolling yourself if you want to make content popular on P2P networks, and that means keeping your copy up 24/7. There is nothing as frustrating as a torrent download that gets stuck at 90% because the initial copy or "seed" goes offline. Luckily, you won't have to convert your home office into a file-sharing haven: There are tons of companies that offer dedicated servers just for running BitTorrent and seeding content. A long list of these so-called seed boxes can be found here.
Don't seed from your office network. Now this might be obvious because you don't want to get in trouble with IT security, but there's another good reason to avoid that corporate network infrastructure for P2P promotion: many file-swappers use so-called block lists nowadays that are supposed to protect them from getting sued. Block lists tend to contain a wide array of IP address lists from entertainment companies. Chances are your company is in there as well, and nobody would touch your torrent if you seeded it from your TV network's network.
Utilize file-sharing blogs. The great thing about BitTorrent downloads is that they can be linked to from regular web pages. This has led to a whole subculture of file-sharing blogs that link to and sometimes review new torrents. Blogs like Rlslog.net have thousands of TV-addicted readers, so this is a great way to get your show in front of huge audience and really get your P2P distribution going.
BitTorrent Trio Hits a Billion Page Views per Month
Excerpted from TorrentFreak Report
Following Mininova and The Pirate Bay, isoHunt is now the third BitTorrent site to enter the elite list of most visited websites on the Internet. Together the three sites generate more than a billion page views a month, and they continue to grow.
Most recently, isoHunt managed to get a spot among the 120 most visited domains on the Internet, according to Alexa.
IsoHunt - the third largest BitTorrent site with 350,000,000 page views per month - is one of the older BitTorrent sites and predates both The Pirate Bay and Mininova. The site started in January 2003, and added support for torrents by the end of that year just a few months after the BitTorrent protocol went public.
At the time, no-one could have guessed that BitTorrent sites would ever become as dominant as they are now. Gary Fung, the Founder of isoHunt didn't foresee it either: "I never expected the site to grow to this volume initially, until we started seeing explosive growth with the uptake of BitTorrent."
About the future of his site, Fung said, "By indexing any and all BitTorrent links, we expect to grow as much as usage of BitTorrent will."
Right now, there is no sign that BitTorrent's usage will stop growing, so it is safe to say that, like any other BitTorrent site, isoHunt will keep on growing.
Today's rankings show that The Pirate Bay is 90th in the list of 120 most visited websites, Mininova 51st, and isoHunt comes in 119th place.
With the current growth rate of BitTorrent sites, Torrentz.com will probably join these three sites in a few weeks.
Jamendo Offers Licensed Music on isoHunt
Jamendo, the largest global platform for free-and-legal music downloads, and isoHunt, one of the leading search engines for BitTorrent downloads, have agreed to join forces to support the dissemination of free music by independent artists.
Through Jamendo, indie artists can directly reach a worldwide audience, while users can enjoy an unlimited music experience. The quality of the music along with a smart model for distribution make Jamendo the ultimate destination for music discovery.
Jamendo's music catalog of almost 10,000 albums and over 150,000 songs published under Creative Commons licenses is now fully accessible to the users of isoHunt.
Jamendo's torrents are systematically highlighted in search results, similar to the white tabs designating isoHunt verified torrent releases. This, together with stylized HTML descriptions in Jamendo torrents, ensures that users don't miss great music from independent artists who want their music to be downloaded and listened to lawfully.
Jamendo's music can be accessed by simply searching for "jamendo," the artist's name, or the keyword "creativecommons."
'We fully embrace Creative Commons (CC) and other free licensed works distributed using BitTorrent" said Gary Fung, the founder of isoHunt. "Jamendo is a treasure trove of CC licensed music, and I'm happy to announce the partnership between our sites".
Jamendo and isoHunt's message is clear: the BitTorrent protocol combined with CC music from Jamendo results in a great experience for both consumers and artists.
Video on PCs Captures Share of TV Screen Time
Recent findings released by Ipsos Media show that the percentage of video consumed on a TV among video downloaders and streamers declined from 75% in February 2007 to 70% in February 2008.
This represents a significant drop in overall 'share of screen time' with the growing contingent of digital video users, says the report.
In addition, the percentage of total screen time captured by movie theaters also declined significantly in the past year, mirroring the overall trend Ipsos Media has witnessed in traditional video consumption.
Adam Wright, Director at Ipsos Media, explained that, "Streaming video online has become an activity many Americans aren't just experimenting with, but enjoy on a regular basis. Today, about half of all Internet users aged 12-and-up have streamed a video file online in the past 30 days. The ubiquity of high-speed Internet connections has caused many to adopt the PC as a channel they rely on for video entertainment."
Overall screen time for the PC nearly doubled its overall share with digital video consumers since early 2007. Among the 52% of American's age 12+ who have ever streamed or downloaded a digital video file online, about one-out-of-every-five hours spent watching movies, TV shows, and/or other types of videos is done on a PC.
In noting the relative lack of growth in the overall share of screen time being allocated to other, more portable video devices such as portable DVD players, digital media players, and mobile phones, Wright said that, "While the number of device options are growing, what isn't changing is the location where we enjoy video content - our homes. Combined with the growing demand for digital video content, we're seeing the shift in share of screen time away from traditional video channels to the PC."
Watching video content on other portable devices is a niche activity for most adult digital video users, having invested in outfitting their living rooms with HDTVs and subscribing to cable or satellite television. Teens aged 12-to-17 are the only age group that is watching a greater percentage of their video content on portable devices.
Wright concluded, "These share gains in non-traditional video channels are not simply an isolated, generation-driven market effect, but rather a large macro-trend in the way consumers want their video content delivered."
P2P Tip for Sending Large Attachments
Excerpted from CIOL Report by Rakesh Sharma
We often need to send very large attachments, but are restricted to do so by our company's mail server. Even web mail providers stop you beyond a limit.
Pando provides a way to work around this by using P2P technology. It has a drag-and-drop graphical user interface (GUI), which makes sharing easy. It comes in two versions: free and premium.
The installation is wizard-driven and it automatically gets integrated with MS Outlook or IE Mail.
Whenever you send an attachment that exceeds the defined size, Pando automatically takes over the task of sending it. It sends a small sized Pando file to the recipient, which contains a link to the intended file on the sender's PC.
Apart from file sharing, you can also use it to publish photos and videos to a particular website.
You can also check the status of your published file, such as how many times it has been downloaded. Click here to get Pando.
How to Use File-Sharing Programs Responsibly
Excerpted from Melodika Report
One of the most important considerations regarding P2P networks is using file-sharing programs responsibly. Many P2P clients provide users with a wealth of ways to protect themselves, and even provide extensive information in their frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help in using these types of programs.
The first thing is to make sure files you are sharing are available. This means they should fall under one of the licensing types that allow sharing. Examples of these are Creative Commons (CC), public domain, and try-before-you-buy licensing. Many P2P programs provide you with a set of symbols that will appear next to known files in order to tell you what type of licensing applies.
If you are unsure, many P2P clients also provide links to the copyright office where you can search for information on licensing for a particular file. This is just one of the ways to use file-sharing programs responsibly.
Next, only download the files that you need or are interested in; and download a small number of files at a time. Downloading large quantities will increase the risks to your system as well as take up resources that your computer uses for other applications.
Since P2P programs download from multiple locations at the same time, you can get files quickly. However, they also can increase fragmentation; so if you use a file-sharing program and do a large amount of downloading, run your system's defrag program regularly. This not only helps to keep the P2P client running smoothly but your entire system as well.
Protect your computer when using file-sharing programs and keep sensitive materials out of your shared folder. It is best to maintain all the files that you are sharing in a single folder. This limits access to your system and makes scanning files quicker and easier.
Using P2P networks has many benefits and file-sharing programs should be used responsibly. Using P2P networks responsibly means making sure that you avoid unauthorized copyrighted materials and that you make sure to scan and maintain your computer. You should also avoid sharing all the files on your system and simply designate a single folder for use when downloading.
Also, remember to contribute something. The network is built with people like you who are willing to share their files. It is important that you contribute as well and at least maintain a 1 to 1 share ratio allowing at least every file you download to be shared completely and downloaded completely with at least one other user.
Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic
Excerpted from NY Times Report by Brian Stelter
Some people use the Internet simply to check e-mail and look up phone numbers. Others are online all day, downloading big video and music files.
For years, both kinds of web surfers have paid the same price for access. But now three of the country's largest Internet service providers (ISPs) are threatening to clamp down on their most active subscribers by placing monthly limits on their online activity.
One of them, Time Warner Cable, began a trial of "Internet metering" in one Texas city early this month, asking customers to select a monthly plan and pay surcharges when they exceed their bandwidth limit. The idea is that people who use the network more heavily should pay more, the way they do for water, electricity, or, in many cases, cellphone minutes.
That same week, Comcast said that it would expand on a strategy it uses to manage Internet traffic: slowing down the connections of the heaviest users, so-called bandwidth hogs, at peak times.
AT&T also said Thursday that limits on heavy use were inevitable and that it was considering pricing based on data volume. "Based on current trends, total bandwidth in the AT&T network will increase by four times over the next three years," the company said in a statement.
All three companies say that placing caps on broadband use will ensure fair access for all users.
Internet metering is a throwback to the days of dial-up service, but at a time when video and interactive games are becoming popular, the experiments could have huge implications for the future of the web.
Millions of people are moving online to watch movies and television shows, play multiplayer video games and talk over videoconference with family and friends. And media companies are trying to get people to spend more time online: the Disneys and NBCs of the world keep adding television shows and movies to their websites, giving consumers convenient entertainment that soaks up a lot of bandwidth.
Moreover, companies with physical storefronts, like Blockbuster, are moving toward digital delivery of entertainment. And new distributors of online content - think YouTube - are relying on an open data spigot to make their business plans work.
Critics of the bandwidth limits say that metering and capping network use could hold back the inevitable convergence of television, computers, and the Internet.
The Internet "is how we deliver our shows," said Jim Louderback, chief executive of Revision3, a three-year-old media company that runs what it calls a television network on the web. "If all of a sudden our viewers are worried about some sort of a broadband cap, they may think twice about downloading or watching our shows."
Even if the caps are far above the average users' consumption, their mere existence could cause users to reduce their time online. Just ask people who carefully monitor their monthly allotments of cellphone minutes and text messages.
"As soon as you put serious uncertainty as to cost on the table, people's feeling of freedom to predict cost dries up and so does innovation and trying new applications," Vint Cerf, the chief Internet evangelist for Google who is often called the "father of the Internet," said in an e-mail message.
But the companies imposing the caps say that their actions are only fair. People who use more network capacity should pay more, Time Warner argues. And Comcast says that people who use too much should be forced to slow down.
Time Warner also frames the issue in financial terms: the broadband infrastructure needs to be improved, it says, and maybe metering could pay for the upgrades. So far its trial is limited to new subscribers in Beaumont, TX, a city of roughly 110,000.
In that trial, new customers can buy plans with a 5-gigabyte cap, a 20-gigabyte cap or a 40-gigabyte cap. Prices for those plans range from $30 to $50. Above the cap, customers pay $1 a gigabyte. Plans with higher caps come with faster service.
"Average customers are way below the caps," said Kevin Leddy, Executive Vice President for Advanced Technology at Time Warner Cable. "These caps give them years' worth of growth before they'd ever pay any surcharges."
Casual Internet users who merely send e-mail messages, check movie times, and read the news are not likely to exceed the caps. But people who watch television shows on Hulu.com, rent movies on iTunes, or play the multiplayer game Halo on Xbox may start to exceed the limits - and millions of people are already doing those things.
Streaming an hour of video on Hulu, which shows programs like "Saturday Night Live," "Family Guy," and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," consumes about 200 megabytes, or one-fifth of a gigabyte. A higher-quality hour of the same content bought through Apple's iTunes store can use about 500 megabytes, or half a gigabyte.
A high-definition episode of "Survivor" on CBS.com can use up to a gigabyte, and a DVD-quality movie through Netflix's new online service can eat up about five gigabytes. One Netflix download alone, in fact, could bring a user to the limit on the cheapest plan in Time Warner's trial in Beaumont.
Even services like Skype and Vonage that use the Internet to transmit phone calls could help put users over the monthly limits.
Time Warner would not reveal how many gigabytes an average customer uses, saying only that 95% of customers use under 40 gigabytes each in a month.
That means that 5% of customers use more than 50% of the network's overall capacity, the company said, and many of those people are assumed to be sharing copyrighted video and music files without authorization.
The Time Warner plan has the potential to bring Internet use full circle, back to the days when pay-as-you-go pricing held back the web's popularity. In the early days of dial-up access, America Online and other providers offered tiered pricing, in part because audio and video were barely viable online. Consumers feared going over their allotted time and bristled at the idea that access to cyberspace was billed by the hour.
In 1996, when AOL started offering unlimited access plans, Internet use took off and the online world started moving to the center of people's daily lives. Today most Internet packages provide a seemingly unlimited amount of capacity, at least from the consumer's perspective.
But like water and electricity, even digital resources are finite. Last year Comcast disclosed that it was temporarily turning off the connections of customers who used file-sharing services like BitTorrent, arguing that they were slowing things down for everyone else. The people who got cut off complained and asked how much broadband use was too much; the company did not have a ready answer.
Thus, like Time Warner, Comcast is considering a form of Internet metering that would apply to all online activity.
The goal, says Mitch Bowling, a Senior Vice President at Comcast, is "ensuring that a small number of users don't impact the experience for everyone else."
Last year Comcast was sued when it was disclosed that the company had singled out BitTorrent users.
In February, Comcast departed from that approach and started collaborating with the company that runs BitTorrent. Now it has shifted to what it calls a "platform agnostic" approach to managing its network, meaning that it slows down the connection of any customer who uses too much bandwidth at congested times.
Mr. Bowling said that "typical Internet usage" would not be affected. But on the Internet, "typical" use is constantly being redefined.
"The definitions of low and high usage today are meaningless, because the Internet's going to grow, and nothing's going to stop that," said Eric Klinker, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of BitTorrent.
As the technology company Cisco Systems put it in a recent report, "Today's 'bandwidth hog' is tomorrow's average user."
One result of these experiments is a tug-of-war between the Internet providers and media companies, which are monitoring the Time Warner experiment with trepidation.
"We hate it," said a senior executive at a major media company, who requested anonymity because his company, like all broadcasters, must play nice with the same cable operators that are imposing the limits. Now that some television shows are viewed millions of times online, the executive said, any impediment would hurt the advertising model for online video streaming.
Mr. Leddy of Time Warner said that the media companies' fears were overblown. If the company were to try to stop web video, "we would not succeed," he said. "We know how much capacity they're going to need in the future, and we know what it's going to cost. And today's business model doesn't pay for it very well."
Javien Aligns Merchants with New Visa Standards
Javien Digital Payment Solutions, the leading e-commerce and payment gateway solutions provider for the P2P industry, this week announced that Javien Micropay is also the only patented micropayment technology that can help merchants and retailers meet Visa's new guidelines for online micropayment transactions of Visa credit, debit, or prepaid cards. Additionally Javien Micropay provides an auditable, provable method of managing online micropayment aggregations that conforms to Visa's new rules.
As consumer demand for small ticket items (under $5) increases, merchants incurring transaction fees associated with processing small payments may find it to be cost-prohibitive without the advantage of micropayment aggregation. Javien's Micropay makes it easy for merchants to aggregate multiple purchases made by the same consumer so they can minimize payment processing fees - in an auditable way that complies with Visa's carefully set guidelines.
Effective since April 1st, Internet merchants must obtain authorization at the start of each aggregation session, and are restricted to aggregating multiple transactions made by a single consumer to no more than $15 and a maximum time period of three calendar days. Merchants must be able to communicate the details of the transactions to consumers.
"We're glad Visa has chosen to place standards on micropayment transactions to help guide the marketplace," said Leslie Poole, CEO of Javien Digital Payment Solutions. "We've been offering merchants the ability to track and aggregate micropayments for years with our patented micropayment aggregation engine," noted Poole.
"Our technology helps merchants comply with the guidelines now, without delay." Javien Micropay is available as part of Javien's e-commerce platform or as an a la carte option. Merchants can leverage Javien's patented adaptive micropayment aggregation technology to batch transactions according to Visa's new rules."We understand that merchants want to minimize transaction costs in order to maximize their revenue," added Poole.
"Our platform's alignment with Visa's guidelines allows us to provide our customers with peace of mind, knowing their payment system is fully compliant."
Steer Clear of Additional Net Regulations
Excerpted from Telecommunications Daily Report by Ted Gotsch
Congressman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) said this week that additional regulations being considering in Congress and at the FCC could tamp down on a vibrant telecommunications industry that continues to innovate and bring the public improved services.
Speaking at a broadband conference sponsored by Pike & Fischer, the ranking member of the House Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee stated it would be wrong to move forward on network neutrality legislation sponsored by Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) because, "It gives the FCC the green light to regulate without any further insight from Congress."
He noted that the bill's language on discrimination sets up a situation where lawmakers would "regulate a rousing success."
Congressman Stearns also raised questions about conditions being set on spectrum auctions held by the Commission, and stated his belief that rules placed on the 700 megahertz auction cost the federal government as much as $5 billion in proceeds.
"We are far better off connecting few if any conditions to these auctions and let them thrive on their own," he said. Such rules can create ineffective spectrum policy, he stated.
Coming Events of Interest
eMerging Media Forum - June 19th in New York, NY. BMO Capital Markets invites you to a one-day investor summit focusing on the evolving “eVideo & eMusic” spaces, hosted by senior research analyst Lee Westerfield. The DCIA and Member companies BitTorrent and GridNetworks will participate.
Voice Peering Forum - June 23rd-24th in San Francisco, CA. This conference brings together over one-hundred organizations from the information technology (IT) and telecommunications industry to network and discuss the latest in peering, routing, and interconnection of networks and the applications they support. DCIA Member companies Kontiki and Abacast are participating with a special session.
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.
Streaming Media West - September 23rd-25th in San Jose, CA. The only show that covers both the business of online video and the technology of P2PTV, streaming, downloading, webcasting, Internet TV, IPTV, and mobile video. Covering both corporate and consumer business, technology, and content issues in the enterprise, advertising, media and entertainment, broadcast, and education markets. The DCIA will conduct a P2P session.
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