December 8, 2008
Volume XXIV, Issue 7
BitTorrent & Oversi Deliver Optimal P2P Solution
BitTorrent, the global standard technology for the delivery of rich media on the Internet, and Oversi, a pioneer of over-the-top (OTT) caching and delivery solutions, are collaborating to deliver an integrated solution that optimizes peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic across Internet service provider (ISP) networks.
In today's business climate, the joint solution brings clear benefits to ISPs: reduced bandwidth costs and deferred infrastructure investments together with a higher quality subscriber experience.
BitTorrent's intelligent client protocol, Policy Discovery Protocol (PDP), communicates with Oversi's NetEnhancer network intelligence platform to improve peer selection in line with the ISP's network capabilities while speeding up P2P downloads.
With enhanced intelligence, the ISP and P2P clients avoid network bottlenecks. The solution is simple to deploy in the P2P cloud and uses the ISP's existing network resources.
The solution complements the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) working group initiative, which aims to improve the routing of P2P data traffic. ALTO is the IETF entity that is extending technical evaluation and standardization of ideas explored in operational tests by the P4P Working Group (P4PWG). The P4PWG is sponsored by the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA).
Eric Klinker, CEO of BitTorrent, said, "We're glad to be cooperating with leading network equipment vendors like Oversi to build solutions that help network operators while preserving and even improving the end-user experience for BitTorrent file transfers. We believe that cooperative endeavors like this offer the most promising opportunities for helping the Internet to evolve."
David Tolub, Oversi's President & CEO, said, "We welcome our collaboration with the global P2P technology leader. For the first time, network intelligence is being combined with P2P client intelligence to solve a key ISP dilemma: how to reduce network congestion while improving users' performance. This solution meets a real need, while reducing operational and capital expenses at a time of shrinking budgets."
The BitTorrent/Oversi solution supports commercial and non-commercial P2P applications and ongoing advances in P2P architectures.
NetEnhancer, Oversi's recently launched P2P management tool, optimizes service providers' resources by automatically routing P2P traffic to local peers in line with the available network resources of the operator. BitTorrent's PDP is designed to help peers automatically discover ISP policies that will optimize peer selection and accelerate downloads.
QTRAX Signs Sony BMG Music Entertainment
QTRAX, the ad-supported P2P digital music service, this week announced a global agreement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment that will make Sony BMG's premier digital music catalog available to music fans worldwide on the QTRAX platform.
"We are always exploring new and exciting ways of bringing our music to fans in the digital space and are very happy to support QTRAX and their innovative ad-supported business model," commented Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG's President of Global Digital Business and US Sales.
QTRAX showcases an ad-supported delivery model that easily and accurately directs revenue back to rights holders. Users who download and install the QTRAX client will be able to use it to search for, discover, and listen to a colorful and diverse catalog of high-quality digital music files numbering in the millions.
QTRAX will monetize the experience by selling sponsorships and advertising displayed during the search process. Additionally, users will have the option to purchase music and related items from a third party throughout the QTRAX interface.
"Sony BMG has a well-deserved reputation for innovation," said Allan Klepfisz, President & CEO of QTRAX. "We welcome the addition of this vast and vital catalog to QTRAX's worldwide service," Klepfisz continued.
QTRAX is the world's first free-and-legal P2P music service. Based in New York, QTRAX is a subsidiary of Brilliant Technologies Corporation, a publicly traded technology holding company.
Live P2PTV on the iPhone: Livestation Previews
Excerpted from TechCrunch Report by Mike Butcher
Matteo Berlucchi has been CEO of Skinkers since its inception in 2001 and has kept on plugging away at his vision for delivering rich media to the desktop, even as the world has gradually moved to the web for the delivery of streaming video.
Coming up with Livestation - broadcasting live TV to the desktop - in the mid-noughties, Berlucchi raised $3.5 million from Spark Ventures; and a Series B round of $16 million from Acacia Capital Partners and Spark last year.
So what has his company spent it on? Livestation offers P2P-enabled streams from broadcasters like BBC and CNN. And it released open software to download for the average user earlier this year.
Skinkers is not the only one in this game of course. Live web streaming is offered by Abacast, which offers a hybrid peer-assisted CDN solution, and is now commonplace from TV broadcasters, and there is Zurich-based start-up P2PTV service Zattoo with its desktop software. Then there are the on-demand P2PTV players like Joost and Babelgum and others.
On Thursday, Livestation previewed a development application for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Perhaps it will be the making of the platform.
An irony to this is that in 2006 Microsoft and Skinkers signed a technology-for-equity deal, a first for Microsoft in Europe at the time. So Microsoft will have a stake in bringing live TV to the iPhone.
The app, when it hits the iPhone App Store, will work over Wi-Fi. Hopefully Livestation's app will be as good as it promises.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 In lieu of our usual report regarding a strategic matter of import to industry progress or information about an upcoming trade conference, we'd like to dedicate this week's column to a different subject.
On Wednesday evening, in Yonkers, NY, we had the privilege of attending a remarkable event, the "Eighth Annual Celebration of International Human Rights Day," featuring a live performance by DCIA Content Group Member Al Smith - P2P activist and founder of the band Blacksmith.
As we approach this holiday season in challenging economic times - with the promising hope of a fresh start in 2009 under US President-Elect Barack Obama's new administration - it is fitting to share with DCINFO readers key aspects of this particular evening, which celebrated the overcoming of disabilities in the workplace.
The program opened by honoring Governor David Paterson (D-NY) with a 2008 Humanitarian Award. Accepting on behalf of the Governor was New York State Division of Human Rights Commissioner Galen Kirkland, who twice ran political campaigns against Paterson, affording each of them the opportunity to gain insights into the character and integrity of the other, and ultimately leading to the mutual respect that brought them together in their current roles.
In his acceptance keynote, Commissioner Kirkland described some of the highest profile cases now in process throughout the state - involving hate crimes as serious as murder - and the community-building efforts underway to foster harmonious relations where divisiveness has run its terribly damaging course.
There are lessons to be learned as together we endeavor, at a level that pales by comparison and is far more civil than what Commissioner Kirkland confronts, to encourage cooperation and collaboration among industry participants still involved in disputes.
Connie Fowler, Chairperson of the Yonkers Commission on Human Rights, welcomed four new individuals to the thirteen-member municipal agency that operates through committees focused on eliminating discrimination in housing, employment, and education.
The mission of this body is to foster mutual respect and understanding among racial, religious, and ethnic groups; to identify discrimination based on sex and age; to make and publicize studies of human relations in the community; to inquire into incidents of tension and conflict among various factions and work to alleviate them; and to conduct educational programs to increase good will among all inhabitants of the community.
As State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-NY) eloquently pointed out, those who volunteer for these assignments are to be recognized and treasured for their invaluable service. There is no more noble calling than to give of oneself for the benefit of those who are less fortunate.
Receiving the Chairperson's Award was Barbara Shealy, whose civil rights activism and contributions to society through such organizations as the Community First Development Coalition are more than worthy of recognition.
In introducing our Member, Chairperson Fowler said, "Al Smith is a gifted singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. As a solo artist, he has been entertaining audiences around the world with his own alternative brand of country, rock, inspiration and blues - 'CRIB' for short.
Al is also an Internet pioneer, reaching over 250 million subscribers worldwide with his music and message. As a technology advocate, he is known in the Congressional Record as 'the ambassador for legal P2P distribution.'
Al Smith has a heart for humanity. He works diligently performing at fund-raising events and concerts, entertaining at health and rehabilitation centers, building shelters for the homeless, helping promote the environment, and conducting edu-concerts that make the case for tolerance.
Al is not only musically talented, but also has a God-given philanthropic, entrepreneurial spirit to share his time, his money, and his life with so many who may be struggling."
Al Smith brought audience members to their feet, some literally dancing in the aisles, with his live performance climaxing in an encore appearance near the end of the program.
But the most remarkable aspect of this event was the presentation of Community Service Awards to Kathleen Joyce and Richard Sweeney, both of whom are practicing attorneys.
Kathleen Joyce is a wife and mother, who is also a quadriplegic. Richard Sweeney is a husband and father, who is also blind.
There would have been more than sufficient justification to recognize these individuals for overcoming their serious disabilities and becoming highly successful, productive members of society.
But that wasn't why they were honored. These two incredible human beings have gone beyond such admirable accomplishments to also participate as leaders in public service - giving something back to the community through their selfless work for others.
In accepting her award, Kathleen Joyce, who was supposed to have been on bed rest Wednesday evening but told her doctor that she refused to miss this opportunity to convey her purposeful message, talked in the most articulate way imaginable about providing a voice to those who were in need but could not express themselves. Her work on such issues as handicapped accessibility has been truly outstanding.
In accepting his award, Richard Sweeney addressed the audience with the power and conviction of an accomplished motivational speaker. Through his living example, daring to dream, to develop goals, to clarify tasks, and to overcome obstacles, can become the most powerful weapons an individual can deploy in a personal anti-discrimination arsenal.
Senator Stewart-Cousins noted in her concluding remarks that the role of government should be as a willing partner, opening doors and leveling the playing field so that society's true heroes, like Kathleen Joyce and Richard Sweeney, along with every other citizen, whatever adversities they may have to overcome, have equal opportunities to achieve their full potential.
We wish you could have witnessed this event firsthand. At the very least, it would have provided valuable inspiration to weather the current economic climate and to appreciate what really matters during this holiday season. Share wisely, and take care.
Tech Sector Optimistic About New Administration
Excerpted from National Journal Report by Winter Casey
There's little question that the technology community in Washington, DC is excited by what they expect to be the elevated embrace of technology by President-Elect Obama's administration. "He gets it," tech insiders say.
Insiders say they're looking forward to having a more tech-savvy team in the White House and hope that the administration's use of technology will help usher in an era of greater transparency in government.
An Obama reign is expected to channel more federal resources toward technology initiatives and spur pro-tech changes in trade and tax policy.
Obama has also said he supports network neutrality "to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet," but it remains to be seen what will happen on this policy front.
Economic Climate Will Accelerate Cloud Computing
Excerpted from GoGrid Blog Report by Michael Sheehan
Many of the concepts of P2P, distributed computing, grid computing, virtualization, virtualized hosting, cloud computing, and green hosting have not changed. Rather, they have evolved, grown, and become more established as leading technologies for the future. Here are some 2009 predictions.
1. Clouds Reduce the Effect of the Recession. The US government just announced that the US has been in a recession since December 2007. To most people, this is simply stating the obvious. Many in the cloud computing field have been touting how moving to the cloud can lower capital expenditures (CapEx) and shift more to operating expenditures (OpEx).
2. Broader Depth of Clouds. Cloud computing providers are leapfrogging each other with new features and offerings. This will continue in 2009. Google will extend its cloud platform with services for storing and serving large files, larger dataset management, pay-for-use enhanced usage, and new run-time languages.
3. VCs, Money & Long Term Viability. With cloud computing services gaining momentum, this is a good market for funding. But the VCs and others are really doing their due diligence. Cloud aggregators will be ripe for additional funding. Smaller providers may see an influx of capital in order to remain competitive.
4. Partnerships Galore & Weeding Out of Providers. Strategic alliances and partnerships are critical to any business success. Not only will this increase exposure to other audiences but also provide more innovative and robust services in the process. Cloud aggregators will be the big movers here. Aggregators need to ensure their own fiscal viability by broadening and diversifying their offerings.
5. Hybrid Solutions. Not every corporation or business is looking to the cloud as the next sliced bread. Hybrid infrastructures can be termed "cloudbursting." Some may give way to full mirrored failover or redundancy solutions where traditional infrastructures are mirrored within the cloud, sharing common data-streams to ensure near-real-time availability of data and services.
6. Web 3.0. Web 3.0 will make integrations much more seamless and go well beyond that of simple visible shared data applications. Successful integrations are critical to the furthering the power of the cloud.
7. Standards and Interoperability. While cloud computing seemed like the new world in 2007 and the wild west in 2008, it has now been colonized and settlements established. 2009 will be that of civil engineering. The development of standards and interoperability among the varying levels of clouds is inevitable.
8. Staggered Growth within the Cloud. There will be tremendous growth within the cloud. But that is an easy prediction to make. The cloud encompasses so much that it would be difficult to really see a stagnation or shrinkage.
9. Technology Advances at the Cloud Molecular Level. There is probably a new layer to the cloud pyramid that needs to be added, one that resides at the "molecular" level. Chip makers such as Intel, are making plans on enabling cloud-optimized CPU and other types of chips to allow for a more unique control of built-in switches.
10. Larger Adoption. If one factors in many if not all of the items mentioned previously, the obvious conclusion is that cloud adoption will be significant in 2009.
Broadband New Deal Could Rekindle Innovation
Excerpted from OnMedia Report by Diane Mermigas
Unlike the other monumental challenges confronting President-Elect Barack Obama, broadband interactivity can be an immediate, universal catalyst for commerce, communications, and wide-ranging productivity. It can generate new jobs, revenue streams and profits in a better economy while requiring minimal investment. The Internet and all things interactive comprise the 21st-century's Wild West of unregulated prospects.
Still, the grim global recession has caused even Google to dramatically reduce its hallmark research and development, which is needed to take the formative digital economy to the next important level. That begs the question: What incentives can the Obama administration offer to encourage all businesses to continue innovating?
John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, another giant in innovation, insists that preparing for the upturn must be part of the damage control. Unfortunately, only Chambers and Team Obama are championing that goal. Most other companies are cash-strapped and paralyzed with fear.
Obama may find the answers among his tech advisers, led by Julius Genachowski, who touts that the new President "sees technology as the key part of a solution to almost every problem we face." The President-Elect believes providing affordable high-speed Internet service to every American home will create jobs, fuel economic growth, and spark innovation.
Support expressed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) this week to earmark funds from the federal economic stimulus plan for broadband deployment underscores bipartisan concern that the US is compromising its ability to compete technologically and economically in the world. The US has fallen from the top 10 countries globally in broadband access, speed, and pricing. The Internet support could be part of the next $500 billion disposition of federal bailout funds, which could also be used to upgrade the national power grid, repair roads and bridges, and provide income tax cuts to working Americans.
Congress could provide hefty tax credits to cable and telephone companies that have helped to finance the roll-out of broadband Internet access, provide subsidies to companies providing Internet service to rural areas, and increase aid to states for Internet services.
Tech, Internet, content, and services companies must be motivated to create new reasons for commercial interactivity. Innovation and continued digital transformation must lead the economic recovery. About half of all IT capital spending traditionally has come from financial services and industrial companies under siege.
Perhaps the best overriding incentives could come in a far-flung New Deal-inspired plan for broadband, bringing together private and public players and funds to build out an advanced broadband infrastructure that would serve commercial and civic interests. It would be a new deal for a new age.
Consumer Technology at CES and P2P MEDIA SUMMIT
Do you enjoy seeing the occasional celebrity ogle the latest consumer technology while wandering the aisles of CES? Do you make business decisions more comfortably when you have the hard data to back them up? Then get ready for the second annual P2P MEDIA SUMMIT Las Vegas on January 7th and the 2009 International CES that continues through January 11th. Put your finger on the pulse of consumer technology and see the heart of innovation.
The P2P MEDIA SUMMIT features 12 keynote addresses, six panel sessions, a continental breakfast, conference luncheon, VIP networking cocktail reception, and more.
CES covers more than 1.7 million square feet of venues, including every square inch of the Convention Center and three major hotels. It's a place to explore what's happening in more than 30 consumer technology product categories, including audio, digital imaging, wireless, home theater, and gaming.
We're dazzled by new products when they grab the market, but few of us see the years of failed experiments and "Eureka" moments that comprise the R&D cycle. Now you can, through CES' Just the Facts: Research, Reports, and Revelations Knowledge Track.
At the P2P MEDIA SUMMIT, the conference luncheon will feature new P2P research being conducted now by Harris Interactive. These fascinating sessions take you inside the world of market research, metrics, and analytics, and offer a rare view of how data determines what survives and what dies on the drawing board.
Go beyond where the industry is headed to why, with newfound clarity and perspective.
Learning to Work with Social Networks
Excerpted from eMarketer Report
While many marketers want to use social networks as part of their strategies, they still have no clear list of best practices for the medium. Getting friends to spread a marketing message to each other is a great goal, but how is that best done?
A November article in Ad Age detailed efforts to use the connections between social network users. Paul Moore, director of insights at Yahoo, found that targeting friends of a given sports fan led to more reach than targeting fans who did not know each other - even if the fan's friends did not identify an interest in sports themselves.
"We got an additional 40% reach from people who would otherwise not be targeted by this ad because their sports-enthusiast behavior wasn't apparent," said Dr. Moore in the article.
Other approaches included targeting opponents in video games played on social networks.
Nearly three-quarters of retail executives surveyed in August by Zoomerang for SLI Systems said they thought social media would have a greater impact on their marketing goals in the near future.
But the lack of established social network ad and marketing strategies is, in part, why use of the medium is still relatively low.
The fact that it is a new area also helps account for the wide range of marketers' reported social network usage: 16.9% of US marketers surveyed in May by PROMO magazine said they used social networks in their campaigns, compared with the 62% who said so in a July William Blair study.
Agencies and brands from all verticals rely on eMarketer Total Access for analysis and data. Please click here to learn more about Total Access.
Post-Recession: Big Rebound for Digital, Internet
Excerpted from MediaPost Report by Erik Sass
It may be a little early to think about what happens after the recession. But when the current downturn finally ends, it will leave behind a changed media landscape. Some changes can be predicted, based on historical trends. The two media that are most likely to make a fast, full recovery in the near future are digital out-of-home and the Internet, with the former rebounding faster and further than the latter.
If history is a guide, digital out-of-home advertising will return to percentage growth rates in the high double digits - around 30% to 40% per year - while the Internet will rebound with more modest 10% to 12% growth rates. This prediction is based on the past performance of other new media during and after previous recessions.
Specifically, the post-recession growth rates for digital out-of-home and the Internet might mimic the recoveries of broadcast TV and cable TV in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of this decade.
After triple-digit growth from 1951-1952, advertisers pulled way back on broadcast TV during the recession of 1953, slashing broadcast dollars by 15.5%. Likewise, after double-digit growth through the 1980s, cable advertising basically stalled, with 2.1% growth in 1991.
But when the recessions ended, both media came back bigger than ever. Broadcast TV ad revenue jumped from below $400 million in 1953 to $1.36 billion in 1958, enjoying an average annual growth rate of 47.5% from 1954-1958. Similarly, cable rose from $1.9 billion in 1991 to $6.1 billion in 1995, with an average annual growth rate of 35.5% from 1992-1995.
Digital out-of-home is now in the position that broadcast TV and cable advertising were in the early 1950s and early 1990s. Media planners have been playing with digital out-of-home for several years, but it will probably move to the back burner for a short time as advertisers batten down for an economic downturn. But it's positioned to deliver an annual average percentage growth rate of 30% to 40% in the post-recession period.
Internet advertising is in a different boat. It's already weathered one recession in 2001, and it has indisputably established itself as the hot new medium with double-digit growth rates from 2003-2008. Still, the medium is unlikely to return to the buoyant days of 35% growth.
Internet advertising is now poised to enter its second recession. Therefore, looking for parallels in the historical record, in a couple of years it will be in the position of broadcast TV after the recession of 1973 - when it rebounded with an average annual growth rate of about 20% from 1974-1978. It's also in the position of cable earlier this decade, when it endured its second major recession, then rebounded with healthy (but not spectacular) 12% average annual growth from 2002-2005.
A Comment from BitTorrent on uTP
Excerpted from uTorrent Forum Report by Simon Morris
Normally BitTorrent is implemented on top of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which is the standard congestion-control mechanism for the Internet. However, the congestion-control mechanism inside TCP is quite crude and problematic. It only detects congestion on the Internet once "packet loss" has occurred - i.e., once the user has lost data and probably noticed there is a problem.
The problems of TCP are fairly well known in technical circles, but are difficult to address because TCP is one of those protocols that is implemented in nearly every operating system (OS), client, and server on the Internet. Coordinating a giant upgrade would be a very long process. Because BitTorrent publishes clients that talk mostly to each other (not to web servers), it has a unique opportunity to detect end-to-end congestion and implement a protocol that can detect problems very quickly and throttle back accordingly, so that BitTorrent doesn't slow down Internet connections and users don't notice any problems. This is its objective with uTP.
uTP, the micro transport protocol, is the result of a couple of years of work to try to make a BitTorrent protocol that works better on the Internet. This User Datagram Protocol (UDP)-based reliable transport is designed to minimize latency, but still maximize bandwidth when the latency is not excessive. BitTorrent can use this for communication between peers, instead of TCP, if both sides support it.
In addition, BitTorrent can use information from this transport, if active, to control the transfer rate of TCP connections. This means uTorrent, when using uTP, should not kill net connections - even if users do not set any rate limits. The switch to uTP is at this point purely experimental, but the design objective is to offer better congestion-control than TCP offers while maintaining at least the same level of performance (speed). BitTorrent may be able to offer faster speeds, too, in many circumstances.
This can be great news for users of the Internet and for Internet service providers (ISPs), as it should mean that people make far more efficient use of Internet bandwidth, but don't over-use it. While uTP is for now a proprietary BitTorrent protocol, the company is also co-chairing an IETF group to address these issues. Hopefully that will lead to solutions that can be standardized and broadly adopted in due course.
If uTP is successful, then Internet congestion due to the BitTorrent protocol could become a thing of the past. Of course, there are many other applications that use the Internet and they may also cause congestion, but BitTorrent can only control what it does.
Having said that, given studies indicating that BitTorrent traffic constitutes half of all traffic on the Internet, its new technology might have a profound impact. BitTorrent is trying to do its part to be a responsible citizen on the Internet.
SmoothIT - Incentive-Based Models for P2P Networks
Excerpted from Science Daily Report
The largest share of data traffic on the Internet is attributable to P2P networks, which are independent of defined Internet service providers (ISPs). A new project under the leadership of Burkhard Stiller from the University of Zurich now aims to develop economic incentive schemes with which providers can more efficiently adapt their networks to P2P use and therefore be able to offer cheaper and simultaneously better services.
Data traffic on the Internet doubles every 18 months. The weight of so much data is borne by networks of telecommunication companies and ISPs. They are orientated to a type of data traffic in which the end-user pays for services - and thus also the corresponding data traffic - from a central service provider.
However, most of the data traffic on the Internet - namely 80% - is now attributable to P2P applications. These are applications such as the download network BitTorrent, with which computers belonging to end-users exchange huge volumes of data between each other without the flow of data being steered by the central server of a service provider. With the increasing bandwidth of Internet connections, the significance of P2P applications is going to increase even more strongly.
The P2P networks overlay those network infrastructures made available and maintained by ISPs. This means for operators that the distribution of data and data flows on their networks is being defined more and more by applications of that kind, over which ISPs no longer have any direct influence. Therefore, a decisive question for ISPs is how, on one hand, they influence the structure of such overlay networks and, on the other hand, how they can adapt their own network better to them.
The Simple Economic Management Approaches of Overlay Traffic in Heterogeneous Internet Topologies (SmoothIT) project led by Professor Burkhard Stiller, Communication Systems, at the University of Zurich now aims to develop suitable mechanisms that will enable overlay networks to be structured in such a way that they are as efficient and thus as inexpensive as possible for users, overlay providers, and for ISPs.
In order to ensure the practicability in today's networks, ISPs and telecommunication providers are also taking part in this research project. The research department of Telefonica in Spain, the European research laboratory of DOCOMO in Germany, and the ISP PrimeTel in Cyprus, have formulated requirements of the solution to be developed from the point of view of industry.
"SmoothIT will enable ISPs to manage most of the P2P data traffic more precisely than in the past and to charge for it financially in an appropriate manner," said Burkhard Stiller. "This will mean that they will be able to plan their capacities more efficiently and inexpensively, and maximize their income for minimized data traffic." As the data traffic will also be more efficiently localized and transported over the right ISP data lines, users will also benefit simultaneously from more reliable and qualitatively improved services.
This program is being financed with 3 million Euros from the 7th Framework Program of the EU and is running until the end of 2010.
Ultramercial Launches Ultracelerator Wi-Fi Ad Server
Ultramercial announced this week the production and availability of its new Ultracelerator, a high-performance ad server and software package that is installed on-site at Wi-Fi locations.
"We designed this product to provide airports and hotels with our high CPM ad model, but without the latency and cost of constantly pulling that advertising from the Internet," said Jim Smith, Ultramercia's CTO. "We drop the ad-serving bandwidth to zero, while greatly enhancing the user experience."
Ultramercial has six years of experience marketing and serving its patented "attention-for-access" ad format, which asks users to engage with a 35 second full-screen interactive ad in exchange for premium content or services that would otherwise cost money.
The Ultracelerator comes pre-installed with Ultramercial's complete library of ads, and the software to integrate these ads into a hotspot's user experience.
"Users get an honest and clear value proposition from our ad model," said Ultramercial's Director of Ad Sales on the west coast, Janelle Amrhein.
"We've had phenomenal click-through rates with content sites like The Economist and ABC News, along with our free airtime minutes program with Virgin Mobile. Now, we're expanding to bring free Wi-Fi access to airports and hotels."
Ultramercial has already successfully powered Free-Fi's Wi-Fi access at both Denver International Airport and Oakland International Airport.
"The Ultracelerator is a 1U 19-inch rackmount server that brings the functionality of our CDN servers into a closed Wi-Fi environment," added Smith. "This unit offers users the choice between paying or engaging with the sponsor. A small percentage will want to pay, while the majority will choose the ad. Our partners are able to monetize the entire demand curve."
Could Consumers Own Their Internet Connections
Excerpted from CBC Report
What's the best way to ensure net neutrality? Tim Wu, the Columbia Law School professor and Toronto native who first coined the term, has a simple suggestion: customer ownership of Internet connections.
In a study released Thursday, Wu suggested an access model that would allow home owners to purchase high-speed connections rather than rent them from service providers.
Under the "homes with tails" model, customers would purchase a fiber-wire connection to their home that would provide speeds far in excess of what is generally available in North America today. The fiber would be connected to existing open-exchange buildings where a large number of telecommunications pipeline providers have equipment that forms the backbone of the Internet.
Customers could therefore bypass cable and telephone companies, which today provide the "last mile" of connection between the exchange and the home, to access the Internet and thereby video, voice, and other services.
The model would also result in significant monthly cost savings because customers would only have to pay service providers for the true price of their services and not for infrastructure investment, the report said. The majority of monthly Internet bills today are to help cable and phone companies recoup the costs of building their networks.
Derek Slater, a policy analyst at Google who co-authored the report with Wu, says the most important effect of fiber ownership would be that customers could pick their Internet connection from more than the two choices they currently have - typically a phone and a cable company.
That increased choice at the exchange level would guarantee net neutrality because if one provider started interfering with connections, customers could switch to one that did not, he says.
"Competition would ensure that consumers were in control of what they choose to use, access, and share without any undue interference," Slater said. "Competition would be a bulwark against interference by network operators."
The idea faces a number of obstacles, however, not the least of which is convincing consumers to change their mindset toward ownership rather than rental of their Internet connection.
That's not an intractable barrier, the report said, since precedents have been set. Computers, for example, were rented out to businesses before companies such as Apple introduced the idea of an owned personal computer.
"It will be strange to people at first, but the line between consumer property and businesses has changed over time," Slater said. "What may seem strange or challenging today may become much easier tomorrow or a few years from now."
Please click here for the full report.
Joost Adds Content Partners to Video Service
Excerpted from Xchange Magazine Report
Once heavily-hyped P2PTV service Joost announced that ten new content partners have joined the service in an effort to expand its programming well beyond traditional TV shows and films from major studios.
While 2007 was a busy year for Joost (it landed $45 million in funding and landed former Cisco Systems exec Mike Volpi), 2008 has been one of relative radio silence.
The new content partners include Animal Fair, Cheaters, Cool Hunting, Dark Moon Entertainment, Farmers' Almanac TV and Film Chest. Film@11, For Your Imagination, Generate, Rajshri Media and WebRides TV are the rest.
All of these content partners, with the exception of Film Chest, are making their content available to a global audience. Joost launched its Flash-based web video service in October. Late last month, it introduced a redesigned user interface.
All of the video on Joost is professionally produced and streams on-demand to people around the world for free in a high-quality format. Today, Joost has more than more than 400 television series and 1,200 movie and short film titles.
Sky and ITV Launch New Online Video Players
Excerpted from Informitv Report
British satellite broadcaster Sky and commercial network ITV have separately launched new online video players based on Microsoft Silverlight. While the BBC is backing Adobe with its iPlayer, Sky has relaunched its Sky Player and ITV has relaunched its own service, which it is rebranding ITV Player. Both use the latest version of Silverlight, Windows Media, and PlayReady encryption to support both Windows and Mac computers.
The new release of Sky Player for the first time allows broadband connected users in the United Kingdom and Ireland to subscribe to packages of Sky premium channels without the need for a set-top box.
Streams are provided in three different qualities, with bit-rates up to 1.8 Mbps. The higher quality streams are high resolution, comparable to standard definition television, but repeatedly rebuffered on our test broadband connection.
Sky offers its own broadband offering separately or bundled with its other subscription packages. The provision of its premium channels over broadband is perhaps the first step in an IPTV strategy. It has for some time offered premium channels to other operators such as Tiscali, but this is the first time they have been available separately, for a monthly subscription.
At around the same cost as a set-top box package, the online version is currently no substitute for the full television service, but it offers added value to existing subscribers.
Silverlight is used to provide an overlay electronic program guide similar to that on satellite. New Microsoft PlayReady content protection technology is used to deliver Windows Media encoded digital rights managed material to Silverlight clients on both Windows and Mac computers.
Existing Sky TV customers will still have access to the Sky Player in line with their television subscription, although Mac users will have to wait until next year for the large library of video on demand programming, including movies.
The new Sky Player is a slick redesign, with the video window implemented in Silverlight rather than using Windows Media Player. It includes a well-designed channel guide browser bar with program information, with a link to a comprehensive scrollable electronic program guide that is now better integrated into the Sky Player website. The navigation has been improved and the user interface is clean and tidy.
"Microsoft Silverlight and PlayReady allowed us to build and launch this innovative service quickly, easily and in a package that provides consumers with even more flexibility in how they engage with Sky content," said Griff Parry, director of on demand at BSkyB. "As technologies that can reliably enable the rich delivery of high-quality protected content to both Windows-based PCs and Macs, the use of Silverlight and PlayReady was key in helping us provide our customers with more choice and control over their viewing."
Programs and movies can still be downloaded through the Kontiki peer-assisted distribution manager for later offline viewing.
Future of Documentaries in Library of the Air
Excerpted in Seven Magazine Report by Jess Chandler
"Factual Entertainment" has emerged as the new configuration of the TV documentary genre, indicating the shift of the documentary along the spectrum of popular entertainment.
BAFTA award-winning documentary maker Molly Dineen's observation that documentary is "fast becoming soap opera to keep its place in the schedules" voices an opinion shared by many of her contemporaries.
The need for sensationalism, the continual dumbing down of factual content, and the institutional mentality of the industry are gradually spurning an alternative alliance of filmmakers who are turning to the Internet for funding and distribution.
The landscape of online distribution is rapidly evolving, both in scale and technological capability. With torrent file-sharing communities continually expanding, there is now little choice but to follow the trend and consider the possibilities opened up by the comparative freedom of online distribution.
As people increasingly attune their viewing habits to the flexibility of streaming, the opportunities for gaining large viewing numbers lie increasingly with Internet, not with television. The widest distribution is that available through what Albert Maysles describes as the "library of the air," where a documentary maker may hope to have his or her "masterwork readily viewed at little cost to any of millions punching into their computers."
Broadcast via the Internet is no longer associated with illegality and poor quality, but is a respectable faction of mainstream visual media distribution. These terrestrial channel portals are, of course, streaming material that has already been through the commissioning process; it is, in essence, still television. But the change being instigated is extremely important; it takes a reputable name to initiate a revolution.
P2PTV services like Babelgum and Joost are utilizing the possibilities of technology to expand the potential for independent broadcast. Babelgum markets itself as an independent web TV platform, combining "the full-screen video quality of traditional television with the interactive capabilities of the Internet." Its goal is "to act as an international 'glue', bringing a huge range of content to a global audience" with a particular focus on independent film.
Babelgum offers filmmakers a secure platform on which to distribute their programming worldwide, as well as providing business models by which they can "monetize their assets". Online distribution does not equate with cost-free viewing; financial issues are central to the success of these initiatives, particularly in the current financial climate.
There is something exciting about this kind of social epidemic; online documentary distribution makes audiences feel involved and allows everyone to participate in the communication of issues that matter. The documentary film will always be a political force and the self-initiating nature of online distribution holds great appeal.
Viewers are transformed from passive voyeurs, soaking up whatever information is placed before them, to active seekers and spreaders of information - promoters of and campaigners for real matters of social interest and concern.
Please click here for the full report.
Colleges Explore Student Music Tax
Excerpted from Online Examiner Report by Wendy Davis
Should colleges pay a fee to the record labels for students to have access to unlimited music? That idea has been floated for a while, as has the concept of a broader ISP-level "music tax."
Now, it looks as if proponents of the idea are making a more serious push. TechDirt reports that some colleges, including Columbia, Stanford, and MIT, have been in talks about the prospect of paying a licensing fee in exchange for a promise that students won't be sued for file sharing, among other things.
The schools were shown an eight-slide presentation outlining this proposal, which includes a provision stating that students would be able to "access and use music any way they want to through the campus net," without being subject to lawsuits.
Warner Music's name appears in the presentation, but the label says it had nothing to do with creating the slides that are now making the rounds.
Nonetheless, Warner is exploring alternatives to its current approach - which so far has involved an endless stream of lawsuits against individual web users. Jim Griffin, hired by Warner in March to develop a fee-for-access plan, says the company is "actively engaged with universities and other parties to seek a constructive resolution to a complex issue - how to assure artists appropriate compensation while enabling the widespread dissemination of their work among fans."
He adds that Warner is trying to "develop new voluntary business models that seek something other than - and we believe, better than - a litigation-based approach."
Clearly, there are better ideas than the current RIAA litigation campaign, which has disrupted the lives of thousands of unlucky people, extracting thousands of dollars from those who have settled, and embroiling others in potentially ruinous lawsuits. What's more, in the five years that the record industry has been suing individuals, losses have continued to mount, while there's no sign that file sharing has abated.
Still, it's not certain whether colleges or students will think that a licensing fee approach is workable. Some undoubtedly will view the proposal as an attempt to shake colleges down. But, in some ways, lawmakers might have paved the way for this idea. Last summer, Congress passed legislation requiring colleges that receive federal financial aid to develop plans to combat copyright infringement. It seems plausible that at least some colleges will decide it would be cheaper and easier to simply pay the record companies one upfront fee.
RIAA Sues Hospitalized Teen
Excerpted from Prefix Magazine Report by Matthew Richardson
19 year-old Ciara Sauro has pancreatitis and must be hospitalized every week because she needs an islet cell transplant. On top of the mounting medical bills her family is already dealing with, Sauro is facing a possible $8,000 fine because the RIAA is accusing her of sharing ten unlicensed songs.
Sauro spoke to Pittsburgh news channel WTAE, saying, "I already have severe depression. I mean it's so hard to sit there and think that I have to get in trouble for something that I didn't do. It's not fair."
In a separate case, Harvard Law Professor Charlie Nesson is defending graduate student Joel Tenenbaum in the RIAA's lawsuit against him, accusing Tenenbaum of sharing seven unlicensed songs.
Nesson and Tenenbaum have also filed a counterclaim, essentially claiming that the RIAA's activities and the 1999 law that supports them are unconstitutional, forcing the federal government to be the RIAA's collection agency. This analogy from Nesson probably explains it best:
"First you need to imagine a private police force which is financing itself by passing out speeding tickets, and has gotten the license from the legislature to pass out tickets to speeders for 750 dollars for every mile they go over 60, but if they're speeding willfully, 150,000 dollars for every mile over 60. And they can lay these tickets on as many people as they can find with absolutely no limit, using some Internet search to find them by the thousands. And they can then force them to submit to federal civil process which amounts to three years of litigation, an avalanche of papers, a torrent of abuse, and at the end of that, hold it over their heads the threat that they might actually lose at the end, and suffer a bankrupting judgment."
You can listen to an interview with Tenenbaum and Nesson here.
Grokster Unplugged: Time to Legalize P2P
Excerpted from Bentley College Report by John Hayward
Although the US Supreme Court in 2005 held that providers of P2P file-sharing software could be liable for contributory copyright infringement, millions of people continue to download unlicensed music and movies in spite of the threat of litigation from the RIAA.
Professor Hayward's paper argues that the entertainment industry has never been in the forefront of technological innovation, while copyright laws prohibiting P2P are regarded as lacking legitimacy, much like Prohibition in the 1920's and speeding and public morality laws today.
Since enforcement of the law is leading to invasions of privacy, the stifling of technological innovation, and the criminalization of otherwise law-abiding citizens, the time has come to legalize P2P as some countries have done.
Please click here for the full report.
Coming Events of Interest
Digital Family Reunion - December 11th from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM in Los Angeles, CA, DFR is bringing the technology and business communities together for the holidays at the Skirball Cultural Center. In affiliation with top trade associations and social networking groups, the DFR is throwing the holiday party of the millennium.
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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