p2pnet - rss feed: BitTorrent and the cartels
p2p news / p2pnet:- It’s a virtual given that sooner or later, BitTorrent will become a major sales and distribution vehicle for the entertainment and software cartels.
Heresy. And with BT: cozy with the cartels as the header to a recent post, p2pnet’s catflap kicked off with, ‘I know, I know…everyone’s gonna hate me as soon as they read the title and then start flaming me. Okay, bring it on.’
Thus, the flamers flamed, and nor was catflap the only one feeling the heat. We had several highly vituperative emails suggesting we shit-can him. And ourselves. Heh
A New York Times story suggested, ‘For most in the culture industry, the chance of the file-sharing program BitTorrent serving a positive function is as likely as Darth Vader joining Habitat for Humanity,’ nonetheless going on to point out that Anime distributor ADV Films, ‘has decided to make the best of a bad situation� and will ‘publicize its new series ‘Gilgamesh� and ‘Goddanar� ‘ not in stores, but via the dreaded BitTorrent.
Now, ‘BitTorrent is becoming a critical player in bringing content to market online for the entertainment industry,’ BitTorrent coo Ashwin Navin is quoted as saying in an interview with Korea’s OhMyNews.
‘The Internet tears down so many limits that the industry endured using physical distribution,” he says, “and now, thanks to the efficiency of BitTorrent, the entertainment industry can securely offer unlimited selection at aggressive prices to a global audience.’
According to a study by CacheLogic, “eDonkey is now roughly on par with BitTorrent in the United States, China, Japan and Britain,” says interviewer Xu Zhiqiang. “In your opinion, why could eDonkey be on par with BitTorrent and what actions will BitTorrent do next to keep exceeding other P2P tools?”
BitTorrent is a, “web-publishing tool, increasingly used by content creators and rights owners,” retorts Navin. “We are not a P2P network, and we are not developing file-sharing tools. eDonkey and the P2P networks can have the entire file-sharing market because we’re not interested in it at all.”
Then OhMyNews gets down to the nitty.
‘After a try, I find that the engine doesn’t support Chinese characters,’ says the interviewer to Navin, who assures him, �We are very happy that the Chinese online population has adopted BitTorrent so rapidly. The businesses that have emerged using our technology should work with us to always have the best and fastest technology for their users.�
So what about the ‘pirated music and DVDs such as �Star Wars� leaked to the Internet before their first showing�? Did Navin think their appearance was BitTorrent’s fault’
‘We work with copyright holders to protect and secure their content online,’ he says. ‘The Web sites which host pirated movies using BitTorrent or HTTP or FTP or any other protocol will inevitably pay a penalty. There is no anonymity on the Internet or when using BitTorrent.’
Then, ‘What is the essential motivation for you and Bram Cohen to create and maintain and update BitTorrent?� asks Xu Zhiqiang. �And what is your expectation towards BitTorrent’s future?’
‘We expect to have a profitable business that also makes the world a better place,� says the BT coo. �Our motivation and rewards come when we see a Chinese schoolteacher making his or her multimedia lesson plan available on the school bulletin board online. That lesson plan is now available to all teachers and students across China and even the world. This content would not exist on the Web at all if it were not for BitTorrent’s cost-effectiveness.’
After refusing to comment on possible involvement from venture capitalists (VCs), Navin responds to ‘If you have absorbed VCs, will you charge users fees for BitTorrent some day?� with, ‘BitTorrent’s software will always have a free version available. We will also launch internationalization including Chinese language support, so all BT users in China should try to use our version because it will be the fastest and most reliable way to download using BT.�
Stay tuned.
Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win
- Mohandas Gandhi
See:-
kicked off - BT: cozy with the cartels, August 2, 2005
New York Times - ‘Rehabilitating’ BitTorrent, August 21, 2005
OhMyNews - BitTorrent: ‘Content for a Global Audience’, September 7, 2005
September 12th, 2005 at 4:51 pm
besides the to-be-expected announcements by the cartels that they’ve “invented” a hi-speed downloading program (the p2p protocol ButTorrent)…
besides the fact that the cartels’ files will be stuffed with DRM, adware, spyware and malware…
besides the fact that the files probably won’t transferable between computers or systems, as well as between friends…
besides the fact that it will not be free and that only (or mostly) the uninformed appleheads (ipod lovers) who purchase off-the-shelf systems (again, mostly apples) would consider using a cartel BT service…
besides the probability that the files will be mostly wmv/wma/quicktime/realmedia which will not play on standalone dvd players which support the populat divx and xvid codecs…
besides the anticipated positive reactions from lamescream news and media outlets (most notably the Criminal News Network CNN)…
besides all that - and more - how will the cartels entice their subscribers to continue seeding the files? if a person completes a download, why should they continue seeding it? they’ve already paid for it and won’t feel under any obligation to keep the file available.
and indeed, why should they? after they’ve completed their “purchase” (download) it’s their property and have no incentive to give it back to the swarm.
this is a very different situation than the current attitudes and mindsets of BTers and other p2pers. within these long-established communities have grown invaluable friendships of people around the world willing and able to share what they have - and not charging a cent. and it’s the sense of community, sharing, giving, not only of the files, but of time and help, also free of charge.
it’s doubtful that communities of trusted people such as we’ve come to know, can or will be formed though the cartels’ fee-based services to come.
probably, the cartels will come up with a ridiculous cashless point system for a person to accumulate downloading points, based upon how much one uploads. this would be such a crock of BS.
plus the cost of a subscription will probably be outrageous, as we’ve seen with the current online fee-based services for audio files. and if you think the current average of $1/per song is unfair, just think what the cost will be for a video file.
good luck to the appleheads out there. i know you’re just gonna eat this stuff up.
September 13th, 2005 at 3:34 am
Technology being hijacked by the cartels. What else is new? I hate the MPAA &Riaa and its affiliates.
September 13th, 2005 at 5:10 am
Ashwin Navin sounds arrogant to me. Hes just trying to expliot the success of bittorrent. Which i might add was really just an extension of existing ideas, there isn’t really much inovation here.
When the first p2p apps came out, they used multiple sources for downloads, why is bittorrent so different? it just takes that idea further by passing around pieces while you are downloading also, taking advantage of large numbers of users in a connection pool.
[quote]
“We are not a P2P network, and we are not developing file-sharing tools. eDonkey and the P2P networks can have the entire file-sharing market because we’re not interested in it at all.”
[/quote]
Nice attitude!. I guess this guy doesn’t realise what made bittorrent popular in the first place. Shall we remind him?
The fact is without p2p file sharing, bittorrent wouldn’t be what it is today. And the cartels certainly wouldn’t be interested in developing it for commerical purposes. I think Ashwin Navin needs to acknowledge this fact.
Does anyone really think bittorrent would be so popular if it only swapped commerical products and linux distros?, i think not. Ashwin Navin, i suggest you think long and hard about your arrogant statements, and the people who made bittorrent popular - (p2p).
September 13th, 2005 at 7:06 am
Just wait til Jobs announces his “iTorrent” service. It’s just like itunes for video files. I’m sure the apple fans will go crazy, and the cartels will spit chips over it. Not that Jobs would care.
September 13th, 2005 at 8:16 am
This guy is saying what it will take to make bittorrent thrive. Everyone knows the cartels have no case against bittorrent — they can’t fight it so they have to embrace it. and anyone with real appreciation for the code knows that bittorrent and bram cohen may not have been the first to do this, but it’s the best free tool available — which also happens to be used by millions and millions of users. Of course BitTorrent has become a standard because of the pirated content available, but does anyone really expect a representative of the company to claim that? thats stupid. be realistic.
i use azureus and thepiratebay, so no one is taking my pirated content away. bram cohen, bravo if you can become the steve jobs of downloadable video. i’d pay for a good reliable selection if you keep the prices low.
September 13th, 2005 at 10:15 am
tony, that’s a good one. go out now and trademark the word “iTorrent” and purchase the iTorrent.com domain name.
a year from now, you’ll be a millionaire after selling it to apple.
September 13th, 2005 at 11:05 am
There is a fundamental flaw in your logic. This being that the bittorrent technology is already thriving, and this is substantially due to p2p file sharing. Infact the technology would still be in obscurity if it wasn’t for file sharing.
Don’t get me wrong, i think bittorrent is great, and bram cohen will surely go down in history. But this doesn’t change the fact that file sharing had a big role in the wider adoption of this. People like Ashwin Navin seem to be forgeting this and touting it like the success is down soley to their inventiveness and business savey. I have some bad news for them, it’s only popular because of the spirit of free file sharing among the p2p communities.
Who in their right mind would pay to download video’s, only to waste their bandwidth propagating it to other customers of the cartels. It defeats the whole point(you are effectively paying for both the video you have bought plus the cost of distributing it to others, all of which is feeding the coffers of the money grabbing mpaa/riaa and associates). Yes, as a delivery mechanism, the bittorrent protocol works well. However it’s just a protocol, like http, ftp and others before it.
You don’t see people paying for the pleasure of using the http or ftp protocol, do you?
September 14th, 2005 at 9:48 am
First of all you have no idea what bittorrent is — there is no filesharing involved. Cooperative distribution and filesharing mean 2 completely different things technically.
And the reason BitTorrent works is that Bram Cohen recognizes that people are not altruistic. Tit for tat mandates that you “give” in order to “get”. File sharers have never behaved like pure, touchie feelies who embrace the “spirit of free file sharing among the p2p communities” as you suggest. Take a look at upload/download ratios of the major networks.
Lastly, why would a downloader be categorically opposed to pay for something? Your attitude is what gives us a bad name. I certainly despise the exorbitant prices and ridiculous format decisions the cartels make, but if movies were less than a buck to download, and i could get whatever i wanted all in one easy to use environment, i would be thrilled. Bram, I hope you can convince these guys to make a great download service for movies. it would really rock.
September 14th, 2005 at 9:58 am
many millions of people pay “for the pleasure of using the http or ftp protocol” for broadband/hosting services for example, or applications on top of those protocols like dating sites, music downloads, etc.
your BS anarchist attitude is ridiculous, and does nothing to improve the arts or technology. pull out your wallet and pay for art you like (it doesnt have to be major label/studio stuff) or technologies you use. i’m sure there must be some creators worth supporting aren’t there?
is there an employer which finds your service valuable?