The Dutch public broadcaster NPO has launched an ambitious trial project that will involve making all of its recent video broadcasts available via BitTorrent downloads and streams.
Post Tagged with: "bittorrent"
The Netherlands Leads BitTorrent Rankings, But What Does That Really Mean?
TorrentFreak recently published the Top 25 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2009, which charts the most-trafficked public, English-language sites. A CRIA lobbyist wasted little time in claiming that the list shows that Canada is "the number one location for unauthorized BitTorrent sites." Notably, the list only includes English-language sites so the exclusion of Chinese, Russian, and other language sites means that global claims aren't possible based on the list.
Even within the limited English language world, the piece toyed with funny math, however, sometimes relying on hosting to determine location, other times using site registration and then combining the two metrics to inflate the Canadian position. If hosting is indeed the correct metric, the Netherlands was actually ranked first, followed by Canada, Sweden, and the United States. The full list:
BitTorrent Speaks: Correcting the Record in CRTC Net Neutrality Hearing
BitTorrent has shaken up the CRTC network management hearing with a late submission [no online link yet] that seeks to set the record straight on BitTorrent and its impact on ISP networks. The company begins by noting:
Our company, more specifically our BitTorrent application, has been referred to repeatedly in various submissions in this proceeding. From these submissions, there appears to be some misconceptions as to the effect of BitTorrent, as well as in general peer-to-peer (“P2P”) applications, on the Internet and in fact there has been an overstatement of the effect of such
applications on network congestion.
After describing BitTorrent (the company and the application), the submission addresses several misconceptions:
- Shaw argued that the high number of connections with P2P subverts the fairness of TCP. BitTorrent says this is incorrect, since very few connections (4 – 5) are used at any one time.
- Rogers argued that users do not care about upload performances. BitTorrent says this is inaccurate given the correlation between download and upload for BitTorrent users.
- Cogeco argues that P2P is not a real-time or interactive application. BitTorrent says this too is false since some apps like Skype are clearly interactive and some BitTorrent clients supports streaming.
- Rogers argued that P2P can create 24/7 always on usage. BitTorrent says this is exxagerated with the average client only active around 4 days per month.
BitTorrent then focuses on the effect of Canadian traffic management practices on the application's performance. The two main paragraphs are worth quoting in full since they have major implications beyond just the CRTC as BitTorrent states that movie executives report that Canadian P2P usage has declined dramatically over the past year. The comment:
Apple Rejects iPhone BitTorrent App
Wired reports that Apple has rejected a BitTorrent iPhone application. Apple says "this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third-party rights. We have chosen to not publish this type of application to the App Store."
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation Sets Up Its Own Bittorrent Tracker
Several sites have noted that the Norwegian state broadcaster has decided to set up their own BitTorrent tracker and start offering content through this form of distribution on a more regular basis. The tracker is based on the same OpenTracker software that the Pirate Bay has been using for the […]
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