July 11, 2011
Volume XXXV, Issue 10
BitTorrent Turns Ten
Excerpted from The Vancourver Sun Report by Matt Hartley
It happened completely by accident, but somewhere along the line, Bram Cohen became cool.
"It's funny, when I first started working on BitTorrent, what I did was crazy," Mr. Cohen, who serves as chief scientist at BitTorrent Inc., said in a telephone interview from his San Francisco, CA office this week.
"I said, I'm going to go and work on this thing and I'm going to live off of credit cards and have no plan, no business model, no nothing. Somehow I became cool. I'm not cool. I'm inherently uncool, but somehow the way I've lived my life is now considered very cool and the thing to do is to be an entrepreneur."
Mr. Cohen had no idea any of that would happen when he released the first version of the file-sharing technology known as BitTorrent exactly 10 years ago. "This thing," as he calls it, is now a technology that moves more data around the Internet than almost any other, one which ushered in a new era of video on the web and touched off a series of heated debates over issues of copyright and network neutrality in the digital age.
But while his all-or-nothing approach to building the business may be lore around Silicon Valley, his celebrity doesn't extend beyond the California technology community.
The name of the protocol, "BitTorrent," is a household name for most people under 40, usually in connection with online file sharing. Yet what many fail to realize is that there's a company behind the technology, BitTorrent Inc., which was founded in 2004 to monetize the service.
Despite a massive global user base of more than 100 million, BitTorrent is still trying to establish itself as a leader in digital content delivery in a world dominated by new entrants, such as Netflix and the Hulu service.
BitTorrent is an example of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, which means that instead of downloading a file from a single source like iTunes, users download fragmented files from other users.
In the case of BitTorrent, by downloading parts of the same file from several - sometimes thousands - of different users at the same time, a full length movie can be obtained in a matter of minutes with a high-speed Internet connection.
BitTorrent software is free to download and many versions of the software are open source. The company itself generates revenue through advertising, search inventory syndication, and by licensing its own version of the protocol to consumer electronics companies, which can then embed the technology in everything from televisions to smart-phones.
BitTorrent's chief executive, Eric Klinker, said in an interview, "People see BitTorrent as a good way of moving their own media around - videos they might shoot with an iPhone, for example."
There are a number of companies that use BitTorrent to distribute large files, including Facebook, Twitter, and even videogame maker ActivisionBlizzard, which uses a version of the technology to distribute software updates for the popular online videogame "World of Warcraft."
However, the perceived connection to copyright issues has led to Mr. Cohen being cast as a patron saint of copyright reform in some circles, a mantle he is decidedly uncomfortable with.
"I kind of view copyright as this fight I didn't ask to be in," said Mr. Cohen, who has never used BitTorrent to download a copyright-infringing file himself.
"People expect me to be some kind of copyright crusader or something, and I'm not. I'm a technologist. I build technology and I've been sucked into this, which on some level I don't really care about all that much."
BitTorrent accounts for about 21.6% of North American Internet traffic, and 94% of all P2P traffic, according to data from Sandvine.
In fact, only Netflix accounts for more online traffic in North America, and the online streaming giant only recently surpassed BitTorrent to become the dominant video provider on the web.
Still, according to Lee Brooks, Product Marketing Manager for Sandvine, the fact that BitTorrent's traffic has remained steady despite the rise of on-demand streaming applications such as Netflix shows that the technology has a dedicated user base and is here to stay.
"Globally, BitTorrent now is unquestionably dominant," he said.
Internet-Connected TV Soars, Clicks with Mainstream Audience
Excerpted from Media Daily News Report by Wayne Friedman
Internet-connected television sets have been growing fast, and by the end of the year - for the first time - there will be more connected TVs than videogame consoles.
By the end of 2011, some 52 million connected TV sets will be sold globally - from Samsung, LG, and Sony versus 37 million game consoles in the market from Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony - Xbox, PlayStation, and Wii respectively. This is according to UK-based Informa Telecoms & Media.
"Until now, many online video services were launched primarily with the game console in mind, mainly because console users innately understand how to connect these devices and demand interactive video services from them," stated Andrew Ladbrook, Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.
He said this trend is changing as "connected TVs bring these services to a mainstream audience."
Informa projects that in five years - 2016 - there will be 1.8 billion in-home video devices - including tablets - that will be sold, an 800% increase. That means 70% of all in-home video devices sold will be able to connect to the Internet.
But connected TVs might have to undergo a change by then. Informa says new TV set makers will need to build and support platforms that works across both the latest and legacy video devices.
Which company could lose out here? Informa says Apple could lose ground in the connected TV space if it does not launch a dedicated Internet-enabled TV instead of relying upon a stand-alone box to stream video.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 As predicted here two weeks ago, on behalf of major content rights holders, several leading US Internet service providers (ISPs) plan to voluntarily implement a graduated-response program targeting alleged online copyright infringement of popular entertainment.
This new scheme, expected to launch next year, will be based on Copyright Alerts.
As we stated, the DCIA believes that, while well intended and potentially useful within the context of a larger commercial framework, endeavors of this type exemplify two classic errors in strategy: "putting the cart before the horse" and emphasizing "the stick" in the absence of a truly viable "carrot."
It would be much more effective to pursue advanced technological solutions - led by state-of-the-art filtering systems - and, above all - new business models - than to launch a new enforcement regime such as this in their absence.
There have been very promising developments of relevance here over the past several years both technologically and commercially, and the DCIA would be glad to bring Internet-based software developers to the table with content rights holders and ISPs to engage in a meaningful collaborative process.
A new warning-and-penalty mechanism, as thoughtful as this one may be, but which is not part of a system of robust new business solutions that will be widely adopted by consumers, is doomed to fail.
Primarily, what was missing from the mix in developing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) upon which this new program is to be based, was the participation of Internet-based software developers.
The DCIA, from our inception, has understood that three sectors need to collaborate in order for there to be substantive progress on these major issues: broadband network operators, content rights holders, and software developers. Two-out-of-three categories just aren't enough.
In any case, the new scheme of graduated "Copyright Alerts" intends to offer consumers advance warning and educational opportunities before extreme penalties are implemented. It will replace the current practice of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) violation notices being sent to ISPs, which then forward them to account holders.
Data used to target accused infringing file sharers has been shown not to be consistently reliable, especially with respect to intra-ISP traffic; and, particularly in the absence of reasonable due process, the legality of the whole regime likely will be subject to class-action challenges.
In addition, sophisticated sharers increasingly use anonymizers, virtual private networks (VPNs), HTTP streaming, and one-click download services; and most file-sharing programs already provide randomized encryption by default and will therefore be undetected. Although the system won't have much of an effect on curtailing infringement, unfortunately it will have multiple negative consequences for broadband network operators and consumers.
Here's how it will work. The entertainment companies will continue to hire entities to monitor web traffic, and if they notice what appears to be infringing content being downloaded, the related Internet protocol (IP) address will be identified and matched to its ISP, which will be sent an e-mail.
The agreement to which the ISPs have agreed commits them to alert subscribers. It does not, however, commit them to turning over actual subscriber information without a court order. Following is a summary of the "Copyright Alerts" that broadband subscribers can expect to receive:
First Alert: In response to a notice from a copyright owner, an ISP will send an online alert, such as an e-mail, notifying the subscriber that his/her account may have been misused for copyright infringement, which is unlawful and in violation of subscription policies. It will direct the subscriber to educational material that will (a) help him/her check the security of his/her computer and WiFi network, (b) provide explanatory steps for avoiding copyright infringement, and (c) list alternative sources for licensed music, film, and TV content.
Second Alert: If the alleged activity persists, the subscriber may get a second similar alert that will underscore the educational messages, or the ISP may in its discretion skip this second alert and proceed to the third.
Third Alert: If the subscriber's account again appears to copyright owners to have been abused for infringement, he/she will receive another alert, much like the initial alerts. However, this alert will provide a conspicuous mechanism (a click-through pop-up notice, landing page, or similar item) asking the subscriber to acknowledge receipt. This is designed to ensure that the subscriber is aware of the third copyright alert, and will remind the subscriber that copyright infringement conducted through his/her account could lead to consequences under the law and published policies.
Fourth Alert: If the subscriber's account again appears to copyright owners to have been misused for copyright infringement, the subscriber will receive another alert that will again require the subscriber to acknowledge receipt.
Fifth Alert: If the subscriber's account again appears to copyright owners to have been abused for copyright infringement, the ISP will send another alert. At this time, the ISP may take one of several steps, specified in its published policies, reasonably calculated to stop future copyright infringement. These steps, referred to as "Mitigation Measures," may include temporary reductions of Internet speeds, redirection to a landing page until the subscriber contacts the ISP to discuss the matter or reviews and responds to educational information about copyright, or other measures that the ISP may deem necessary to help resolve the matter. ISPs are not obligated to impose any Mitigation Measure which would disable or be reasonably likely to disable the subscriber's voice telephone service (including the ability to call 911), e-mail account, or any security or health service (such as home security or medical monitoring). The use of the Mitigation measure is waivable by the ISP at this point.
Sixth Alert: Whether or not the ISP has previously waived using a Mitigation Measure, if the subscriber's account again appears to copyright owners to have been misused for copyright infringement, the ISP will send another alert and will implement a Mitigation Measure as described above.
Account holders may request an independent review at any time upon payment of a $35 processing fee (that can be waived) to challenge the validity of the accusation that's been made against them by entertainment content rights holders. They will also be able to demand evidence that the account in question is actually theirs and has not been identified as such in error.
The Obama administration has backed this scheme, publishing a message of support on its official White House Blog. "To win the future and succeed in the global economy, it is critical to protect the intellectual property (IP) of America's innovators and creators," wrote Victoria Espinel, US IP Enforcement Coordinator.
While we want to agree with Randal Milch, EVP and General Counsel of Verizon, that in terms of an enforcement regime per se, "this is a sensible approach and, importantly, one that respects the privacy and rights of subscribers" and "will set a reasonable standard for both copyright owners and ISPs to follow," we also agree with the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) Corynne McSherry, who said, "It would be more valuable for the White House, ISPs, and Hollywood if they found better ways to getting artists paid instead of focusing on punishment."
An excellent way to do that will be to involve Internet-based software developers in the process. Share wisely, and take care.
BitTorrent Download Speeds Are About to Get a Lot Faster
Excerpted from Business Insider Report by Dylan Love
A team working out of Delft University of Technology has invented what they're calling the Superior Seeding Standard.
It rewards BitTorrent users who put the most effort into sharing, an important part of BitTorrent culture, by allowing them faster download speeds.
Compare this to other BitTorrent trackers that allow the same download speeds for everyone, regardless of if they share or not.
The Superior Seeding Standard will be baked into Tribler, the research team's own BitTorrent client. If it catches on and more people start to share, it could become much easier to track down those hard-to-find files you've always wanted.
Virtustream Capitalizes on xStream Cloud with $10 Million Round
Virtustream, a leading provider of cloud services and next generation infrastructure solutions, announced additional funding, raising $10 million of Series B round financing to complement the company's previous Series A round for a total of $59 million in equity capital raised to date.
Virtustream's Series B funding comes from existing investors: Intel Capital, Columbia Capital, Noro-Moseley Partners, and TDFunds, and supports strategic company initiatives as Virtustream enhances its cloud offerings.
"Since our launch and initial funding in January 2009, we have been heads down in the effort to deliver critical, first-to-market enterprise cloud technologies," said Rodney Rogers, Chairman and CEO, Virtustream.
"We believe we have accomplished this with our xStream IaaS platform and its unique 'Infrastructure Unit' consumption-based provisioning architecture. We have experienced great traction to date with our customers and felt now was the right time to invest further in our products, our markets, and in our brand awareness."
Virtustream will use the proceeds from this new capital raise to invest in a number of key areas. The firm will productize its internal cloud provisioning platform, xStream, into a distributable end "cloud O/S" software product. This will allow customers to purchase the xStream software to place atop their own infrastructure assets to gain the unique efficiencies of xStream's infrastructure provisioning architecture.
It will also allow Virtustream to be a channel partner for service providers such as telecommunications carriers and systems integrators to facilitate the development of their cloud solutions.
Virtustream will also invest resources in the branding, marketing and advertising of its products and services, and in expanding its market presence in San Francisco and London. Finally, Virtustream will invest in growing its Cloud Advisory Services group, which supports enterprise clientele in a consultative manner to help them determine optimal cloud adoption and migration strategies.
Smart TV Platform Flingo Comes Out of Stealth to Merge TV and Web
Excerpted from TechCrunch Report by Alexia Tsotsis
Founded in 2008 by former BitTorrent employees Ashwin Navin and David Harrison, Flingo has slowly been building its smart TV app publishing empire for two years and the platform finally unveils itself this week with some hefty partnerships.
Co-founder Navin likens the core synchronization tech behind Flingo to an IntoNow for your television set, but it really is much more than that with its unprecedented technology and features enabling greater engagement between viewers, their television sets and the web.
People who want to use Flingo and don't already have it on their television sets can either buy a new Smart TV, a Flingo-enabled BlueRay player or a streaming box like a Roku. Because the co-founders have been steadily working on this for two years, the technology is already available in over half the televisions sold.
And the company has managed to hook up with TV hardware companies like Samsung, LG, Vizio Insignia, and Western Digital, which means it's already on 5.7 million screens in 117 countries.
The ultimate objective of Flingo is to merge TV and the web, allowing media partners like Fox, Showtime and Etsy and 65 others to build apps that integrate both. In addition Flingo has built its own apps on top of its platform and its Hovercraft content detection algorithm allows for all sorts of increased user interaction. "A colloquial gloss on every show" is how Navin describes it, "I think what we've done with smart TVs is adding a layer of intelligence."
Coming this August from Flingo are Hovercraft apps that overlay a Tweet stream, add a Facebook "Like" button and overlay TV reviews onto TV shows.
Along with these apps, the Flingo platform offers a feature called Fling, which allows users to "fling" or push content from their browser into their television screens and mobile phones by using the Fling bookmarklet. Users can also use the bookmarklet to share content on Twitter and onto Facebook.
While Flingo's inhouse offerings are impressive, the company hopes that developers will take the Flingo ball and run with it like Utiva did with its "What's On" app, "We're excited to see what development will take place. It's difficult to say how developers will come up with stuff."
Navin says that the company plans on monetizing through advertising revenue share (consumers pay nothing extra) and is excited about the prospects of merging the economics of the web app business (a $40 billion dollar industry internationally) with television (a $70 billion dollar industry worldwide).
Navin is also excited about the greater potential for targeted ads that Flingo allows, "Now Coke can sponsor a poll on American Idol, which is not only a new feature, but a new revenue opportunity," he says.
P2P Music Service Spotify Aims for US Launch This Week
Excerpted from Wall Street Journal Report by Ethan Smith
Spotify AB has told record label executives that it is aiming to launch its music-streaming service in the US as early as the middle of this week, according to people familiar with the matter.
Spotify, headquartered in London with major operations in Sweden, gained an avid following in Europe by letting people listen to a large catalog of digital music on their computers free.
The company's advertising-sales revenues proved insufficient to support an unlimited free service, and Spotify recently set a limit of 10 hours per month of free music. After that, people must pay to use the service, either on their computers or on mobile phones.
As of Friday, Spotify had agreements in place that would let it offer US users music from three of the four major label groups: Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, Sony Corp.'s Sony Music and EMI Group Ltd.
The fourth, Warner Music Group Corp., has taken longer to reach an agreement. But people familiar with the matter said a deal appeared likely to be completed by early next week. Other people in the music industry said they've been told that if Spotify and Warner don't reach a deal, the launch could be delayed.
Spotify's Premium subscription in the U.K. costs $16 a month and allows users to play an unlimited amount of music, without advertising, on a computer or cell-phone. Spotify Unlimited costs $8 a month to play tracks through a computer, with no time limit.
Spotify hasn't disclosed specifics on how a US product would work, but people in the music industry expect it to be similar to the way it now works in Europe.
Spotify in March said it had 1 million paying users in Europe. Previous to that the company said it had 10 million users total.
A US launch would cap months of speculation and delays, as the company has repeatedly set and missed launch dates as it failed to secure the rights to major-label music catalogs. People familiar with the talks said the major label groups were concerned that Spotify's original business model in Europe didn't generate enough income. Record labels welcomed the recent change in terms.
Still, it's unclear whether Spotify will be able to build the kind of buzz here that it had in Europe. Google Inc., Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. all have announced or started online music services of their own in recent months, potentially stealing Spotify's thunder.
Panasonic's Cloud-Based Viera Connect TV Is Opening to Developers
Excerpted from The Hollywood Reporter Report
Panasonic is opening up its Viera Connect cloud-based TV service for developers to create IPTV applications for the worldwide platform outside Japan.
"Because of the popularity of Actvila in Japan - the country's leading IPTV portal, launched in 2007 - the Viera Connect platform isn't being released in the domestic market," a Panasonic spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Actvila is operated by a consortium of major Japanese TV manufacturers, consisting of Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Sharp, and Hitachi.
The Viera Connect Developers website allows application developers and media companies to create services including games, social network platforms, video, music and other content to be delivered through Viera HD TVs. The Viera Connect service was launched globally in April and already offers video-on-demand, games and multi-media contents; the new website is designed to make the service more accessible to developers.
The cloud-based system means that applications don't need to be downloaded to TV hard drives. According to Panasonic, the quick start-up and response times of the platform, along with the high-definition picture quality, will provide the opportunity to deliver a wide range of services and applications through Viera Connect.
The service is currently available in more than 100 countries.
Dell Says There's Increased Efficiency, Responsiveness with the Cloud
Excerpted from TMCNet Report by Ed Silverstein
There is growing enthusiasm for cloud computing and Dell continues to play an important role as it evolves.
During a recent interview with TMC CEO Rich Tehrani Barton George, Dell's cloud computing evangelist, said that Dell fills two key "buckets" when it comes to cloud computing. It builds out cloud solutions for customers and delivers real business value. And it offers cloud-based solutions.
"You can build them out yourself and we can help you do them," George said during the interview which took place at Cloud Expo 2011 in New York. "Or, you can gain access from services and solutions from the cloud. And we offer both of those."
Even with the advances in cloud computing, George says there is still an issue in the field that is summed up with the question, "What the heck is cloud computing?"
Given the enthusiasm for cloud computing, many vendors have been renaming things "cloud this" and "cloud that," George explains.
In addition, IT staff tells CIOs that they have been running "cloud" for years in data centers, George adds.
In turn, the excitement over the cloud has led to some confusion.
"We're trying to cut through that and talk about the real business benefit that cloud delivers in the way of becoming more efficient and at the same time driving greater responsiveness to business - which I see as the two biggest values," George said.
The bigger companies measure these factors in a metric known as PUE, which is a ratio of how much energy goes into the data center versus how much energy a business is losing along the way, George said. The closer that ratio gets to 1:1, the better, he adds.
In addition, George said that market size is growing.
"I think we have a slightly different positioning at Dell," George said. "We've been at it for a little bit longer. So we started out actually about four years ago with a data center solutions group and the group there is targeted to the biggest of the big." Examples are Facebook, Microsoft Azure and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.
"We worked with these giant companies to build out custom systems for them so they could build their clouds on top of them," George said. "The architecture they have is very different than the traditional enterprise."
More recently, Dell has been building derivative systems for organizations that are slightly smaller than the biggest of the big, George said.
Dell is also partnering with software vendors.
"What's different between us and some of our competitors is that these solutions are not welded shut. They are not proprietary. Our solutions are open, capable and affordable," George said. "It's not just a proprietary solution that you have to take lock, stock, and barrel."
Seven Things to Know about Your Future TV
Excerpted from Light Reading Report by Vraig Matsumoto
The connected TV is on the verge of a lot of great things, according to speakers at this week's Connections, a conference series put on by Parks Associates . But a lot of potential remains several steps away, as consumers get more acclimated to technology and as operators find more ways to exploit the cloud.
Here's what we took away from some of the Connections panels.
1. The cloud is coming home.
The suggestion came up that a box could send video traffic around the home network, using the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) standard. But the other participants thought most development in this area was going to be cloud-based. "The problem today is that the platforms don't really have the memory space, and the consumer experience becomes a wait for the ad to pop up," said Russ Shafer, head of marketing for Yahoo's Connected TV.
2. But not any time soon.
"The infrastructure required to put everything in the cloud is humongous," said Paddy Rao, vice president of products for Sling. He knows that because he's been watching EchoStar Corp, Sling's new corporate overlord, put content up on the cloud. So, while the idea is nice, it's still expensive, and it's unclear how long it would take to recoup that money.
3. Free samples work.
Bismarck Lepe, a founder of Ooyala, described his company's experiment with trying to get people to pay for video. Ooyala used a range of prices and, maybe more importantly, a range of time spans for a free preview window, from 30 seconds up to nine minutes.
A couple of arbitrary data points: When the preview window was stretched to three minutes, rather than two, revenues doubled. Likewise, when the price shrank to 49 cents from 99 cents, revenues doubled again.
4. People still love their broadcast TV.
Ammo for those who don't believe in cord-cutting: 93 percent of the people in an Ericsson study were found to still watch broadcast TV. "So, this idea of cord-cutting is incorrect," said David Price, an Ericsson Vice President of Business Development (who was representing the MPEG Industry Forum on one panel).
Well, that's one opinion.
5. Moore's Law is going unused.
The processing power in the set-top box (STB) is always going up, but "we're not using it," said Jaime Fink, Senior Vice President of Technology for Pace. Part of it is because a lot of the work is happening in the network rather than the box. There's also the fact that set-top boxes don't have armies of app developers the way smart-phones do.
6. The user interface counts for a lot.
It's the main reason why Netflix has caught on with online consumers, said Jim Funk, a Vice President with Roku. "People really like the experience," he said. "Although the numbers are pretty small, they're growing."
On a separate panel, the same point was made by Edgar Villalpando, Senior Vice President of Marketing for ActiveVideo Networks. "The reason Netflix is successful isn't their library of content. It's good, but it's not because of that. It's because they have really good navigation," he said. He added that better navigation - abilities that go beyond the remote control - is what most operators are asking for. (See points 1 and 2.)
But:
7. You won't have to wave at your TV.
At least Peter Schwartz, Senior Director of Product Management for Vizio, thinks you won't. His company has been looking at Microsoft Kinect, which reads body movements, to see if it's an option for replacing the remote control. He didn't sound convinced.
What's more likely, and more obvious, is that the flood of interest in smart-phones and tablets will turn those devices into remote-control options. "There'll be a lot of innovation in interfaces using portable devices," said Roku's Funk.
Amazon Invests Big in Big Data Start-Up
Excerpted from GigaOM Report by Derrick Harris
Amazon.com is making what appears to be a big investment in analytic database start-up ParAccel. ParAccel announced the close of a Series E round led by Amazon, along with existing investors Menlo Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Bay Partners, Walden International, Tao Venture Capital Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank.
However, ParAccel CEO Chuck Berger said that ParAccel has now raised $73 million since 2005. The company hasn't disclosed total funding for its last two rounds, but it had raised upward of $50 million as of its Series C round in 2009. That $22 million round followed a $20 million Series B round in 2007.
ParAccel makes a columnar (as opposed to the traditional row-based model for relational databases) database designed for fast analysis of large amounts of information. It's similar in nature to those from Vertica, Greenplum, Netezza and Aster Data, all of which were recently acquired to fill big data holes within HP, EMC, IBM, and Microsoft respectively. We profiled ParAccel in March after the acquisition frenzy died down.
Berger wouldn't comment further on the relationship between ParAccel and new investor Amazon, except to say that Amazon sees significant value in what ParAccel does. What that means is anybody's guess, but between its retail business and its Amazon Web Services cloud computing business, there are plenty of opportunities for Amazon to run and find value in an advanced analytic technology like ParAccel.
Berger said his company has been growing like mad, especially in terms of revenue. In March, he cited between 30 and 40 customers, and this week, he told me ParAccel expects to have almost $20 million in revenue this year compared with between $4 million and $5 million last year.
Facebook Will Build More Data Centers
Excerpted from GigaOM Report by Colleen Taylor
If you think people are over-sharing on the Internet today, brace yourself. According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, we haven't seen anything yet. As the sharing booms, so will the online data. In order to make sense of that data, one would need a lot more computational power. And Facebook plans to build more of its own data centers to deal with the coming data boom.
The amount of data people share on Facebook has grown at an exponential rate since the site began in 2004, Zuckerberg said during a press event at Facebook headquarters Wednesday morning. According to him, the amount of stuff any given Facebook user shares today is about twice the amount of stuff they shared on this date a year ago. A year from today, they will be sharing twice as much as they are now. And so on.
"That kind of exponential growth is really profound," Zuckerberg said. Indeed: Einstein supposedly called the exponential function of compounding interest "the most powerful force in the universe." As time goes on, things that grow exponentially really add up - and Facebook is no exception.
And Facebook plans to build more bespoke data centers to keep up with that data growth. "We're definitely on this trend now where it makes sense for us given the scale of usage and the information flowing through the network where we're probably going to be building our own data centers, rather than leasing," Zuckerberg said. He didn't disclose any more details on Facebook's data center plans.
It's worth mentioning that Facebook's Technical Operations VP Jonathan Heliger, who was the driving force behind opening the Facebook's first custom data center in April 2011, is set to leave the company by summer's end. Taking his place will be Jay Parikh, who has been an engineering director with Facebook since 2009. Judging from the kind of data growth
Zuckerberg is projecting, Parikh and the rest of Facebook's infrastructure team is in for a busy few years - and beyond.
Disruptive Tech Leaders in Cloud Computing & Social Business
Excerpted from Constellation Research Report by Ray Wang
Here's an on-going series of interviews with the people behind the technologies in Cloud Computing and Social Business. The interviews should provide insightful points of view from a customer, industry, and vendor perspective.
The transcript of the 30 minute Q&A's will follow a common format:
Tell me in 2 minutes or less why Cloud Computing is changing the world for your customers. What makes cloud computing disruptive? What is the next big thing in Cloud Computing? What are you doing that's disruptive for Cloud Computing? Where do you see technology convergence with Cloud? If you weren't focused on Cloud Computing what other disruptive technology would you have pursued? What's your favorite science fiction gadget of all time?
Safe in the Cloud
Excerpted from Bangkok Post Report
Modern life is becoming more inseparable from cloud computing, the most obvious example of this being the widespread acceptance of social networks. The needs of individuals and businesses for online applications and services have catalyzed growth.
True Corp., which is seeing growing demand for its True Internet Data Center, is among the businesses that believe cloud computing will become a core business in the near future.
According to research data from 2010, the worldwide cloud market was worth $37.8 billion last year and is forecast to reach $121.1 billion in 2015.
The continual growth of the cloud market is related to the explosive development of the "end products" that more than one billion users have been accumulated since the beginning of the internet's rapid growth phase from 1999 through 2010. With universal mobile device usage, the number of Internet users could exceed the global population, reaching 10 billion by 2020, assuming many people have both fixed and mobile access. With industry needs and promotion by governments promotion, cloud computing has truly entered a new growth stage.
The good prospects for the cloud market are attracting investment from many different sources. Everyone acknowledges that using cloud computing will make data transmission faster and easier to manage. However, concern about security casts a shadow on the cloud's originally bright future. Information security is thus an extremely important cornerstone in the development of cloud computing.
Three years ago, Trend Micro became the first mover in cloud technology by starting R&D related to online services and applications. Almost half of the company's R&D staff have had experience in cloud-related software development, a much larger ratio than in other companies.
Cloud isn't a result, but rather a journey. All industries are moving in the direction of the cloud, and they will need strong security partners along the road from the physical server to the virtual server to the cloud platform.
Global consultancy IDC recently released a report on server security products, which it defined as a consistent program that includes malware protection, desktop firewalls, host intrusion detection, and other precautionary safeguards to protect the server. This category also covers specialized protection for virtual server products.
With the continued integration of data centers, in addition to virtualization, and the rise in usage of cloud applications, more and more computing performance is taking place in the data center and server. Regardless of whether the server is physical or virtual, and regardless of whether the information is being stored in an industry data center or in the cloud, the most important thing is that this data is guarded by the best information security protection.
According to a 2010 research report by Goldman Sachs, network architecture is moving from "fat edge, thin core" toward "fat core, thin edge" development. This change, brought on by the cloud, has clearly affected the four directions of development in the IT industry: virtualization, data-focused protection, 3G network net devices, and cloud application.
These four areas cannot be independent, but are inseparable in cloud security. For instance, if one is using a virtual server from a public cloud, one must consider the virtual server access right, and server integrity, as well as data protection.
In a cloud application, such as Salesforce.com, customers need to be able to track cloud application security, as well as their own data security. In the consumer market, when using mobile devices to access cloud applications, such as social networking or the Web, applications exist to provide users with both net device security and cloud application security.
In integrating all four areas into one, the Hybrid Cloud Management Security program allows users to get the whole view of their security posture - physical, virtual, and cloud.
NZ Cloud Computing Group to Develop Code of Conduct
Excerpted from QAS Report
As cloud computing gains popularity, it is likely that a multi-sector working group will be formed to develop and maintain a "code of conduct" for the technology. According to Computer World, this group will involve a number of cloud providers, as well as the New Zealand Computer Society and InternetNZ.
Speaking to the news provider, privacy commissioner Marie Shroff, who is likely to be a focal point of the group, said that the idea may only be a proposal at this stage, but it is a "firm" one.
The planned move follows a report by the Privacy Commissioner's office which was released earlier this year and found that over half of respondents disclose personal information to overseas organizations for their use.
A recent survey by Symantec highlighted that security is a top concern for New Zealand-based businesses. Cyber attacks and data loss were among the firms' questioned biggest concerns.
Cloud Will Be Main Platform by 2014, Say EU IT Leaders
Excerpted from Reseller News Report
The majority of chief information officers across Europe believe the cloud will provide their main IT operating channel by 2014, according to research.
While few businesses said they have company-wide implementations of cloud computing to date (16%), many enterprises believe the cloud will be their most significant IT operating method by 2014 (60%).
Communications provider Colt commissioned research among 500 CIOs in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and the Benelux region, with 100 CIOs from the UK taking part.
The findings from the research also reveal the key challenges for cloud adoption as companies look to take advantage of the scalable resource planning the cloud can offer.
The research found that 58% of respondents reported ease of transition as the key challenge for cloud adoption, while quality assurance (55%), cost justification (55%), and regulation on security and control of customer data (54%) were also key challenges.
"While the absolute deployment of cloud services is very difficult to establish, the trend is clear," said Mark Leonard, Executive Vice President responsible for the CIO office at Colt.
"Companies are evaluating and deploying cloud services at a higher rate year-on-year, driven by the need to be more agile and responsive in today's business climate."
Security is a particular issue for companies in the UK and Germany, with 74 and 70% of IT decision makers respectively expressing their concerns about this area of cloud computing.
Supplier lock-in (46%) and geographic location of the cloud supplier (31%) are also prominent issues for CIOs, said Colt. Private clouds are popular as an option in Spain (58%), Germany (57%), and the UK (56%).
Private clouds are seen as overcoming security concerns, while at the same time they can be less scalable and more expensive to run.
ISE Launches Cloud Computing Index Fund
The International Securities Exchange (ISE) this week announced that First Trust Advisors LP has launched the First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund, the first ETF that tracks companies actively involved in the emerging cloud computing industry.
The First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund is based on the ISE Cloud Computing Index (CPQ), a new benchmark for this growth sector that includes companies that are direct service providers for the "cloud," firms that provide goods and services in support of the cloud computing space, and technology conglomerates whose business model uses or supports cloud computing technology. SKYY began trading today on The NASDAQ Stock Market.
"The ISE Cloud Computing Index reflects the evolution of technology infrastructure and provides new and dynamic opportunities for investors," said Kris Monaco, Head of New Product Development at ISE. "We are very pleased to partner again with First Trust to launch this unique exchange-traded fund focused on this rapidly expanding industry."
"Cloud computing is projected to be one of the fastest growing IT markets this year, according to IDC Research," said Ryan Issakainen, Vice President, ETF Strategist. "As businesses and consumers continue to migrate to a cloud environment, we believe there are significant growth opportunities for the companies involved in all aspects of cloud computing.
The ETF provides a way to gain diversified exposure to those companies. Forrester Research is projecting total public cloud revenues to go up 27% annually to reach nearly $160 billion by 2020, up from $15 billion in 2010."
The First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund is the ninth ETF that First Trust has launched based on an ISE index. Total assets under management for this portfolio of ETFs was $1.2 billion as of June 30, 2011.
FCC's Open Internet Rules Could Take Effect In October
Excerpted from Daily Online Examiner Report by Wendy Davis
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week moved forward with its open Internet rules by sending the neutrality regulations to the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
That agency is expected to approve the rules following a 30-day comment period, after which they will be published in the Federal Register. The rules will take effect 60 days after publication, which will probably occur in October or November.
The GOP has criticized the new rules as a "government takeover" of the web but, despite the rhetoric, the regulations largely maintain the status quo. The open Internet order, which was approved 3-2 by the FCC last December, prohibit wireline providers from blocking or degrading traffic or otherwise engaging in unreasonable discrimination. The order also prohibits wireless providers from blocking sites or competing applications, but doesn't prohibit wireless carriers from creating fast lanes for companies that pay extra.
Broadband carriers already mostly abide by those rules, but do so voluntarily. Regardless, telecoms say that enshrining those principles in law will discourage investment and innovation. Consumer advocates, on the other hand, say the regulations won't do enough to protect consumers.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have introduced various legislative proposals aimed at stopping the regulations from taking effect, but those measures aren't seen as likely to succeed given the support for neutrality in the Senate.
Nonetheless, the rules are seen as vulnerable to challenge because the FCC didn't first reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service. Instead, broadband is still considered an information service.
That distinction could prove fatal for the regulations given that an appellate court has already ruled that the FCC lacks authority to regulate information services. In that matter, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit vacated the FCC's 2008 order sanctioning Comcast for violating neutrality principles by slowing down BitTorrent traffic.
Two companies - Verizon and MetroPCS - have already asked an appellate court to invalidate the rules, but the case was dismissed as premature. Those providers - and others as well - will almost certainly bring a new appeal as soon as the rules take effect.
Coming Events of Interest
TransmitCHINA Talks - September 14th-16th at the Great Wall of China. International leaders, thinkers, innovators, and creators will have an exclusive opportunity to hear a cross-section of preeminent thought leaders from some of the world's most innovative organizations in the digital and creative content ecosystem.
NY Games Conference - September 21st-22nd in New York, NY. The most influential decision-makers in the digital media industry gather at this event, now in its third year, to network, do deals, and share ideas about the future of games and connected entertainment. Lively debate on timely cutting-edge business topics.
Digital Music Forum West - October 5th-6th in Los Angeles. CA. Top music, technology, and policy leaders come together for high-level discussions and debate, intimate meetings, and unrivaled networking about the future of digital music. Digital Music Forum is known worldwide.
Digital Hollywood Fall - October 17th-20th in Marina del Rey, CA. Digital Hollywood (DH), the premier entertainment and technology conference in the country, once again welcomes the Variety Summit, which has been co-located with its past three DH events.
Future of Film Summit - November 7th-8th in Los Angeles, CA. An exclusive group of industry thought-leaders discuss the current state of the industry, and how film and transmedia deals will be struck in the coming years. This is a unique opportunity for creatives, producers, buyers, and film financiers.
Streaming Media West - November 8th-9th in Los Angeles, CA. Attended by more than 2,500 executives last year, SMW covers the entire online video ecosystem from content creation and management, to monetization and distribution. The number-one place to come see, learn, and discuss what is taking place with all forms of online video business models and technology.
Future of Television - November 17th-18th in New York, NY. Top television and digital media industry executives discuss the increasing importance digital media for the future of the television industry. Topics include viewer trends; programming for non-traditional platforms including online video, VoD, HD, IPTV, broadband and mobile.
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