

Now if Google were to show up with high speed data offerings everywhere, the cable companies would suddenly make rapid advances in offerings at incredible prices and at great speeds. As long as that continues to be true (where a company with a priority other than Data Pipes is running them), we won’t see advances like this get very much traction. The problem is these are the very companies that form the ISP’s that also give us our Data Pipe. It’s a shame because something like this could give us what we all need: freedom from the cable networks and the cable companies that provide them. They don’t want to risk change and risk losing control like the music industry has. That said, I think resistance would be felt anyway because I doubt the content providers who already have lucrative contracts with the way things ARE want things to stay the same.
Bittorrent live streaming protocol torrent#
I think you’ll see marked resistance by the very players he needs to work with it because of the perceived damage done by the Bit Torrent protocol. Sporting events are really the only thing I get from my cable provider that I can’t view easily elsewhere. Live sports seem particularly well suited to BitTorrent Live, and I’ll be watching closely to see whether the protocol gains popularity. That said, I’m getting less than a second of latency streaming an insane-looking Russian game show in which two-on-two MMA matches go down on a stage that looks like it’s been ripped out of a video game. Only a small number of BitTorrent Live channels are broadcasting right now, and the quality of the content varies widely. BitTorrent Live aims to change that, and it sounds like Cohen is particularly keen on recruiting independent broadcasters in addition to more traditional content producers. As Cohen points out, live broadcasting is one thing that traditional cable providers have always done better than Internet alternatives. “Poorly behaved peers can impact everyone,” Cohen says, and the protocol is “tricky to implement.”Īlthough peer-to-peer live streaming was a tough nut to crack, Cohen claims BitTorrent Live is capable of broadcasting content to “millions of people with just a few seconds of latency.” Because it’s a peer-to-peer protocol, the bandwidth costs for the broadcaster should be minimal.Ī few seconds of latency sounds like a lot, but it’s not a big deal for live broadcasts that often include delays to catch wardrobe malfunctions and those seven words you can never say on television. It seems the BitTorrent folks will be discouraging third-party clients, though.
Bittorrent live streaming protocol free#
Cohen told TorrentFreak that BitTorrent Live will be free to use whether you’re broadcasting or watching content.

An open beta kicked off earlier this month, and a patent application has been filed for the protocol.ĭon’t be too worried about the patent, by the way. Now dubbed BitTorrent Live, the streaming tech appears to be in the final stretch. The protocol was supposed to be finished in the summer of 2011 and, well, that didn’t happen. In other news, BitTorrent is nearly ten years old-and still going strong.We first heard of BitTorrent’s peer-to-peer video streaming protocol two years ago, when creator Bram Cohen demoed it. The developer appears to be taking his time, telling TorrentFreak that “doing live properly is a hard problem, and while I could have a working thing relatively quickly, I’m doing everything the ‘right’ way.” TorrentFreak goes on to point out that BitTorrent will turn ten years old in July, making that month a likely target for the official launch.

After all, it’s already common for broadcasters to delay live feeds by a few seconds just in case they need to edit out colorful language or a wardrobe malfunction.ĭuring the demo, Cohen reveals that the streaming protocol probably won’t be finished until the summer. The demo reveals a few seconds of latency, but that seems entirely reasonable for peer-to-peer streaming. In a bid to improve efficiency and reduce latency, Cohen ditched TCP for the new protocol, which also uses different congestion control algorithms. Extensive changes have been made, however. According to TorrentFreak, Cohen has been working on a peer-to-peer live streaming protocol that appears to be based loosely on BitTorrent. Bram Cohen, the brain behind the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, is at it again.
