BY KATHLEEN TRACY Some electronic media industry experts predict the ultimate vehicle for all communications will be advanced peer-to-peer (P2P) technology. P2P is a simple and efficient way to share files directly between people on the same computer network, cutting out the need for a central server. Today, content providers, such as NBC television in the U.S., are using P2P as a distribution platform because it enables them to cut out the middleman, such as iTunes, and deal directly with viewers. And by sharing files already stored (cached), on consumers’ cable boxes (which, in the case of P2P, act like computers), cable operators would be able to reduce the amount of costly bandwidth being used at any given moment. However, while P2P technologies offer the opportunity for legitimate delivery systems, the television industry at large remains hindered by the perception that it is simply a piracy technology. But since P2P now offers producers the possibility of making a profit delivering content over the Internet, it is being given a fresh look, especially by those content owners who have made availability of online video to consumers a priority. In the end, the market is going to decide what works and what doesn’t. George Searle, CEO of file-sharing program LimeWire said, “It’s tough to reconcile the various interests. Content owners are going to have to make some serious decisions. Suing consumers doesn’t work. All of the lawsuits haven’t done anything to curb P2P. It’s just fragmented the user base. If you change the user experience,” meaning, if you stop giving consumers the content they want or letting them use that content the way they want to, “they’ll just go elsewhere,” he said, noting that new file-sharing programs pop up all the time. “It also hasn’t put a penny in the pockets of rights holders. The old [business model] isn’t going to give way to a new one without a lot of learning and growing. It’s got to be sensitive and respective to the user base.” Gilles BianRosa, CEO of California’s Vuze, a software application that allows consumers to find, download, play and share media content of all types, concurred, saying content owners want control, the flexibility to experiment, and security. “But to curb piracy you have to out-perform piracy. Making content available is more powerful than trying to prevent consumers from getting what they want.” At a time when TV networks, studios and record labels are struggling to monetize the Internet, P2P should be a logical solution, said Michael King, CEO of Camas, Washington-based Abacast, a streaming media services provider. “It takes 27 minutes after an episode of Lost airs for it to become available online — because it takes that long to strip out the commercials. The network is going to have to launch it online at the same time as they broadcast it to monetize it.” Even though prices for bandwidth are dropping, King said this only makes P2P more relevant because “the need for high-quality programming is ramping up much faster.” In the U.S., iTunes — Apple’s digital media player application — is the current P2P leader, but others such as Hulu, a website that offers high-quality streams of TV shows and movies in the P2P format, are rapidly gaining in public awareness. Whether the content is made available on broadband (via mobile or landlines), the problem of how to deliver it securely, efficiently and to scale remains challenging for providers. But it is bandwidth worries that dominate conversations. That’s why promoting P2P as a bandwidthsaving delivery system is key to its implementation, stressed Eric Klinker, Chief Technology Officer of San Francisco-based BitTorrent, a corporation that develops Internet content distribution technology “The time to make money in online video is [starting] now and only if we make that work will we see success in this industry,” he said. “The perfect storm is upon us fueled by a tidal wave of consumer demand.” “On [traditional] TV it’s easy to browse,” explained Vuze’s BianRosa. But to find older content on the Internet (now referred to as longtail content), said BianRosa, “is more difficult and requires powerful tools.” On the other side, content owners want security,” he added. But to curb piracy you have to outperform piracy. Making content available on broadband is more powerful than trying to prevent consumers from getting what they want.” That is where the new P4P technology comes into play. P4P is a technology that groups and organizes the files shared in a P2P network so that those files can be found more quickly. It was developed as an initiative of the Maryland-based Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA), an organization with representation from the computing industry, and has over 60 companies in its core group that represent the entire P2P spectrum, including AT&T, Yale University and BitTorrent. The implementation of P4P technology will reduce costs for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and offer more efficient and friendly services for consumers. Verizon’s Doug Pasko, who co-chairs the P4P initiative, said that in field tests conducted by the DCIA, P4P cut the distance data traveled over networks by as much as half, “which has broad implications for the emerging P2P industry.” In addition to saving cable operators’ money by using less broadband, more efficient usage of that broadband space means cable carriers can offer added video services such as gaming and interactive shopping. Pasko stressed that P4P is not an intrusive technology — no information about the consumer is being sent back to cable carriers and ISPs — nor is it a replacement or next generation of P2P. “It’s intended to accelerate the implementation of P2P. It gives a dramatic increase in [service] performance [that benefits] the enduser.” Maximizing bandwidth remains a crucial concern for service providers as the online video platform emerges. “Everyone would agree that server networks have to be managed in terms of what they can and can’t do,” observed Tony Naughton, CEO of Seattle-based GridNetworks, a company that offers a service that can stream full screen HDquality TV programs on the Internet for desktops or in living rooms. Consumer privacy must be maintained and usage tracked so that content providers are paid. MSOs also have to come up with a policy regarding those handful of users that consume the majority of bandwidth — heavy video uploaders and downloaders can run a mindboggling 50 gigs of data, said Mark Mooradian, svp of Seattle-based digital media distribution firm MediaNet. He believes there should be asterisks in the contract, that if a subscriber is an excessive bandwidth user, their service is canceled. “[Some users] will fight that to the bitter end…There’s been a proposal floating around lately (within the cable and DSL industries) that will target music, like a tax, that will tack on a few dollars to your [ISP] bill to pay for music.” There are still some naysayers who view digital delivery as a pipe dream. Perry Wu, CEO of Burlingame, California-based BitGravity, an Internet broadcasting company, concluded that while P2P technology is good for some applications, “The Internet will never have scale,” meaning it will never be profitable. “The realm of P2P is to take licensed content and post it for free without permission. And the ISP controls the fate of your [online content delivery] business. I’m not willing to place my career on that kind of bet.” V I D E O • A G E OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 36 T e c h n o l o g y & T e l e v i s i o n P2P No Longer Means Piracy 2 Everyone “ However, while P2P technologies offer the opportunity for legitimate delivery systems, the television industry at large remains hindered by the perception that it is simply a piracy technology.
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