November 24, 2008
Volume XXIV, Issue 5
Verizon & Velocix Create Next-Generation CDN
In response to the burgeoning market for video and multimedia services over broadband, DCIA Member companies Verizon Communications and Velocix have put commercial and technological arrangements in place to create a next-generation content delivery network (CDN), which includes peer-to-peer (P2P) capabilities to meet the needs of the rapidly evolving P2P-based media-distribution industry.
A key reason for Verizon's selection of the Velocix platform as the basis of its new CDN is the vendor's native support of P2P technology. "Our intention is to support the ability of content providers to take advantage of P2P," said Doug Pasko, Verizon Senior Technologist.
Verizon has frequently talked about the potential for P2P in content delivery, even mulling the notion of harnessing customer premises equipment (CPE) such as set-top boxes (STBs) as P2P nodes. Pasko himself Co-Chairs the DCIA-sponsored P4P Working Group (P4PWG), which focuses on developing new P2P architectures for even more efficient content delivery.
The new CDN will be used to distribute content that Verizon contracts for directly with content providers like movie studios, TV networks, video rental sites, and entertainment services, and also to distribute copyrighted works from content providers with which Velocix has agreements of its own. As a first step, Verizon has arranged with Starz Entertainment for Velocix to begin delivering, without P2P, the Starz Play broadband entertainment service
"The combination of Verizon and Velocix is a powerful one," said Marjorie Hsu, Verizon Vice President for Network Technology. "While others worry about fitting existing video content onto their facilities or setting up entire business units to promote content delivery, Verizon is focusing on making more content available for consumers via this alliance with Velocix."
John Dillon, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Velocix, added, "Working together with Verizon, we have pioneered a new digital delivery solution that is both revolutionary and game-changing in terms of performance and economics. Our collaboration significantly improves delivery performance for both Verizon and for our own customers."
"Velocix is unique in the sense that its underlying technology, from day one, was built on top of P2P," said Dan Rayburn, EVP of Streaming Media, a publication covering online video technology.
"Aside from Velocix and Abacast, everyone else in the CDN space is partnering with Pando Networks or some other P2P company."
Verizon Senior Technologist Doug Pasko will be a conference luncheon speaker and Velocix CEO Phill Robinson will present a keynote address at the upcoming P2P MEDIA SUMMIT Las Vegas Conference within CES.
Pando Networks Takes Cloud to Level 3
Level 3 Communications this week announced that it has been selected to provide caching and downloading services to Pando Networks, a pioneer of content delivery cloud services. Pando will use Level 3's content delivery network (CDN) to support the delivery of rich media content for commercial customers.
"Level 3's CDN technology enables us to expand our content delivery cloud service with greater reliability and quality than standalone P2P technology," said Robert Levitan, CEO of Pando Networks. "This expansion builds out our technology platform to provide customers with a more powerful and cost-effective solution to deliver online content."
Level 3's caching and downloading services will enhance Pando's content delivery cloud platform and enable users to download and stream large media files, including full-screen high-definition (HD) video. These capabilities strengthen Pando's ability to provide accelerated delivery speeds and maintain the highest quality video, resulting in a better online viewing experience.
"Level 3 is pleased to deliver caching and downloading to support Pando's content delivery cloud services," said Grant van Rooyen, President of Level 3's Content Markets Group. "The emergence of peer-assisted technologies reinforces the underlying need for the power and performance of our CDN services to support large-scale commercial distribution of online content."
Under the terms of the agreement, Level 3 will support Pando's delivery of HD online video for NBC Direct. Currently in beta release, NBC Direct allows users free access to download high-resolution episodes of select NBC shows.
Pando Networks' CEO Robert Levitan will give the opening keynote address at the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT Las Vegas Conference within CES and Pando's CTO Laird Popkin, Co-Chair of P4PWG, will be a conference luncheon speaker.
Brand Asset Digital Goes Bollywood with Saavn
Brand Asset Digital, the distributed technologies company with a focus on P2P search marketing and efficient live content delivery, has entered a strategic marketing alliance with Bollywood's largest digital entertainment company, Saavn, to leverage the demand for movie, television, and music content across P2P.
Using Brand Asset Digital's P2Pwords search engine marketing (SEM), Saavn will be better able to engage with its consumers in P2P. The platform, which is the first pay-per-click for P2P Search and the first SEM across all P2P Search, gives top advertisers and content providers a marketing solution to target and connect their branded content directly to consumers across all major P2P networks.
P2Pwords also provides a robust consumer consumption mapping of business intelligence in detail never before available to the market.
Saavn is the world's largest digital rights holder of Bollywood content, with licenses for more than 70% of all new releases, including over 200,000 audio tracks. Saavn packages exclusive, timely, high-quality movies, music, and television shows from India for digital platforms including cable VOD, Internet, and mobile.
"P2P is critical to our strategic marketing initiatives," said Paramdeep Singh, Co-Founder of Saavn. "P2Pwords provides us with the ability to connect to our audience on P2P networks and gain a deeper understanding of the consumption patterns of our core market online."
The P2Pwords technology applies the business model of pay-per-click keyword targeting to over 1.5 billion searches a day or 45 billion searches per month taking place on P2P, according to Tiversa, well over four times the size of web search. Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, and MSN Adcenter have created a web search market worth $22 billion in 2007 on over 10 billion web searches per month, according to comScore. P2Pwords also provides a map of the consumption patterns across P2P for the branded content advertised in its network.
"If you're a film studio or music label marketing your new releases and trying to capture more of your audience online, P2Pwords is the most effective means to engage your target audience," explained Joey P., Co-Founder of Brand Asset Digital.
"We feel it is taking the best of products and services, like Google Adwords and Google Analytics, and merging them into one platform relevant to the P2P Search Market. P2Pwords fills the gaps in marketing to consumers where they consume content. It also provides companies like Saavn the most accurate metrics providing insight into the patterns of their content's geographical consumption as no one else can."
Brand Asset Digital is a sponsor of the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT Las Vegas Conference within CES.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 A promising change coming from the worldwide economic turmoil of the past several weeks is the improvement of our industry's relations with content providers. And for that we are very thankful.
Formerly entrenched positions based in large part on inaccurate perceptions and unrealistic expectations are being displaced by a new spirit of collaboration.
Productive communications among affected parties are expanding and deepening as longstanding myths are being dispelled and outdated stereotypes are being discarded.
The DCIA is very hopeful that this will dramatically accelerate the commercial development of a robust distribution channel, having consistently worked, since our inception, to advance content provider interests in the P2P marketplace.
Examples include sponsoring demonstrations of P2P digital rights management (DRM), interdiction, and filtering solutions; initiating projects like the P2P Revenue Engine (P2PRE); conducting working groups such as the P2P Digital Watermark Working Group (PDWG); and producing special events like last month's P2P & MUSIC CONFERENCE at PopKomm and P2P & VIDEO CONFERENCE at Digital Hollywood Fall - all for the benefit of content providers.
To date, DCIA Content Group Membership has been comprised of progressive and forward-thinking independent music labels, video producers, and games publishers, as well as technologically adept individual artists. But more established media entities are now also seeing the value of participation, an option that was not even possible until recently.
Timing is optimal for content-focused initiatives to contribute to commercial advancement of the P2P marketplace. These span the gamut from showcasing the growing panoply of new hybrid-P2P CDN services to defining practices for such priority issues as content protection, content transmission cost reduction, and content delivery acceleration across all P2P-based offerings.
DCIA Membership benefits have never been greater nor have dues been more attractively priced than now for content providers to join the DCIA. For instance, DCIA Member companies are entitled as a privilege of their Membership to participate in DCIA-sponsored working groups, as well as to call for the establishment of new working groups.
The DCIA Content Group must be as fully developed and have as prominent a role and voice as the other two key groups we have worked to help align - the Operations and Platform Groups - comprised of P2P software distributors and Internet service providers (ISPs), respectively.
Last week's announcement by the P4P Working Group (P4PWG) of the impressive results from its second round of trials, for example, followed by this week's advancement of the technology framework for P4P, underscores the fact that active participation by content providers in the DCIA will help to ensure their inclusion in such vital considerations.
There can be no question that commercial development will proceed most productively for all stakeholders if each representative group actively participates. That is the reason the DCIA was originally conceived with three equal Membership Groups - for Content, Operations, and Platform interests, respectively.
The threat to established methods of content monetization from early implementations of P2P in the form of file-sharing applications has been superseded by the benefits to content business models of commercial P2P and peer-assisted CDN services, exemplified by such industry leading firms as Abacast, CloudShield, GridNetworks, Ignite Technologies, Kontiki, Pando Networks, Solid State Networks, and Velocix, each of which has enhanced P2P with advanced attributes and successfully entered into high-profile ground-breaking relationship agreements and deployments with major international media companies.
Cost, speed, and terms-and-conditions for content redistribution can be precisely controlled. Downloads to watch in real-time, downloads to watch later, and live broadcast transmissions can all be supported with the unprecedented advantages of P2P, the only online distribution architecture that can, in fact, replicate broadcast economics.
Content providers, from major motion picture studios and record labels, to television and radio programmers, to independent producers and singer-songwriters, are cordially welcomed and strongly encouraged to join the DCIA Content Group.
Take advantage of this opportunity to directly provide leadership and direction to the rapidly emerging P2P industry. Help drive and accelerate progress towards the end that we all want, a robust P2P marketplace where every content transaction is monetized according to terms-and-conditions stipulated by its rights holders. Share wisely, and take care.
Leadership: Moving Forward in Challenging Times
Excerpted from Knowledge at Wharton Report
There is nothing quite like a global economic crisis to challenge leaders to focus, innovate, inspire, and learn. Collected here are the thoughts of individuals who are doing just that.
Burberry Group CEO Angela Ahrendts is "re-forecasting almost every week" and taking advantage of a refocused brand to weather the storm.
Dave Checketts, Chairman of New York, NY based sports ownership group SCP Worldwide, holds fast to his belief that leaders with character can find success even in the worst of times.
Kenneth Moelis, head of the Los Angeles investment banking firm Moelis & Company, has decided to swim against the tide, recruiting more than 150 people and opening offices in Chicago, New York, and Boston.
At the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Michael Chertoff sees instructive commonalities among the financial crisis, Hurricane Katrina, and the 9/11 terror attacks.
General Mills' Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Mark Addicks uses imaginary kids to understand how his products can fit into real kids' lives.
And Digital Network Group Founders Jim Smith and Vikrant Kothari have created a company to meet the information technology (IT) needs of non-profit organizations and also to help mentor disadvantaged young people.
Cockerham Named RightsFlow COO
Excerpted from Billboard Business News Report by Ed Christman
Benjamin Cockerham has been named COO of New York, NY based RightsFlow, a DCIA Member company specializing in intellectual property (IP) licensing and copyright management.
As part of Cockerham's responsibilities, he will oversee the development, growth, and implementation of RightsFlow's outsourced licensing services.
Cockerham, previously VP of Operations, has a varied music industry background in business development, international rights issues, negotiations, accounting, IT, network operations, music history, and composition.
$69 Billion of Music Shared on P2P Networks
Excerpted from Silicon Republic Report by John Kennedy
Until now, unlicensed music via P2P networks has been considered the result of copyright infringement, but, in this case, a whopping $69 billion worth of music, based on fair-market-value per track, is changing hands. Not that there is literally a one-to-one correspondence of music discovered-and-sampled through file-sharing services and theoretically lost sales of recordings, but the amount of activity is nevertheless enormous.
"A $69 billion figure is staggering to contemplate," said Rick Sizemore of MultiMedia Intelligence, but effectively illustrates P2P's potential value to the music industry as business models are developed to monetize this tremendous quantity of traffic.
This is precisely why efforts from groups such as the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) and those related to digital fingerprinting are vital to foster a safe environment - one conducive to growth and maturation.
"With an ever-burgeoning flow of content over the digital pipes, the need for efficient distribution becomes all the more vital, and we would be remiss to think of P2P exclusively as a tool for infringers," Sizemore said.
MultiMedia Intelligence's new research also found that the number of unlicensed full-length movies shared will grow almost four times from 2007 to 2012 - although the number of video files will remain smaller than music.
Not all P2P content is unlicensed even now. Moreover, the growth rate for licensed content files distributed over P2P networks is much higher than unlicensed, although it is fair to note that it is starting from a much smaller base.
P2P Internet traffic, despite having already grown at a torrid pace for years, will continue to grow almost 400% over the next five years, growing from a level of 1.6 petabytes of internet traffic per month in 2007 to almost 8 petabytes per month by 2012.
PeerMatrix Targets 200 Million P2P Users
PeerMatrix announced the first public release of its PeerMatrix software, which allows advertisers to deliver ads to people who use P2P file-sharing software like LimeWire and Shareaza.
"It's a completely new type of advertising," said Bernard Trest, President of PeerMatrix. "For the first time, advertisers can target 200 million file sharers who were previously off-limits to advertising."
The software works similarly to search engine adwords, creating ads that match whatever a file sharer is searching for.
Say, for example, an advertiser has a video ad for a car named "CarAd.mpg". If a P2P user searches for "The Fast and the Furious," the PeerMatrix software will return a search result to the user indicating that a video file called "The Fast and the Furious.mpg" is available. Similarly, if a user searches for the phrase "Corvette Movie" the software will return a search result for "Corvette Movie.mpg."
This technology, which the company calls AdMorph, was deemed important and innovative enough for a US patent.
The software works by taking incoming search requests from P2P users and dynamically generating search results that exactly match those searches. The user who conducts the search is therefore more likely to download and view the ad.
Testing conducted by PeerMatrix shows that the software is capable of delivering 2 million 10 second video ads a month or 20 million 15 second audio ads a month using just a single computer equipped with a 10 megabit connection to the Internet.
Since a dedicated computer with a high-speed Internet connection can be leased from an Internet hosting company for about $200 a month, the PeerMatrix software compares very favorably to large web search engines, which charge $40,000 to deliver the same number of video ads.
Advertisers can set the PeerMatrix software to only return ads for specific search keywords, or to send ads to every P2P user who conducts a search, regardless of the contents of the search.
The software's flexibility also allows virtually any type of advertising to be delivered: video ads, audio ads, HTML files, PDFs, or any other type of file an advertiser wishes to distribute.
Cisco Systems' Next Move: Managed Services
Excerpted from Seeking Alpha Report by Joe Panettieri
If you want to know where Cisco Systems is heading next, think really big and really small. The company has big plans for the massive managed services market, but is also investing $100 million in the small business sector.
In the managed services market, big service providers such as Verizon remotely administer, optimize, and troubleshoot corporate applications, phone systems, and IT security systems. So far, Verizon has managed services contracts with more than 4,000 customers. And in many cases, Verizon uses Cisco's Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) to manage and administer those networks.
During the current economic turbulence, large and small businesses are embracing managed services because they offer predictable IT costs and often eliminate the need for technology managers in branch offices.
Looking ahead to 2009, Cisco will aggressively emphasize the following technologies to big IT service providers:
Wide Area Application Services (WAAS): Think of this as application acceleration. The goal is for branch office users to access centralized applications that perform as if they were running locally. In other words, someone in Florida could access an application from a New York data center without experiencing any performance problems.
Managed Video Surveillance: Cisco will attack that market opportunity from several directions. The company already offers video surveillance equipment. And Cisco plans to introduce more video surveillance solutions as part of a $100 million small business initiative. Stay tuned for more announcements in 2009.
Managed TelePresence Services: AT&T and other big service providers are already introducing managed TelePresence services - which are next-generation video conferencing systems. But as TelePresence pushes into the home, expect cable broadband providers to partner up with Cisco in this area as well.
Application Extension Platform (AXP): Keep a close eye on Cisco's AXP, which allows software developers to write network-aware applications. It's a safe bet more and more of those applications will target the managed services market.
Long term, AXP positions Cisco to battle against Microsoft in the race to recruit software developers who write Voice over IP applications. Yes indeed, Cisco's managed services strategy will lead to a showdown against Microsoft.
Web Video Developing into Cable Alternative
Excerpted from San Jose Mercury News Report by Troy Wolverton
For consumers fed up with their cable companies, a new alternative is emerging.
Call it Cable 2.0. You get many of the same TV shows and movies, often with fewer commercials. Better yet, you get to watch what you want on your schedule, not the cable network's, and you don't have to pay for anything more than a simple broadband Internet connection.
But there are some catches, the biggest of which is that there's no easy way to get the video from your computer to your TV - yet.
The next-generation cable TV is coming to consumers via video aggregation sites on the web, including peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) leaders like Babelgum, Joost, and Veoh. Joining that group on Monday will be Sling, a similar site from the makers of the Slingbox.
Getting their content onto your TV is just one current shortcoming of those sites, but they are starting to become for some an alternative to cable.
"Not only is that a theoretical thing, but we're seeing more and more people saying that that's what they've already done," said James McQuivey, a media analyst at Forrester Research.
Over the last year, web video has begun to look like what you get on cable. Web video has moved from a download model to the streaming one pioneered by sites such as YouTube. Through such sites, consumers often can watch video for free nearly instantly through a web browser.
Among the advantages of web video is that you're not limited to watching it just where you have a coaxial cable or set-top box. Instead, you can watch it wherever you can get an Internet connection and on a range of devices, from laptop and desktop computers to mobile phones and handheld devices.
That appeals to younger consumers in particular, notes McQuivey. "They're more open to the idea that it's not even TV anymore," he said.
GridNetworks Launches GridCast TV
GridNetworks this week announced an important industry-first called GridCast TV, which matches the distribution reach of broadband-delivered web video with the strong preference among consumers to still watch television in the living room.
GridCast TV is positioned to be a game changer in our industry by providing an immediate global service footprint of 35 million living rooms - of which over 18 million are in the US.
GridCast TV is the industry's first peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) service that can take television content directly to the TV in the living room without requiring consumers to purchase and install an additional set-top box (STB) or other device.
As a web service that delivers high-quality video directly to existing devices in the home, GridCast TV provides content and media companies the ability to directly control brand, content, and revenue without reliance on third-party networks or distributors.
By streaming beyond a single user at the desktop to an audience of family or friends in the living room, GridCast TV will grow content monetization - whether it's by ad revenue or subscription.
Boxee Lands $4 Million for Social Media Center
Excerpted from CNET News Report by Don Reisinger
Boxee, a company that delivers online content to your Apple TV or computer through its social media center platform, has secured $4 million in funding from Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures.
The company also announced that Bijan Sabet from Spark Capital and Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures will join its Board.
Boxee has already signed up about 100,000 alpha testers for its service; funding was needed for it to launch a beta and expand its business.
According to a company representative on its blog, the funding will help Boxee work towards its goals of "building even more functionality and content into Boxee while making it easier to navigate; listening to user requests, ideas, and frustrations (and improving the product accordingly); working with team-XBMC, developers, and partners to extend Boxee beyond the confines of limited resources; and finishing the year with 1 million users."
But perhaps most importantly, the $4 million Boxee received will help the company increase the number of content providers it currently partners with beyond CBS, Hulu, Netflix, and others, as well as increase the number of set-top boxes (STBs) its service can be found on.
If you'd like to learn more about Boxee or find out what the company's vision is for the future, check out this interview with its founder at CNET Digital Home Podcast and click here for Boxee's presentation at the recent P2P & VIDEO CONFERENCE.
Babelgum Partners with Short Film Festival for 2nd Year
Excerpted from New Media Age Report by Suzanne Bearne
Industry leading peer-to-peer television (P2PTV) service Babelgum has renewed its partnership with the Encounters Short Film Festival to showcase the work of established and emerging filmmakers.
It's the second year Babelgum has teamed up with the annual festival in Bristol, UK.
Babelgum will show a selection of the festival's entries online on the Encounters Short Film Festival Channel. Another channel, the Encounters Short Film Festival Fringe Channel, will show films that didn't make it onto the shortlist.
Babelgum CEO Valerio Zingarelli said, "The Encounters festival is the UK's most important short-film festival and showcases some of the best short movies from new and established talent from around the world."
In July, Babelgum struck a global content deal with BBC Worldwide, providing the platform with short-form content from BBC programs.
India Huge Growth Market for BitTorrent Sites
Excerpted from TorrentFreak Report
BitTorrent's popularity is on the rise in India, and with a massive increase in broadband subscribers just around the corner, it is the number one growth market for BitTorrent sites. With a population of over 1.1 billion people and only 4.5 million broadband subscribers, there is a huge amount of untapped potential.
With a quarter billion mobile phone users, India is no stranger to technology. Up until recently, however, broadband Internet access was only available to a few. Although the number of broadband subscribers is growing rapidly, less than 0.5% of the entire population has an Internet connection.
Times are changing. After the mobile phone revolution managed to get more than 250 million Indians connected, the government is now aiming to increase broadband Internet penetration in India. The current target is 20 million broadband subscribers by the end of 2010, and 50 million by 2012, a 1,000% increase compared to approximately 5 million now.
The increase in the number of Indian BitTorrent users compared to previous years has not gone unnoticed. MiniNova, for example, is reporting a 300% increase in traffic from India compared to last year, and for most BitTorrent sites, India recently entered the top-10 of traffic sources. If the target of 20 million broadband subscribers is indeed reached, India will be the number-one traffic source for most BitTorrent sites by the end of 2010.
Of course, BitTorrent indexers are not the only sites that are affected by the growing levels of Internet access in India, but they do tend to be traffic magnets. Data from the traffic comparison site Alexa shows that there are three BitTorrent sites among the 100 most visited websites in India.
MiniNova, Torrentz, and The Pirate Bay are listed in 39th, 46th, and 100th place respectively, and isoHunt is not far behind.
Two factors that have undoubtedly contributed to the popularity of BitTorrent are the availability of unlimited data plans and an increase in connection speeds. In India, most ISPs initially offered metered plans, where 1 GB of data cost somewhere around $10. Today however, almost every ISP has an unlimited plan with a decent download speed for $50, which is a lot in India, as well as lower rate plans with reasonable speed limits.
After China, India has the highest growth rate of all emerging economies in the world, and Internet access is quickly becoming affordable to a larger group of people. So, don't be surprised when you see hundreds of Indian IPs in your peers list a few years from now.
GigaTribe Unleashes Web 2.0 File-Sharing Service in US
Excerpted from TMCnet Report by Raju Shanbhag
GigaTribe has launched its US service providing users with a private, encrypted P2P environment to share entire file folders of photos, videos, music, and other files.
The basic version of GigaTribe is free and the Ultimate version comes with a price tag of $29.95/year. The company claims that sharing files from its application is hassle-free and free of any security risks.
P2P networks are largely used to share files and other types of content which cannot be sent in an e-mail. A large number of Internet users use the P2P networks to share files, search for the content they want and share them with their friends.
Although employees and companies are increasingly using Web 2.0 to keep in touch, a recent report suggests that the malware attacks on Web 2.0 are constantly on the rise. The report states that Web 2.0 social networking applications present overwhelming security issues for branch offices and corporate networks - and administrators can no longer afford the tradeoffs between security and performance.
"Security is our top priority. When it comes to sharing your personal photos and videos, you need to be absolutely sure they will only be available to the appropriate contacts. GigaTribe provides users with this assurance that their private information will always remain protected," said Alexis Leseigneur, CTO, GigaTribe.
The features included in the free version include 100% encryption of the files; option to set up groups to view the content; unlimited data sharing; small business networking; instant messaging (IM) feature; and improved user interface. If you upgrade to GigaTribe Ultimate, you will get features such as unlimited e-mail tech support; remote Internet access; faster downloads; Easyconnect service; and the ability to protect shared folders with a password.
When you upload your files in GigaTribe, your friends can get instant access to those files. Photos and videos remain in their original full size, and resolution is never lowered for posting, says the company. The company also allows small businesses to use the free GigaTribe to set up an instant Virtual Private Network (VPN). This allows the companies to quickly share file folders with co-workers.
MiniNova to Embed Ads for Authorized Content
Excerpted from Slyck.com Report by Thomas Mennecke
There are a lot of good things to be said about TV and movie studios opening up to the idea of streaming content. Almost any popular TV show is freely available for streaming. Could embedded advertising come to BitTorrent communities too?
One of the negative aspects of video streaming is the commercials that sometime precede or interrupt a stream. Commercials are a fact-of-life, but many individuals are irritated by forced advertising. And if a company's ad does little more than irritate potential customers, not much business can be expected. So the question then becomes, how can commercials be transparent enough to allow for a seamless video stream, yet still attract those interested?
MiniNova thinks its latest concoction is on the right track. MiniNova has an extensive collection of authorized and community grown torrents on its "Featured Torrents" section. Although MiniNova is largely known as a BitTorrent indexer and search engine, it also maintains a tracker for its Featured Torrents collection.
In its latest endeavor, MiniNova has begun beta testing the feature. The first test will be on a relatively obscure amateur comedy, but the hope is to roll-out the feature with mainstream and well known work if testing goes well.
"We are pleased to announce that MiniNova is testing a new technology that allows users to download and watch licensed movies and TV shows for free. These videos will be packaged by Hyper MP technology and are going to be distributed using MiniNova Content Distribution for free. The unique feature of this system is that the videos can be downloaded and played anywhere in the world (no geo-targeting) and will make use of a new in-video advertising technology."
HyperMP, the entity providing the ad technology, now offers a sample video demonstrating the embedded advertisement. In the short clip, the ads are rather small and semi-transparent - and don't obscure the video. Such a direction in video advertising, as opposed to forced commercial segments, might go a long way in securing authorized sources. MiniNova's optimistic, and there's a good chance that file sharers might feel the same way.
LittleShoot Could Be New Model for P2P
Excerpted from Mashable Report by Adam Ostrow
LittleShoot is a new web-based P2P file-sharing program founded by one of the creators of LimeWire that could live up to its pedigree and then some. While being web-based naturally makes the service more attractive than downloadable file-sharing apps, LittleShoot has a few other killer features that could make it the new model for P2P.
LittleShoot is starting off by serving as a search index for services that already have billions of files, like YouTube, Flickr, and LimeWire.
Searching for just about anything will yield a plethora of results that you can download right to your computer. LittleShoot includes its own player too, so as a video or song is downloading, you can view and listen from the browser.
Once those files are downloaded, they become part of the P2P network that is LittleShoot. Like other P2P services, LittleShoot works by downloading pieces of content from other users that have a given file, in the most efficient way possible. The service is optimized not just to find the most nearby computers with the file, but also defaulting when possible to users on the same ISP to further pump-up the download speeds.
Publishing files to LittleShoot is also exceptionally easy. You simply browse your hard drive and select the files you'd like to upload. You can add tags to your files to help improve the search index. You can access your files from a "Publish" tab on the site, where you can edit, open, or delete them. LittleShoot requires no registration, which should give users some sense of anonymity in uploading their files.
Another big feature LittleShoot has in the works will essentially turn Twitter into a file-sharing service. When you upload files, you'll have the option to tweet a link to them, which in turn will provide tremendous viral marketing for LittleShoot while significantly improving the performance of the P2P network, since files will be hosted on more and more computers as they get downloaded.
LittleShoot also plans to offer tools to external developers, so "any site can include our javascript library and create a 'P2P YouTube,' for example, but where flash files stream just as if they weren't P2P," says Co-Founder Adam Fisk.
"People flocked to put their videos and photos on sites like YouTube and Facebook, and those sites now control an astonishing percentage of our digital content. Corporate ads are slapped on personal videos. Privately shared content is taken down due to bogus copyright claims. Sharing has become synonymous with forsaking one's right to manage one's own content," he adds.
LittleShoot could certainly shake things up. Don't bet against it being a new disruptive force in P2P file sharing with some staying power.
The New Washington, DC Tech Agenda
Excerpted from eWeek Report by Roy Mark
Widely considered the most tech-savvy US President ever elected, President-Elect Barack Obama sees an activist government - tinkering here, readjusting there and spending here, here, and here - as the path to innovation and the future.
Since technology is the key to virtually all of President-Elect Barack Obama's plans for sweeping changes in the direction of the country and the way Washington does business with its citizens, it is not surprising Obama brings a decidedly different technology agenda to the White House than President Bush did eight years ago.
Bush praised technology as a key driver of the economy and worked to remove government barriers such as laws, rules, and regulations to let the free market make its decisions on winners and losers. Obama, though, embraces technology as the path to innovation and the future and plans to invest heavily in technology as the key to reviving the economy.
Would innovation blossom if virtually any legal Internet service or software program could run on any broadband network? Obama thinks so. One of Obama's earliest tech campaign promises was to throw his support behind network neutrality, which would prohibit discrimination in the delivery of broadband services by providers such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon.
Absent network neutrality rules, Obama said, "You could get much better quality from the Fox News site and you'd be getting rotten service from some mom-and-pop site. And that, I think, destroys one of the best things about the Internet - which is that there is this incredible equality there."
Obama has already promised to put network neutrality proponents on the FCC. Please click here for the full report.
Obama Transition Team Names Tech Policy Group
Excerpted from CNET News Report by Stephanie Condon
President-Elect Barack Obama on Wednesday announced which advisers will lead the team's efforts to develop technology policy for the Obama administration.
The three team leaders of the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Policy Working Group are Julius Genachowski and Blair Levin, two former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) staff members, and Sonal Shah, the head of Google.org.
The purpose of the working group is to "develop the priority policy proposals and plans from the Obama campaign for action during the Obama-Biden administration," according to the transition team.
Obama has promised to put more emphasis on technological issues as President and has even said he will appoint a Chief Technology Officer.
Genachowski is a former IAC executive and the Founder of start-up incubator LaunchBox Digital. He served as an adviser to two FCC Chairmen during the Clinton administration. Genachowski also chaired the group that helped shape the Obama campaign's Tech and Innovation Plan, and is considered by some in Washington to be a contender for the position of CTO.
Shah is the head of Google's philanthropy division and previously served as a Vice President at Goldman Sachs. Both Shah and Genachowski are also on the Obama-Biden Transition Project Advisory Board.
Levin, a Managing Director at the firm Stifel Nicolaus, previously served as Chief of Staff to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt from 1993 to 1997.
RICO Class Action Claims Asserted Against RIAA
Excerpted from Recording Industry Vs. The People Report by Ray Beckerman
In a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) case pending in St. Louis, MO, the defendant has asserted detailed counterclaims against the RIAA for federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) violations, fraud, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, prima facie tort, trespass, and conspiracy.
The claims focus on the RIAA's driftnet tactic of suing innocent people, and of demanding extortionate settlements. The RICO predicate acts alleged in the 42-page pleading are extortion, mail fraud, and wire fraud.
The proposed class includes "all people residing in the US who were falsely accused of downloading copyrighted sound recordings owned by the counterclaim defendants and making them available for distribution or mass distribution over a P2P network and who incurred costs and damages including legal fees in defense of such false claims or whose computers used in interstate commerce and/or communication were accessed without permission or authority."
This is the second class action against the RIAA and the major record labels, the first being an Oregon class action brought by Tanya Andersen, which is presently in the discovery phase.
All-Star Witness List in Lawsuit over Constitutionality
Excerpted from TechDirt Report
Last month we mentioned how Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson was taking on the RIAA's strategy of suing music uploaders by claiming that the laws the RIAA was relying on were unconstitutional.
That case ("the Tenenbaum case") started moving forward this week. There is some interesting news in the case, as Ray Beckerman has posted the proposed witness list put forth by Tenenbaum's legal team and it is quite the star-studded list.
It's becoming clear that this is a case where a bunch of different folks in the "copyfighting" realm are converging to confront the RIAA's legal strategy.
The list includes: John Perry Barlow, Matthew Oppenheim, Andrew Grant, and Professors Johan Pouwelse, Lawrence Lessig, Terry Fisher, Wendy Seltzer, John Palfrey, and Jonathan Zittrain.
That is quite the all-star list. This case is going to be interesting to follow.
Coming Events of Interest
Agency Summit - December 7th in La Quinta, CA. A premier event for interactive advertisers, the iMedia Agency Summit is designed to challenge interactive thought leaders to break down the barriers of convention and role, and encourage them to come to grips with what it means to build creative, impactful programs for marketers in an ever-evolving environment.
Intelligent Selling of Internet Advertising - December 15th in New York, NY. This is a must-do course to gain comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of interactive media delivery, measurement, and creative elements. If you're new to the industry, or need to improve your knowledge and skills, this is an essential course.
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 International Consumer Electronics Show.
International CES - January 8th-11th in Las Vegas, NV. With more than four decades of success, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) reaches across global markets, connects the industry and enables CE innovations to grow and thrive. CES is produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the consumer technology industry.
MIDEM & MidemNet Forum - January 17th-21st in Cannes, France. MIDEM is the international music market from all genres for all professionals providing five days of business and and a global networking marketplace. MidemNet Forum focuses on digital distribution of music.
Digital Music Forum East - February 25th-26th in New York, NY. Participants include top label execs, artists and reps, association heads, attorneys, investors, consumer electronics, plus technology leaders from social networks, payments companies, online retailers, mobile companies, technology start-ups and more.
East Coast Music Awards - February 26th - March 1st in Corner Brook, NL, Canada. Live, original music during a four-day festival. Terry McBride, Co-Founder & CEO of Nettwerk Music Group, will be the keynote speaker for the conference component of the ECMA weekend.
P2P MARKET CONFERENCE - March 17th in New York, NY. Strategies to fulfill the multi-billion dollar revenue potential of the P2P and social network channel for the distribution of entertainment content. Case studies of sponsorships, cross-promotion, interactive advertising, and exciting new hybrid business models.
Media Summit New York - March 18th-19th in New York, NY. Sponsored by McGraw-Hill and Digital Hollywood, the 2009 MSNY is the premier international conference on media, broadband, advertising, television, cable & satellite, mobile, publishing, radio, magazines, news & print media, and marketing.
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