IP Democracy: BitTorrent Aims Straight at the TV Set

Infamous-but-now-going-legit P2P file-sharing company BitTorrent has acquired µTorrent, a smaller, more compact implementation of the BitTorrent protocol, which is used for sharing large files (read video) over the Internet. The upshot: BitTorrent, which has already struck deals with Hollywood studios for film distribution over the Internet, will now be able to target smaller devices with less processing power and memory than a PC (read set-top box devices.)

The notion that BitTorrent can leverage its technology to deliver video over the Internet (or any other IP-based platform) to TV sets is reinforced by rival Azureus’ recent $12 million venture capital infusion, which included as a participant TV programming veteran Jarl Mohn who is currently Chairman of CNET but former CEO of Liberty Digital and E! Entertainment Television. Azureus just launched a high-def digital media distribution platform called Zudeo and says it will announce a string of major media deals in the coming weeks.

But naysayer-on-the-spot Mark Cuban, who is also the Chairman of HDNet, pooh-poohs the idea that BitTorrent’s latest acquisition will give it the ability to power P2P content delivery to TVs. In a series of email exchanges with Wired News’ Scott Gilbertson, Cuban said that mass deployment of BitTorrent won’t work.

“Nonevent,” Cuban wrote of BitTorrent’s acquisition of µTorrent (pronounced “micro torrent”), the lightweight client that presumably can fit anywhere — and take BitTorrent everywhere.

“I think P2P is great for corporate and controlled apps, but not for open distribution,” he continued. “P2P has content-distribution capabilities, (but) mass distribution of content isn’t one of them.”

I don’t know about that. P2P has always offered the possiblity of solving a lot of point-to-point distribution problems faced by cable, phone companies and other TV distributors. But, two things have stood in the way (aside from P2P’s reputation as a tool for piracy). First, most P2P transmissions rely on the open Internet. Traffic on the open Internet is often unreliable and can mar transmissions, something that cable companies can’t accept if they’re selling dependable service. Secondly, P2P code won’t work on current generation set-top boxes.

Now, if BitTorrent can make its software work on existing set-top boxes, the other technical hurdle could be easily solved by storing content on local servers…just an idea.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on December 8, 2006 8:52 AM to IP Democracy