[CAnet - news] The end of cableTV as we know it?

For more information on this item please visit my blog at 
http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/
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 [The blogosphere has been a buzz in the past few days over the new Venice
project which will combine the features of cableTV and YouTube using a peer
to peer network.  Since Venice is being developed by the same people who
brought you Skype, there is a lot of anticipation in terms of its success,
and a lot of concern in terms of its potential load on the network.  It is
estimated that 5% of all long distance calls use Skype, so if Venice has the
same take up, it could have enormous implications on the future of video
delivery and network architectures - especially in the last mile.

But Venice is not the only interesting video services out there. Another
exciting project to watch is Inuk networks in the UK (www.inuknetworks.com)
who have been delivering free cableTV and Pay-TV to university residences
throughout the UK over the SuperJanet network using IP multicast. The nice
thing about the Inuk system is that the video can be watched on a regular TV
or PC.

The BBC has also been delivering its archived content using peer to peer
networks and multicast for its live content.  The quality of peer to peer
technology is improving dramatically with projects such as BitTyrant and
SnakeBit which is rapidly improving download speeds and the quality of the
content.

In addition there is another interesting P2P service called TVUPlayer -
which claims you can virtually any TV channel in the world for free.

In the past there have been a lot of predictions about the demise of
traditional cableTV and telephony, but have failed to materialize for a
variety of reasons including poor quality, intellectual property concerns,
etc. But the tide is slowly starting to turn. The future will belong to
projects like Venice or Inuk and/or their successors.

A lot of these articles were posted on Dewayne Hendricks list. Some excerpts
--BSA]
 

The Venice project
-----------------

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070106-8562.html

Back in the heady days of the (original) dot-com bubble, there was a site
called ICraveTV that provided free streaming video of all the channels from
a basic cable provider in Toronto. Copyright violation issues forced the
site to shut down after a few months, but the idea never really went away.
Now, a new beta service called The Venice Project aims to bring back live
streaming television, but the bandwidth requirements may put a strain on
both end users and ISPs.

The Venice Project is the brainchild of Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstr?the
Scandinavian entrepreneurs behind both Kazaa and Skype. The project, which
just closed its online application form for beta testers, claims that it
"combines the best elements of the TV experience with the most powerful
internet technologies, in a way that will redefine the way people think
about television." Unlike ICraveTV, Venice doesn't simply leech its
programming content from another source, but attempts to be a broadcast
network in its own right. The Venice Project founders claim that the service
is extremely easy to use and will allow anyone to start watching online TV
with a minimum of hassle. We believe that the Venice Project could wind up
being the first real "breakout" peer-to-peer application (P2P) that is used
by the general public en masse.

Bandwidth usage, however, could prove to be a problem for the project.
According to the project's documentation seen by Ars Technica, watching an
hour's worth of TV consumes an average of 320MB downloaded and 105MB
uploaded traffic, due to the service's P2P architecture. US Government
statistics suggest that Americans on average watch about 2.6 hours of TV a
day, which in Venice Project terms would equate to 832MB downloaded and
273MB uploaded traffic. In a single month, that would tally to 25GB down,
8GB of uploaded traffic alone.

There's a real chance that the Venice Project will be at the center of
net-neutrality debates in the United States in the coming months. In our
very limited experience with Venice, we can say that we're quite impressed.
If it really takes off, it's going to make a number of impressions on the
telecommunications companies. How will they react? There will certainly be
envy, because everyone wants to build the next YouTube, and the Ed Whitacres
of the world don't want to see anyone gettin' rich off of "their pipes"
(which you pay for). There may also be a little anger involved, for if
Venice usage soars, it will definitely consume a notable amount of
bandwidth, leaving ISPs in the position of needing to tune their networks.
To throttle or not to throttle-that may be the question that fuels another
round in the net neutrality debates.

TVUPlayer
--------

http://www.webtvhub.com/tvuplayer-review-get-potentially-any-tv-%3E%20channe
l-over-the-internet-for-free/

TVUPlayer Review | Get potentially any TV Channel over the internet for free
Posted in: TV Software Reviews by IPTV Guy

The new controversial TVUPlayer has appeared on the internet and could be
the TV studio's biggest enemy since Napster. This new player allows you to
potentially watch any television channel in the world on your PC.

Channels featured on TVUPlayer currently include CBS, ESPN, NBA TV, ABC,
NBC, CBS, FOX, Comedy Central, Disney and more, including sports channels.

This already impressive lineup of channels is available from any internet
enabled PC in the world and could potentially expand to include many more
channels.

It is my understanding the system works where one person records live TV and
streams it to the internet. This stream is then redistributed by other
people who are watching the channel.

Another great feature is that an online program guide can be viewed here for
all the TVUPlayer channels.

TVUPlayer has a nice lineup of sports channels too and you can even watch
some western sports events on Chinese TV stations for free. These could be
events that you may otherwise have to pay for.



BBC moves to file-sharing sites
-------------------------------

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6194929.stm>

Hundreds of episodes of BBC programmes will be made available on a  
file-sharing network for the first time, the corporation has announced.

The move follows a deal between the commercial arm of the  
organisation, BBC Worldwide, and technology firm Azureus.

The agreement means that users of Azureus' Zudeo software in the US  
can download titles such as Little Britain.

Azureus is best known for developing a BitTorrent client, or program,  
that allows large media files to be easily shared over the internet.  
The program has been downloaded more than 130 million times.

Earlier this month the company launched a video sharing site similar  
to YouTube, codenamed Zudeo. The site allows users to upload and view  
content.

However, in contrast to most video sharing sites, Zudeo offers high  
definition videos. Users must also download a program to access and  
upload content.

The new deal means that users of the software will be able to  
download high-quality versions of BBC programmes, including Red  
Dwarf, Doctor Who and the League of Gentleman. Classic series such as  
Fawlty Towers will also be available through a BBC "channel".


BitTorrent, the company behind the original file-sharing software of  
the same name, has recently signed a number of deals with content  
providers, such as 20th Century Fox, in a bid to become a legitimate  
download service.


BitTyrant
---------
http://bittyrant.cs.washington.edu/


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