July 14, 2008
Volume XXII, Issue 10
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT Silicon Valley
Plan now to attend the first-ever P2P MEDIA SUMMIT Silicon Valley on Monday August 4th at the San Jose Marriott.
The Conference Agenda and Speakers have just been posted for this must-attend event for software companies, content delivery networks (CDNs), Internet service providers (ISPs), and all others interested in the newest technological innovations and business models involving P2P.
Pre-registration rates are available here and save delegates $100. Attendees can save even more by also signing up for the Consumer Electronics Association / Digital Hollywood Building Blocks platform development conference, which is taking place from August 5th through 7th in the same venue.
Velocix Introduces P2P+
Velocix, provider of the world's leading digital asset delivery network, this week announced its P2P+ initiative, a new offering for developers of commercial P2P media services and applications.
Velocix P2P+ takes advantage of the Velocix Open Platform, which is designed from the ground up to provide global delivery services for video, software, and games over the Internet. The Velocix Open Platform is optimized to work with P2P technologies. Velocix blends the cost and scalability advantages of P2P with the quality of service benefits of a caching network.
"Velocix P2P+ offers a rapid on-ramp for P2P application and service providers, giving them instant access to hybrid-P2P delivery capabilities, with all the economic benefits of P2P and the performance and quality of service levels of a globally deployed content delivery network (CDN)," said Phill Robinson, CEO at Velocix.
"The Velocix Network is the only CDN architected to support both single source (http) and multi-source (P2P) protocols and as a consequence is uniquely positioned to service the needs of this thriving community. We are delighted that Velocix Open Platform has been selected as the preferred delivery service for many of the world's leading P2P providers."
"The Velocix P2P+ initiative represents a major breakthrough for the rapidly emerging P2P industry," said DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty. "The opportunity for commercial P2P application developers and distributors to have a CDN dedicated to supporting their specific requirements is both timely and strategically important; and we applaud Velocix for this impressive accomplishment."
Many existing P2P based delivery services and application providers, including Kontiki, RawFlow, MediaMelon, Babelgum, and Bollywood.tv, are already taking advantage of Velocix P2P+ and running on the Velocix Open Platform to provide delivery assistance to their P2P-based services and applications.
Comcast and Vonage Work Together
Excerpted from VNUNet Report by Iain Thomson
Comcast and Vonage have surprised many in the industry with the announcement of a plan to work together on network management of their respective products and services. The companies acknowledge that they compete directly in the voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) market.
"This agreement helps Vonage to ensure that customers have the best possible Internet experience," said Louis Mamakos, CTO at Vonage.
"Although we compete with Comcast, this understanding helps our two companies work together to balance the needs of network management with consumers' ability to freely access the services, applications, and content of their choice."
Comcast has already signed similar deals with BitTorrent and Pando Networks, as well as joined in the P4P Working Group (P4PWG) organized by the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA). In March, Comcast announced it would move to a protocol-agnostic network management approach by the end of 2008, and tests on this approach have already begun.
"This collaboration with Vonage, and our outreach to many key participants in the Internet community, demonstrate that we are committed to provide network management solutions that benefit consumers and competition," said Tony Werner, Chief Technology Officer at Comcast.
Comcast will continue to collaborate with other ISPs, P2P providers, and others on technologies related to network management and P2P application development.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 The DCIA has launched an industry-wide program to protect P2P users against the inadvertent sharing of personal or sensitive data.
The announcement of this program culminates a year of work among leading P2P companies and other technology sector participants along with US federal regulatory authorities.
A document summarizing the program is posted on our primary website here.
More information will be available at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT Silicon Valley.
We are grateful for the participation of industry-leading companies in a collaborative process with regulatory agency representatives that has resulted in an excellent work product.
While adoption is a voluntary decision to be made by each company on an individual basis, we are confident of wide acceptance, and will not only encourage, but also monitor compliance.
The summary document begins with a glossary defining terms specifically related to subject matter concerns, such as "recursive sharing," "sensitive file type," and "user-originated file," as well as protective measures, such as "affirmative step."
It then outlines seven steps that are required to be in compliance with the program.
These include 1) default settings, 2) file-sharing controls, 3) shared-folder configurations, 4) user-error protections, 5) sensitive-file-type restrictions, 6) file-sharing status communications, and 7) developer principles.
The developer principles for P2P file-sharing software applications address feature disablement, uninstallation, new-version upgrades, and file-sharing settings.
Finally, the document includes an eighth optional step for added consumer protection that relates to inactive states of the P2P file-sharing application (fully disconnected from the P2P network and running in the background).
Leading P2P application LimeWire's CEO George Searle said, "LimeWire is committed to providing a great file-sharing product that people love to use and that provides for their personal safety. We have actively participated in key developmental aspects of this program and believe it will help protect users from the inadvertent sharing of personal or sensitive information."
Top commercial P2P software provider Kontiki's President Eric Armstrong added, "Kontiki, which offers secure peer-assisted content delivery technology, supports the provisions of this program. We believe this DCIA initiative will be valuable to users and creators of software for redistribution of user-originated content."
Major P2P content delivery solutions provider Pando Networks' CEO Robert Levitan concluded, "At Pando Networks, we believe users should always be in control of any P2P application on their desktop. We support this effort that will benefit the entire industry by advancing consumer safety in the large and growing P2P marketplace."
We also welcome your feedback on this program. Please call 410-476-7965 or email ISPG@dcia.info with your comments or questions. Share wisely, and take care.
Exclusive Live Recordings from LimeWire
Excerpted from Digital Music News Report
LimeWire is now delivering a slate of exclusive live recordings, an unlikely source for fresh content. On Wednesday, the company disclosed its "Live at Lime" Recording Series, part of a recently-launched paid store.
The file-sharing giant, which started recording sessions in June, is now offering EPs from The Morning Benders, Sloan, Tigers and Monkeys, and Lucy Wainwright Roche. Each track is being sold for 99-cents, and subscription packages are also available. All tracks are MP3s encoded at 256kbps.
The purchased songs sound like fodder for subsequent free transfers on LimeWire, though the company is attempting to diversify its infringing image a bit. The file-swapping application, owned by Lime Group, has been battling a recording industry lawsuit for years but remains a default P2P for most music fans.
Initial sessions were recorded at Headgear Studios in Brooklyn, and can be purchased at store.limewire.com.
Velocix and Kontiki Forge Strategic Partnership
Velocix and Kontiki are partnering to extend their market-leading solutions for web delivery of large digital assets, including video, software, and games.
Under the terms of the partnership, Velocix will provide a hosted version of the Kontiki Delivery Management System (DMS) within its Global Digital Asset Delivery Network, providing new deployment options for Kontiki customers and prospects.
As Kontiki's preferred CDN partner, Velocix will provide Kontiki customers with additional opportunities to subscribe to the Kontiki service, as an alternative to owning-and-operating the application and hardware themselves. This gives Kontiki customers flexibility and choice of deployment models in accessing the benefits of P2P web delivery.
Both organizations share a common view of the economic and scalability benefits that hybrid P2P-based solutions offer over traditional delivery systems. Velocix and Kontiki are world leaders in the use of P2P technology with many of the largest broadcasters and new media companies around the globe already taking advantage of these benefits.
"We are delighted to be working in collaboration with Kontiki," said Phill Robinson, CEO at Velocix. "Both organizations have a tremendous track record of working with some of the worlds largest broadcasters and we can now offer even greater flexibility over the download and delivery of high-quality video. Both Kontiki and Velocix have a strong heritage delivering hybrid-P2P solutions globally. Our partnership will further extend our joint leadership in the market."
"Our partnership with Velocix was a natural extension to offering our customers increased opportunities to gain fast and reliable access to web content," said Eric Armstrong, President of Kontiki. "With our shared vision and understanding of P2P technology, combined with the global 'P2P-aware' Velocix content delivery network, customers gain a better user experience, while reducing their CDN costs."
BBC Worldwide in Global Deal with Babelgum
Excerpted from World Screen News Report by Mansha Daswani
BBC Worldwide has reached an agreement to provide clips from a range of its natural history, travel, and other factual shows to the peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) platform Babelgum.
The deal, part of BBC Worldwide's efforts to ramp up its new-media presence, covers short-form content from a selection of David Attenborough documentaries as well as from "Tribe" and "Top Gear." Clips will be ad-supported and available to view via three branded channels: BBC LoveEarth and BBC Knowledge, which have just launched, and BBC Entertainment, which will be available next week.
Babelgum's CEO, Valerio Zingarelli, said, "BBC Worldwide has some of the best known and most loved content in the world. We are glad to be able to offer a wide variety of programs as short-form content tailored for the Internet. These include shows with a massive international following such as 'Top Gear,' 'Tribe,' and 'Galapagos.' The BBC brand is known around the world and by bringing it to the Babelgum platform, we further emphasize our position as a leading player in the Internet TV space and a point of reference for nature and science's passionate audiences."
Jemma Adkins, the head of content and development for digital media at BBC Worldwide, added, "Babelgum's focus on natural history and the environment is a great fit for us. We've got a wealth of content in this genre and we're excited about making it available to Babelgum's users around the globe. Babelgum is an innovative player in the market and a great way of reaching out to an audience that perhaps doesn't see our content on more traditional channels."
NHK Gets Joost Boost
Excerpted from Variety Asia Report by Mark Schilling
Public broadcaster NHK will offer news and entertainment shows on P2PTV service Joost, the partners announced on Wednesday. The offer was initiated with NHK's world news program "Newsline" during the G8 summit in Japan.
This summer NHK will also beam "Imagine-nation," a weekly magazine show focusing on Japanese pop culture. All programming will be free and available on demand. NHK plans to beef up its international programming next year to include English-language news.
Joost is rapidly expanding its online offerings, which include 400 TV series and 1,200 feature and short pics.
P2P Represents at SourceForge Awards
Excerpted from Slyck Report by Tom Mennecke
In Slyck's coverage of the SourceForge Community Choice Awards over the last two years, two mainstays have consistently taken home community honors. Those two applications are Vuze (P2P client formerly known as Azureus) and eMule.
In 2006, Azureus took home "Best Overall" winner. eMule was named "Best Overall" runner up.
In 2007, the two applications were honored once again. Azureus took top honors for "Most Collaborative Project", which is awarded to a project "most likely to accept your patches and value your input." eMule took home "Best New Project" award, given to a project that shows "the newly created project with the most potential for greatness."
Vuze and eMule are once again nominated this year, and P2P finds itself also representing many of the more interesting choices.
In a prestigious category, SourceForge's community nominated Vuze as one of the finalists "Most Likely to Be the Next $1B Acquisition."
Vuze has been on the move lately, rebranding its application from the Azureus title in 2007, and launching its new version last month. The recent iteration of Vuze features two significant features: the ability to search torrent sites and the ability to share torrents with trusted friends.
The rebranding of Azureus to Vuze was significant, as, like BitTorrent, the company seeks to maintain amicable relations with the entertainment industry. Whether it will be enough to garnish a $1 billion takeover is another matter.
In the two years SourceForge has awarded open source programs, P2P has always taken home some form of accolades. The awards process has changed from the previous two years, and this year anyone can vote. Voting simply requires registration.
Featured Freeware: Vuze
Excerpted from CNET News Report by Seth Rosenblatt
Formerly the feature-rich Azureus, Vuze takes Azureus' BitTorrent foundation and builds on top of it a network for video discovery and user-created video publishing tied together by social networking.
From XML torrent options to IP filters, firewall tests to UPnP plug-ins to baked-in social networking, Vuze isn't breaking new ground - the original client had gone this path, too - but now it is doing it in a more innovative and attractive way.
When users install the program, they're greeted with a Web 2.0-style interface from which they can get a general overview of their torrents and Vuze's latest media.
Users can drill down with the "On Vuze" tab for more videos, the Library tab for their downloaded content, and the Publish tab to send their video torrents out into the wild.
The Advanced tab is now the home of the torrent client controls and is based on the original Azureus interface and options.
There's still a configuration wizard, an easy-to-use torrent maker, and dozens of ways to set your statistics logs so you can track download speed and performance.
Mininova Intros Remote Torrent Downloading
Excerpted from Geek.com Report by Gavin Robinson
BitTorrent has become an incredibly popular way to share files online and Mininova is one of the top destinations to find the torrents consumers desire.
Starting today, Mininova has introduced a new feature that helps set-up a remote download of torrents from anywhere. It's not that complicated, and it could prove to be incredibly useful.
All users have to do is set-up a personal feed within their BitTorrent client (e.g., uTorrent, Vuze), and then whenever they bookmark a torrent from anywhere, it will automatically be ported to the RSS feed in their client.
Then, assuming there are plenty of seeders out there, the file will be downloaded by the time they get home.
Mininova is also suggesting the feature as a simple way to flag where torrents are that users want to remember, but it seems that if they want to remember where a torrent is, they'll just download it remotely.
Whatever their reason, utilization of this feature is sure to make some readers happy out there.
Vimeo Experiences a Growth Trend
Excerpted from NewTeeVee Report
If it takes three of anything to make a trend, then video-sharing site Vimeo is definitely trendy, with three months of almost hockey stick-like growth.
According to Compete, Vimeo's site traffic more than doubled from February to May, and a recent blog post on the site reported that Vimeo broke 1 million plays in one day on June 24th, up from the previous peak of 220,000 plays in one day in January.
Dalas Verdugo, Vimeo's community director, provided a few more stats: the site is seeing more than 4,000 uploads per day, 15-17% of those are HD; 60% of video plays are through embedded players; user registrations have doubled since March; though it hasn't had another million-plus day, most days have video plays in the mid-to high-900,000's range
For some perspective, back in March Vimeo had a total of 70,000 videos uploaded (average of 2,258 a day) for the month, and 13% of those were in HD.
According to Verdugo, "People are using Vimeo for the same types of videos they always have, babies / creative / video art / skateboarding / etc. I think the traffic increase is just a viral phenomenon. More Vimeo embedded players are showing up on major blogs, which probably introduces more people to the site, and then they realize we have a great community and a great user interface."
So the question becomes, if Vimeo continues to grow, will it be able to keep that sense of community? This is an issue the company seems to have deftly handled through corporate ownership and previous periods of growth, as we noted in one of the earliest profiles of the site.
But now that it has all those eyeballs (and serving up all that HD), how is it going to pay the bills? The site is busily prepping paid account features that it will be rolling out soon.
Joodo Takes P2P and Makes it Personal
Excerpted from Mashable Report by Paul Glazowski
Fan of P2P technology, are you? What about the Mozilla application framework? If both of these things strike your fancy, perhaps Joodo will interest you.
Built to serve as a P2P device that connects you to friends and family to create a "personal sharing network" in which photo albums, video captures, and generally anything that you'd like to access across a range of remote terminals, Joodo is being made to hybridize file sharing in an intuitive, easily manageable way.
Still in alpha stage, Joodo is a mix of Mozilla code, XUL, C++, SVG, PHP and other undisclosed bits and pieces that come together into truly multifaceted utility that lets you view things shared through the cloud by your personal connections.
Consider it a mash-up of YouTube, Flickr, and Pando, albeit in a self-contained, permissions-based system. With fewer user accounts to manage, the platform itself is being positioned as a personal sharing utility, and given its privacy settings, that seems an accurate description.
Hey, when all's said and one, maybe you and your loved ones are simply into the file-sharing idealism.
If that's the case, Joodo may well serve you and your circle of contacts quite well.
(Note: Windows compatibility only, for the time being. Mac and Linux support are coming. An API is in the works as well. Joodo's CEO claims that its "real business value will lie in third-party products designed to leverage Joodo's platform.")
Joodo is starting to move into private beta, with invites being dealt out in increments. If you'd like your reservation for a download prioritized, please click here.
Velocix Acquires Live Streaming P2P Technology
Velocix has acquired an exclusive license for RawFlow's P2P Streaming technology. Under the terms of this agreement, Velocix now has sole responsibility for selling and supporting RawFlow's Intelligent Content Delivery (ICD) solution.
Velocix will market ICD under the Velocix Live Streaming product family brand, adding a Hybrid-P2P Live Streaming option to a service line-up that already includes Live Video Streaming for Adobe Flash & Microsoft Windows Media, and Live Audio Streaming.
All existing RawFlow ICD customer and reseller partner relationships will migrate to Velocix, as will the healthy pipeline of new business prospects already interested in this solution.
"Our companies have been working together for several years, and Velocix has previously provided the Content Delivery Network behind our ICD technology," said Mikkel Dissing, CEO RawFlow.
"With our recent change in business direction, RawFlow will now move to focus 100% on our SelfCast consumer proposition. We are delighted that Velocix will now exclusively represent our ICD products in the market, and feel sure our existing customers will be well served and supported by them."
"This acquisition rounds out our digital delivery services portfolio, extending the hybrid-P2P delivery capabilities already available with our download services, to now also be available as an option with our video and audio live streaming services," said Phill Robinson, CEO at Velocix.
"Hybrid-P2P Streaming provides scalability to the largest global audiences for online video and audio broadcasts while fundamentally disrupting the economics of live streaming on the Internet. With this announcement, Velocix further extends its lead in the provision of digital delivery services for large digital assets, offering the widest variety of online delivery options available on the market today."
Online Marketing Pioneer Invests in Jambo Media
Jambo Media, a leading developer of online video solutions, today announced that recognized Internet media executive Jason Wolfe has acquired an equity position in the company and has joined the company's Board of Directors. In this capacity, Wolfe will become a key advisor and help facilitate larger relationships for Jambo Media. Wolfe, founder and former chief executive of Direct Response Technologies, joins Jambo Media's Board with vast experience and an extensive track record in the fields of interactive media, Internet and M&A.
"I have known the founders of Jambo Media since the days when they were clients of Direct Response Technologies," Wolfe said. "I have always admired their skill and ability in online media. I have had plenty of opportunities to invest into various new media companies and concepts over the years, however very few have excited me. The opportunity to be an investor and advisor in Jambo Media is truly exciting."
"Driven by market-savvy individuals with keen business skills, Jambo Media will continue to lead the online video ad serving and tracking industry, which I believe is at its infancy stage," Wolfe continued. "The timing of this investment reminds me of the launch of DirectTrack in 2001, which proved to be ahead of its time and eventually a huge success. I look for the same market leadership, innovation, and success from Jambo Media in the video ad space."
"We have worked with Jason for many years," said Jambo Media CEO Robert Manoff. "Jambo Media COO Todd Houck and I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for his achievements. Having Jason as a partner and advisor will help Jambo Media reach our potential. Among Jason, Todd, and I, we have more than 30 years of combined advertising network and affiliate marketing experience. This is a major step forward for Jambo Media and we are very excited for the future."
Cabos Does Lightweight P2P
Excerpted from Lifehacker Report
Free, open-source application Cabos is a P2P file-sharing application with an emphasis on minimalism.
That means that unlike other popular P2P applications that run on the Gnutella network like LimeWire or FrostWire, Cabos is completely stripped down and bloat free.
Granted, you've probably moved on to downloading files with BitTorrent for most of your file-sharing needs, but for the occasional one-off download, an old-school P2P app like Cabos is always nice to have in the toolbox.
P2P File Sharing in the UK
Excerpted from I.T. Vibe Report
It seems as though one of the longest running sagas on the Internet may well come to a close later in 2008 with news that P2P file sharing may be fully authorized in the UK. The issue of file sharing is one which has affected all areas of the economy, from music to software and everything else in between. So what is happening and what has forced this apparent turnaround?
The government seems to have targeted the music industry as a starting point for licensed file sharing, which is very sensible when you appreciate the amount of music passed over the Internet each day.
Rather than offer guidance and assistance, it seems that the government has taken something of a stern approach, advising both ISPs and music companies that it would introduce legislation to resolve the issue if no agreement is reached. It seems as though this threat has done the trick!
A number of meetings have already taken place with more planned for later this year. The main element of the new system will be a licensing procedure that will be applied to those websites encouraging P2P file sharing.
The sharing of files among subscribers would then be encouraged and all parties will share in this new income stream.
The Evolution of All Things Televised
Excerpted from RedOrbit Report by John Carr
On June 18, 1939, The NY Times ran an editorial about the evolving technology of communications. On the subject of the newly invented television and the threat it posed to the entrenched medium of radio, The Times said: "The problem with television is that people must sit and keep their eyes glued to the screen; the average American family hasn't time for it... for this reason, if no other, television will never be a serious competitor."
Fast-forward 70 years: "It should come as no surprise that video has exploded as a valuable content source on the web," says John Blossom, senior analyst and president of Shore Communications. "We've been staring at screens that have had at least as much resolution for image detail as a typical television for years."
Today, the "old media" is determined to learn from the past and to evolve in order to remain competitive in the new media dynamic. Recently, there has been a boom in old media content moving into new media territory.
But the transition is not without complications. How do online viewers want to watch this media - in browsers or in a separate application? How will the news work in the online video world? And there are issues of delivery and network capacity - content providers need to supply end-users with a high-quality experience to prevent them from turning elsewhere. And even if providers can properly manage delivery, can the Internet handle all that video?
In 2007, two major players entered the online TV arena to great blog fanfare: Hulu, a joint website from NBC Universal and News Corp., and Joost, a P2PTV application from Skype co-creators Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom.
According to Nielsen//Net Ratings, Hulu streamed more than 63 million videos in April 2008, with the average viewer watching more than 2 hours of video per month. This puts Hulu in the lead among TV network sites for total video streams and overall user engagement time.
It's harder to determine how Joost is doing. Since it is an application, the company's self-reporting is the only indicator of usage. As the program prepared to exit private beta testing last year, there were reportedly 1 million users. Since then no further numbers have been released.
NBC Universal is exploring options outside of the browser too. In addition to the company's continued support for Hulu, it is testing NBC Direct, which allows users to download full episodes of the network's prime-time and late-night programs for offline viewing.
"NBC has been in beta testing for months," says Robert Levitan, CEO of Pando Networks, NBC's partner in the project, "and they are working to get the entire user experience, really the user interface, to a point that they feel comfortable opening that up to the general public."
NBC recognizes Pando's value in regard to the technical issues of video delivery. Pando is a P2P distribution company that can handle the traffic spikes that can occur when a new episode of a popular program is first offered online.
Levitan notes that P2P networks are better than traditional online content distribution architectures. "If a million people click to download something from a content delivery network (CDN) at the same time, then their delivery experience is going to be pretty bad, because the network wasn't built to handle that capacity at the same time."
He adds, "In a P2P environment, when a million people click to download all at the same time, it actually becomes a more scalable, more resilient, better performing network."
End users downloading files in P2P networks simultaneously upload pieces of the file, assisting the content delivery. This helps content providers deal with any large influx of traffic.
But what about the network's back catalog of programs, the ones likely to have far fewer peers to assist in delivery?
Levitan explains, "What we do isn't pure P2P, we call it managed P2P. In the case of NBC Direct, it's actually P2P plus a CDN inter-operating."
This handles delivery for long-tail files and for the first few end-users to download a new file. "It depends on the network conditions, but maybe the first 50 people have to get it from the CDN," says Levitan. "Then No. 51 can get a whole bunch of the file from the first 50 via P2P."
Verizon and Pando have also formed the P4P Working Group (P4PWG), which aims to use P2P technology to make existing networks more efficient.
Levitan says, "P4P is basically about a P2P company and an ISP communicating." This communication allows traffic to be structured in a way that puts less strain on the ISP.
"Verizon will give us some abstracted network data," says Levitan. "All we know is that if one of these nodes asks for information, here's a bunch of other nodes that are good for Verizon, meaning close to the first node for the information to come from."
"P4P tells us what are the most efficient routes for the traffic, and then we deliver it according to those rules."
By keeping traffic within a small geographic area, an ISP uses fewer resources in delivering information. As information travels throughout an ISP's network, it moves through routers, which can only handle a certain amount of requests at a time.
But, Levitan says, "The closer people are, the shorter the distance data travels, the faster the data travels."
So if two users in the same town are sharing the same file, the information can often be shared directly between their computers. And this means those users aren't using any resources beyond their own bandwidth.
This sort of traffic shaping is likely to be crucial to ISPs scaling service with end-users' demands.
ISPs Prepare for Video Revolution
Excerpted from CNET News Report by Marguerite Reardon
Video may have killed the radio star, but it doesn't have to kill the Internet.
That is if ISPs can figure out how to keep up with the video-driven bandwidth demand on their networks. P2P technology provider BitTorrent says it can help.
Video consumes more network resources than any other media distributed on the web. Even poor-quality video from YouTube eats up more bandwidth than e-mail, music downloading, and voice over IP (VoIP) services. And when you throw full-length high-definition (HD) video into the mix, you're talking about even more bandwidth. Depending on the compression used, a single HD video stream can eat up 20 megabits per second worth of bandwidth.
And as consumers subscribe to faster-and-faster broadband connections at home and sites like YouTube and Hulu come online offering all kinds of video choices, more people are watching video on the web. According to ComScore Video Metrix, Americans are currently watching upward of 10 billion videos online a month. By the end of 2007, online viewers averaged more than one video a day.
This is just the beginning. ABI research forecasts the number of viewers who access video via the web will nearly quadruple in the next few years, reaching at least 1 billion in 2013.
This summer's Olympic Games in Beijing marks the first real test of online video as NBC embarks upon the most ambitious online video project ever. NBC plans to offer 3,600 hours of live programming from Beijing, which translates to about 212 live hours for each of the 17 days of the Olympics. The majority of this viewing will be delivered online.
All this video is great for viewers, who are able to pick and choose what they watch and when. But for ISPs, like the phone companies and the cable operators, it represents a massive challenge.
Some providers, such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable, are testing out new ways to deal with "bandwidth hogs" or individual users who use an inordinate amount of bandwidth.
Last month, Comcast began testing a new system that will slow down traffic during times of congestion for heavy bandwidth users. Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable, which says it faces the same capacity headaches, also began testing a new billing system that charges customers who exceed their limit for uploading and downloading material.
Eric Klinker, Chief Technology Officer for BitTorrent, which has commercialized the P2P technology, says that what the cable operators are doing is a good start. But more can be done to help operators deal with the onslaught of video.
For one, P2P protocols, such as BitTorrent, which are often cited as major headaches for network operators because of the big file transfers they enable, need to be utilized rather than singled out as a source of the problem, he said.
"I think what Comcast and Time Warner Cable are doing is a great first step," Klinker said. "It gets ISPs out of the business of deciding which applications are important and which aren't. But there are enhancements to the P2P protocol, in particular, that can make it easier on all ISPs."
P2P technology has gotten a bad rap for years. Since the days of file-sharing networks like Napster, which allowed people to exchange songs on their computer hard drives with others on the Internet, P2P technology has been demonized in the press.
But the truth is that P2P technology actually allows large files like videos to be distributed more efficiently. And as more video makes it way onto the web, it's increasingly being used. In fact, P2P traffic accounts for about 43% of all traffic on the Internet, according to a recent study by the network management company Sandvine.
The way P2P works is that when a user requests a video, the P2P network queries other users in the network and takes pieces of the file from different peers and sends it to the user requesting the file. This distributed architecture means that content owners don't have to assemble large and expensive data centers. It also means that a content distributor doesn't have to pay for expensive high-speed links to serve up an entire file from a single server farm.
That said, P2P protocols in the wild can eat up lots of bandwidth because peers on the network can silently and continuously upload pieces of files from their computers all day and all night, seeding dozens or hundreds of file requests. And because upload capacities are generally much slower than downloads, it can create bottlenecks and capacity crunches on the last mile of service providers' networks. For network operators that are already capacity-constrained, this phenomenon can dramatically affect performance for all users.
P2P companies, such as BitTorrent and Pando Networks, have recognized this problem and have been working with service providers, such as Verizon, Comcast, and others to come up with solutions.
Verizon and Pando Networks founded a project called P4P, which advocates that ISPs share information about their network topography and use an enhanced version of P2P to locate peers in close proximity to the file request. Getting files locally can help reduce the expense associated with carrying P2P files over long distances.
The P4P Working Group (P4PWG) now has more than eighty participating companies, including leading ISPs and P2P companies from all over the world.
BitTorrent, a P4PWG participant, whose founder created one of the most popular P2P protocols used today, has also been working on a solution. The company has developed its own enhancement to the P2P protocol that tells P2P applications to stop seeding the network with content when the network is congested.
For example, if a teenager starts playing an online video game at the same time his mother makes a VoIP phone call and his little sister is downloading music from iTunes, the protocol will tell the P2P movie application that is running in the background on their family computer to stop uploading bits of the "Spider-Man" movie that had been ordered from an online movie rental service and is now stored on a hard drive in their home. Instead, the network will search for the content on another peer that is on a network that is less congested.
"If there is contention in the network, my application will back off," Klinker said. "And it will automatically and seamlessly find someone else in the network to complete uploading that content. The video quality is never disrupted, and the user never knows where the content is coming from."
BitTorrent has already tested the enhancement with more than 10 million users and it's currently working with the Internet standards body, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), to standardize the technology so that other P2P companies can embed it in their software client.
Klinker said that new technologies, such as the one developed by his company, as well as P4P enhancements, will help ISPs manage and control their networks so that even more video can make it to the web without crippling the infrastructure delivering it.
And once service providers learn how to harness P2P, they will be able to develop business models that reap the benefits of the technology. For example, Comcast, Verizon, or any other TV provider could add P2P software to the set-top boxes sitting in their customers' living rooms to create a distributed P2P movie network.
Instead of serving up on-demand movies from their own servers sitting in expensive-to-run data centers, these TV providers could leverage the content already stored on their customers' set-top hard drives.
"The cable and phone companies are already spending capital to put set-tops in everyone's home," Klinker said. "They could use that same hardware as part of their content distribution model. Then the user pays the electrical bill. And they pay for the bandwidth. It's just much more efficient."
Klinker said a solution, such as this one, requires a slightly different business model from BitTorrent's current business model. But he said that it's something the company is investigating.
"It's interesting enough that we're in discussions and testing some scenarios with ISPs," he said.
"In general, service providers move slowly. So nothing will happen overnight. But I think we'll see some interesting changes within the next three years."
Yankee: Carriers Likely to Acquire CDNs
Excerpted from Telephony Online Report by Carol Wilson
While Akamai currently dominates the world of content delivery networks (CDNs), a leading analyst firm believes service providers such as AT&T, British Telecom, and Verizon will soon be playing in that sandbox and might quickly gain traction through acquisition of smaller players such as Limelight Networks.
Yankee Group analyst David Vorhaus this month issued the first Yankee Group CDN scorecard, designed as a means for both service providers and content owners to evaluate what has become a sometimes confusing plethora of CDN options based on key criteria such as price, brand recognition, financial viability, ancillary services, architectural approach, and management.
Companies such as Swarmcast, Velocix, Panther Express, BitGravity, EdgeCast, Kontiki, and more have moved into the CDN space because they recognize the opportunity created when a growing volume of high-bandwidth, latency-sensitive content is moving into converged IP networks, Vorhaus said.
That movement creates both challenges and opportunities for service providers, who must find a way to keep their networks running smoothly without the expense and hassle of constant network upgrades, Vorhaus said.
It makes sense for service providers to get into the CDN space because of the growing commercial opportunity and the ability to exploit their existing infrastructure, Vorhaus said.
AT&T earlier this summer announced an expansion of its CDN plans, a move Vorhaus sees as a first step.
"AT&T has ramped up their position in the CDN business - they didn't change a ton about what they are actually doing, because they have had a CDN solution within the wholesale division, but they created a dedicated group with its own identity," Vorhaus said.
"That's an important step - CDN needs to be its own solution set. And it's indicative of the fact they have a growth plan for it. AT&T said it is planning to invest $70 million over the course of the rest of the year and increase its capacity by six times - that is the start."
Obama's Social Networking Success
Excerpted from MediaPost Report
In early 2007, Chris Hughes, one of the four founders of Facebook, left the social networking world to work on Barack Obama's new media campaign. Ironically, the NY Times says the change brought him closer to, not farther away from, social networking.
In fact, social networks like MySpace and Facebook have helped Obama's campaign revolutionize the use of the web as a campaign fundraising tool, as Obama raised more than two million donations of less than $200 each.
The center of that movement has been My.BarackObama.com, an interactive community site for Obama supporters.
As the candidate himself said, "One of my fundamental beliefs from my days as a community organizer is that real change comes from the bottom up, and there's no more powerful tool for grass-roots organizing than the Internet."
Added Hughes, "If we did not have online organizing tools, it would be much harder to be where we are now."
Now, team Obama is applying the same strategies to win the general election, but this time, the Times notes, they will need to expand beyond young, Internet-savvy supporters to reach the general public.
FCC to Clarify Reasonable Network Management
Excerpted from Telecommunications Reports Daily Report by Lynn Stanton
FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said that he plans for the agency to vote at its August 1st meeting on an order directing Comcast to cease interfering with P2P file-sharing communications, and that the order would "in a sense" respond to separate rulemaking petitions by addressing the issue of what constitutes reasonable network management practices.
Comcast plans to move toward a protocol-agnostic approach to managing network congestion by year-end.
Speaking to reporters at FCC headquarters, Chairman Martin said that in addition to requiring Comcast to stop interfering with P2P transfers, the order he is proposing to his fellow Commissioners would also require Comcast to disclose to the Commission where the company has been engaged in that practice "so that we can verify they've stopped."
It also calls for Comcast to file a disclosure and compliance plan that would detail the company's timeline for ending its P2P-focused approach to network management.
The draft order does not propose any forfeiture or monetary penalty, he said, attributing that in part to the fact that the Commission had not previously spelled out what constitutes reasonable network management practices. The Chairman said that in the wake of the clarification on that issue provided by the proposed order, any future enforcement would "absolutely" be more likely to include a monetary penalty.
The Chairman described the reasoning of his proposed action as based on a finding that Comcast's disclosures were inadequate and that the practice was both over-inclusive and under-inclusive, in that it blocked communications of P2P users even if they weren't high-bandwidth users and did not block non-P2P communications of users who were high-bandwidth users.
Sena Fitzmaurice, Senior Director-Corporate Communications and Government Affairs at Comcast said, "The carefully limited measures that Comcast takes to manage traffic on its broadband network are a reasonable part of Comcast's strategy to ensure a high-quality, reliable Internet experience for all Comcast High-Speed Internet customers and are used by many other ISPs around the world. Comcast's customer service agreements and policies have always informed Comcast customers that broadband capacity is not unlimited, and that the network is managed for the benefit of all customers. Our website offers detailed information on our network management practices."
Comcast noted that it could not comment directly on the draft order because the company had not yet seen it.
As to the effect the proposed order would have on other network operators, Chairman Martin said he hoped it would make other ISPs "sensitive" to the issue. To the extent that network operators are putting limits on consumers' bandwidth usage beyond the limits stated in their service contracts, they should be disclosing those limits to consumers, he said. However, he said that in an adjudicatory process, the Commission takes a case-by-case approach.
Meanwhile, Comcast has filed in the Commission's Wireline Competition docket 07-52 broadband industry practices proceeding an ex parte notice updating the agency on measures it has taken to address concerns about its P2P network management practices.
Coming Events of Interest
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. The DCIA will conduct a P2P session.
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.
P2P MEDIA SUMMIT LV - January 7th in Las Vegas, NV. This is the DCIA's must-attend event for everyone interested in monetizing content using P2P and related technologies. Keynotes, panels, and workshops on the latest breakthroughs. This DCIA flagship event is a Conference within CES - the Consumer Electronics Show.
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