In early 2007, when network neutrality was still a non-issue for most people, BitTorrent inventor Bram Cohen told us that ISPs should find a way to cope with BitTorrent.

“ISPs have to invest in making their networks better and faster rather than stifling applications which consumers use and love,” he said, while encouraging users to switch to non throttling ISPs if possible, or complain to their ISP’s customer services.

A lot of things have changed in the years that followed. Comcast started to prevent its users from seeding content on BitTorrent, and many other ISPs took similar actions to throttle BitTorrent traffic. As a direct result, network neutrality was placed on the political agenda in many countries. It also inspired BitTorrent Inc. to look for solutions that would eliminate the need for throttling entirely, solving the problem at its root.

This is where uTP comes in. uTP is a new and improved implementation of the BitTorrent protocol which is designed to be network friendly. The current implementation often causes interference with other applications, which is the main reason why ISPs try to slow it down, or even stop it altogether. uTP aims to solve this problem.

With uTP, uTorrent (and the Mainline client) will become network aware by throttling itself if congestion in the network is detected. This will have a huge impact on ISP networks according to Simon Morris, BitTorrent’s VP of Product Management. “If uTP is successful it should result in a multi-billion dollar windfall in terms of savings for ISPs,” Morris told TorrentFreak

This means that the new uTorrent will eliminate the need for ISPs to throttle BitTorrent traffic in their networks. Of course, uTorrent users will also be affected by the new protocol. When needed, uTorrent will decrease the upload or download speed to avoid congestion.

According to Morris it’s mainly the upload speed that will be affected. “The throttling that matters most is actually not so much the download but rather the upload – as bandwidth is normally much lower UP than DOWN, the up-link will almost always get congested before the down-link does,” he explained.

“uTP measures the time a packet takes to get sent from peer A to peer B, so in theory uTP will detect congestion anywhere on that path, although in practice the congestion most often happens somewhere on the first-mile uplink connection.”

So does this mean that the new uTorrent will result in slower download times? Not necessarily. Since there is less congestion, uTorrent users will experience no slowdowns in web-browsing, and ideally less congestion and a more efficient use of the network may result in faster download speeds. uTP is currently being tested in uTorrent v2.0 beta and thus far none of the testers have reported any significant problems.

“There are already a couple of hundred thousand people using our v2.0 beta client, and things seem to be progressing very nicely. Our v2.0 client will initiate outgoing uTP connections by default whenever it can. Previous versions of our clients will accept incoming uTP connections – they just won’t initiate them,” Morris said.

“We’re excited that this creates a better experience for millions of consumers, and it also potentially has a massive impact on ISPs – greatly reducing (even eliminating) any justification to manage or shape BitTorrent traffic and allowing ISP networks to handle more BitTorrent traffic, without resulting congestion forcing capital network upgrades ahead of schedule or the ‘need’ to invest in DPI or other traffic shaping gear.”

It is hard to tell if uTP really is BitTorrent’s savior (some highly doubt it), but if it lives up to the expectations it will be beneficial to both users and ISPs. The specs for uTP will eventually be open so other clients will have the opportunity to implement it too. However, since uTorrent and the Mainline client together are used by two thirds of all BitTorrent users, the effects should be immediately noticeable to both those users and ISPs.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

The Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is currently looking into the traffic management practices of Canadian ISPs. Several hearings were held to examine the Internet traffic management practices being used, and check that they are in accordance with the Telecommunications Act.

Although not invited to the hearings itself, BitTorrent Inc. filed a late submission (pdf) to the CRTC this week, standing up for Net Neutrality.

“The hearings have clearly exposed some highly discriminatory traffic management targeting the BitTorrent protocol, which is no surprise to our users in Canada,” Simon Morris, BitTorrent’s VP of Product Management told TorrentFreak. “We really hope the regulators will act in the interests of citizens, innovation and free speech, rather than in the narrow interests of monopolies,” he added.

Last year, the company was also actively involved in FCC’s investigation into Comcast’s BitTorrent traffic shaping. Not only are such network management practices a direct threat to BitTorrent’s business model, it also hurts individual users and other businesses.

“Economically, P2P enables a very cost effective means to reach an audience. Fewer computers to buy or provision means that media distribution is no longer the domain of those with deep pockets. P2P allows small Canadian companies, as well as individuals, to distribute their works through the Internet to a global audience at relatively little cost,” BitTorrent writes in its filing to the CRTC.

One other group of victims are independent artists, who publish their work on BitTorrent in increasing numbers. In the hearings the CRTC was already told that blocking or restricting BitTorrent traffic could mean that independent filmmakers are unable to publish their work.

But large companies are in the same boat. “P2P is not just the domain of the independent artists, even major media companies are coming to the realization that P2P technology provides a faster, more efficient, more reliable way to distribute mass media,” BitTorrent writes.

In their filing BitTorrent Inc. mentions CNN’s P2P powered stream of Obama’s inauguration as one example how P2P can benefit large companies. Canadian public TV broadcaster CBC also got a mention, as they used Mininova’s services to distribute

If ISPs have to manage their networks, they shouldn’t target any specific applications or transfer protocols. Discriminating against BitTorrent would hamper innovation and potentially impair freedom of expression, the company told the CRTC.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

With a net profit of close to a billion US dollars in 2008 Asus is one of the big players in the computer business. They are also no stranger to BitTorrent, as they’ve been making BitTorrent supported hardware for years, including the first BitTorrent router.

Recently the company decided to embrace BitTorrent even further, and use it to boost the download speeds on the tens of thousands of downloads they offer on their website. It is currently enabled on all larger downloads listed on the official website.

“In order to speed up software download process, ASUSTek is now implementing BitTorrent DNA technology. Through this technology, the software you need can be delivered to you with less time,” Asus informs their customers.

Consumers looking for drivers or software will now see a P2P download link next to the regular http downloads. When the P2P link is clicked Asus explains the process to first time users, after which they will be asked to download the BitTorrent DNA client.

Asus is offering BitTorrent boosted downloads

DNA stands for BitTorrent Delivery Network and is developed by BitTorrent, Inc. The software runs in the background on your computer and uses BitTorrent to speed up regular downloads, which means that customers will share the files they’ve downloaded with people who are downloading the same content.

Of course we would rather see regular .torrent links instead of the closed DNA software, and that is also the main disadvantage to Asus’s implementation. In the past BitTorrent’s DNA has been causing problems for some people and although these issues have reportedly been resolved, it still leaves a bad taste with some people.

Nevertheless, it is good to see that billion dollar companies are interested in, and willing to take advantage of BitTorrent. In the end it comes down to a classical win-win situation for both parties. Consumers get faster downloads and Asus a reduction in bandwidth costs.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

On the one hand this offers newcomers to BitTorrent a familiar interface to find all sorts of torrent files directly from the uTorrent homepage. The search engine uses Google’s search algorithms to find .torrent files on sites such as The Pirate Bay and isoHunt. BitTorrent Inc. profits from this through search based ads that Google adds to the search results.

This seems to be a win-win situation for everyone but for reasons unknown, Google no longer allows uTorrent to use the custom search program. When entering a keyword into the search box on the website the following error is returned (see picture). BitTorrent Inc. has now removed the search box but they have no clue why they have this problem with Google.

Simon Morris, BitTorrent’s VP of Product Management told TorrentFreak that there is indeed a problem but that they yet have to find out the details. At this stage we can only guess at the reasoning behind the lack of functionality. Most BitTorrent sites are not allowed to serve Google ads because they link to copyrighted content, but since uTorrent was only linking to these sites indirectly through Google’s own search engine, this seems less likely.

Yet there are more BitTorrent oriented sites that have faced similar problems. The Pirate Google, another website that uses Google’s custom search had similar problems recently.

uTorrent’s search has been down for around 5 days now, so one could expect a technical issue to be resolved by now, but until we hear back from Google the actual cause is open to speculation. The net effect is the same though – uTorrent’s revenue from this source isn’t rising as planned.

Update: We heard from “The Pirate Google” admin that Google did indeed block inbound queries from his site. He found a temporary workaround but this proves that Google is actively blocking (these) torrent related sites. Don’t be evil?

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

While the added search is not a particular good way to find torrents, its addition to the site is an interesting move by BitTorrent Inc. Not so long ago, uTorrent removed the search boxes to sites like Mininova and isoHunt from their client, as per requests from copyright holders. However, since BitTorrent Inc. closed its video store, there is now no need to please Hollywood and they are free to link to torrent sites again.

Last December we reported that BitTorrent.com added a torrent search engine that works with Ask.com, and uTorrent.com now follows with a Google powered search engine. Neither site hosts any files, they simply act as a meta-search engine. Below is an example of a search for aXXo on uTorrent. Ironically, the Google ad that appears here links to a uTorrent scam site.

Google-powered search engines are nothing new, though. There are a few dozen sites that use Google’s coop program, such as TorrentScoop. All these sites display ads from Google’s Adsense program, ads that are not allowed on ‘regular’ torrent sites because they would violate Google’s terms of service. In fact, a few weeks ago isoHunt lost their Google ad feed which ran through Ask because some advertisers complained.

Double standard or not, the search engine on uTorrent’s homepage is bound to get some decent traffic. Let’s hope that they will keep an eye on the scammy ads though, we know from experience that it requires continuous attention.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

In the tough economic climate, which already caused several layoffs at the company, BitTorrent Inc. decided that it was best to close their video store completely. Simon Morris, BitTorrent’s VP of Product Management told TorrentFreak: “After a great deal of soul searching we decided to close down the Torrent Entertainment Network content store.”

“Its about focus and economics,” Morris added. “We want to focus on core technology rather than merchandising and given the harsh economic environment, we can’t afford to continue to invest in endeavors that don’t come close to break-even.”

Together with the closure of their entertainment network, the company reintroduced its search portal for BitTorrent users. Unlike before, there are no torrents indexed or tracked by the companies servers. Instead, it uses a branded version of the Ask.com search engine, where BitTorrent sites are prioritized in the search results.

When BitTorrent Inc. had its own search engine, the company had an agreement with the MPAA to filter search results. According to Morris this is no longer needed now. “We agreed to filter search results when we were in the business of torrent search, but that work is also discontinued. This is Ask’s search engine, not ours.”

“The decision to work with Ask is simply an effort to provide people who come to download the client with a place to go next,” Morris added. While the search engine will generate some income, most future revenue is expected to come from content publishers that use BitTorrent’s DNA, and deals with device manufacturers.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Ashwin Navin leaving BitTorrent Inc.

His position as president of BitTorrent never held Navin back much. With quotes such as “iTunes DRM Inspires People to Pirate Content,” he was very clear about his attitude towards digital rights management for example. Still, he often found himself in an awkward position, where he had to please the average BitTorrent user, but also the big Hollywood studios.

Now Navin has quit his job at BitTorrent Inc, we decided to do an exit interview, hoping he can speak a little more freely. “My BitTorrent tenure certainly didn’t feel like four years,” was the first thing Navin told TorrentFreak. “But time flies when working among good people, world-changing ideas, and great fun! What attracted me to BitTorrent in the first place, and what is still inspiring to this day, is its ability to provide people true digital freedom.”

Indeed, the BitTorrent protocol provides freedom, but that is also why the entertainment industry is hesitant to adopt it. They don’t want freedom for consumers, but they do want to maintain their cash flow. Nevertheless, one way or another, BitTorrent provides the entertainment industry with a whole new set of tools, something with which Navin seems to agree.

“For its direct and indirect benefits, I believe BitTorrent sits among the handful of important technology breakthroughs such as the printing press, broadcasting, and the Internet itself. Why? Today’s publishing technology – like blogs, BitTorrent, and video sharing sites for example – quite directly forge a level playing field for creativity,” Navin said.

“Indirectly, these tools force large media companies to realize that there is no longer scarcity or a stranglehold on distribution that locks people out of self-expression. Anyone can speak to the world in any format, without filters. Freedom of Speech has never been so available to the masses. How these large corporations respond to this fundamental realization will benefit many many millions of people–creators and consumers alike.”

Navin hits the nail on the head here. BitTorrent is a great technology with a lot of potential. The thing the entertainment industry has to do, is find a way to leverage it. Listening to consumers instead of trying to shut them up would be a good place to start. The Internet has put the consumer in control, and it’s time for the copyright holders to realize this. Or as Navin puts it:

“The free flow of information and entertainment over the Internet doesn’t diminish the relevance of high value, professional entertainment at all. It does force the publishers to be more quality conscious (make fewer flops, and more hits). And the great cardinal sin in this era would be to withhold your content in exclusive deals or to be too precious with your creation. Now’s the time to be more promiscuous with your distribution strategy than before: be everywhere at once, wherever there are eyeballs you can count.”

“In the previous era, there was a lot of forgiveness when 3 or 4 companies owned every road to the consumer. Publishers could produce a crap movie or TV show and get away with it. But when there are millions of ways to get to the user, or in other words, millions of “channels” to choose from, the best entertainment presented in the most frictionless format always wins.”

So, Navin argues that piracy leads to less crap. The entertainment business now has to make stuff people actually want to listen to or watch. Unfortunately for them, it is getting harder and harder to influence and direct consumers to see things the way they want to. Information is more free than ever before and consumers have a choice now, and that will not go away. It’s up to Hollywood to take the next step, and compete with piracy.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Today, BitTorrent Inc. has announced that it will use its DNA service to distribute clients and patches for Aeria and IAHGames, known for EA’s FIFA Online 2. BitTorrent DNA is used to stream and download content efficiently via BitTorrent, without interfering with VoIP calls and Internet browsing.

Eric Klinker, chief technology officer at BitTorrent Inc. said “BitTorrent is proud to be working with leaders in the massively multiplayer online gaming space such as Aeria and IAHGames. BitTorrent DNA thrives in this environment by giving online game distributors an ability to manage user-contributed bandwidth, boost delivery performance and enhance the end-user experience.”

“With BitTorrent’s advanced congestion control technology and game-play detection features, DNA ensures that gamers won’t have to suffer any delays or breaks in their game play while simultaneously downloading the latest software patch,” Klinker added.

Video streaming is another area where P2P content delivery might play a significant role in the future. NewTeeVee reports that YouTube might get on the P2P bandwagon, as the makers of PPLive are experimenting with a P2P accelerator for Flash streams. If it works, YouTube could save millions of dollars in bandwidth costs.

Finding an efficient way to use BitTorrent or P2P based video streams is one of the most difficult, but revolutionizing challenges for P2P developers. But we’re getting there, as early tests indicate that it is possible to stream video, even live feeds, with BitTorrent.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Valleywag reports that the company has now decided to lay off its sales and marketing department, due to failing attempts to sell the entertainment store to Best Buy. This means that the development of uTorrent, specifically the long awaited Mac version, is not in danger.

The BitTorrent entertainment network was launched February 2007 and offers movie rentals starting at starting at $2.99. Before the store launched, BitTorrent Inc’s co-founder Ashwin Navin said that the store was going to compete with BitTorrent sites like The Pirate Bay and mininova, as he said, “If we’re not competing effectively with piracy, we’re not going to win.”

There never was any real competition however, mainly because the movies are infected with Windows DRM. The company never wanted to use DRM. In fact, Bram Cohen told TorrentFreak in an interview that the DRM issue is causing an awful lot of headaches, but that most of their content partners are insisting on it.

BitTorrent’s Ashwin Navin was a bit more outspoken about it. He said that DRM is “a time bomb waiting to happen,” and that it will inspire people to pirate content. One thing we can be sure of, it didn’t help to convert illegal downloaders to go legal.

If online video stores want to compete with their pirate counterparts, the pricing should be reasonable, the catalogue extensive, and all without DRM. The BitTorrent store failed to meet these standards, and unfortunately, 12 people lost their job because of it.

Update: In a comment received after publication of the article, Ashwin Navin told TorrentFreak that the layoffs are not related to the failing entertainment store.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Apparently, everything in the Comcast garden is rosy these days, with previous arch-rival BitTorrent now working things out together over afternoon tea. However, not everyone is celebrating.

In 2007, Robb Topolski discovered and documented the Comcast interference, informed TorrentFreak and we published an article which ignited the whole debate. It’s safe to say, he’s been following this one closely.

Here are his thoughts on the Comcast / BitTorrent reconciliation:

—–

I’m probably a key figure as to why we’re all talking about Network Neutrality again. I was having a problem uploading on Gnutella in early 2007. I tracked it down to Comcast using Sandvine-injected RST packets. Blog stories led to press stories which led to independent confirmation. And here we are today. Peace and harmony? Probably not.

Today Comcast and BitTorrent seems to have solved world hunger — and I’d love nothing more than to be optimistic about it. But I cannot be. As they say on Slashdot — show video, or it didn’t happen. This deal is treachery, relies on how much we can trust the word of Comcast, and leaves the public interests out in the cold.

I think it’s strange that anyone believes a word that Comcast says. This is the Comcast that:

1. Told the FCC in 2005 that they would not degrade traffic in order to convince the FCC that network neutrality regulations were not needed.

2. Started degrading P2P traffic the very next year, and failed to tell anyone what they were doing.

3. Used a system that utilized forgery, and successfully placed blame on the other peer instead of Comcast.

4. Denied it when caught.

5. Then changed their story when the denials were not believed, but still never came out and said what they were doing.

6. Then they justified their actions by throwing their other Cable-Internet brothers and sisters under the bus with their “they do it too!” defense

7. Then stealthily changed the AUP days before an FCC filing where they referred to the new provisions.

8. When the changed AUP started getting press attention, they stated that a prominent story on Comcast.net alerted millions of visitors of the change and accused Marvin Ammori of crying wolf. (Google cache proved that nothing alerted users to the changed AUP until the day after the press started asking questions.)

9. Then they packed the Harvard FCC hearing.

This company has not demonstrated that you can trust its promises, nor can you believe its assertions. Comcast just used BitTorrent Inc. as a tool to try and defang the FCC.

BitTorrent Inc. is a content provider. Vuze, who actually DID make a complaint and petition to the FCC, is a competitor. Neither BitTorrent, Vuze, nor Comcast represents the interests of 12 million Comcast users nor the The Internet Society nor the public. And this middle-of-the-night deal was made without their input.

Nothing has changed. The RST interference continues. It was a wrongful act. BitTorrent Inc. has no right making a deal with Comcast allowing it to continue to commit wrongful acts until it finally decides it is ready to stop. The correct relief is to stop the interference immediately and to FULLY DISCLOSE what it did and to accept responsibility for those actions. (Even today, Comcast’s Policy VP refused to answer questions about the interference.)

Their word is worthless. Until the interference stops, I have no reason to believe it will. Until either meaningful competition returns to broadband, or until sufficient government regulation enforces Network Neutrality, we have no reason to think that this agreement will last through the night.

Robb Topolski

—–

TorrentFreak confronted Ashwin Navin of BitTorrent Inc. with Robb’s comments, and he told us: “We decided to collaborate with Comcast because they agreed to stop using RSTs, increase upload capacity, and evaluate network hardware that accelerates media delivery and file transfers. We’re at the beginning of the formal collaboration, but Robb’s work was instrumental to identify the offending practice. We need him and the community to keep an eye on ISPs across the world.”

“Our work with Comcast will benefit all P2P development because Comcast has agreed to manage traffic at Layer 3 (the network layer) rather than Layers 4-7 (the protocol/application layers). This is a core component of the neutrality debate,” he added.

As always, time will tell…

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Comcast’s chief technology officer Tony Warner said: “Rather than slow traffic by certain types of applications — such as file-sharing software or companies like BitTorrent — Comcast will slow traffic for those users who consume the most bandwidth.”

Comcast hoped it could quietly interfere with its customer’s BitTorrent activities without getting too much attention. Unfortunately for them, their actions didn’t go unnoticed, and during August last year we broke the news that this ISP does indeed mess with its customers internet connections.

Comcasts actions sparked the debate about what “reasonable” network management practices are, and this eventually resulted in a FCC hearing last month.

It now seems that Comcast saw the light, and wants to invest in more Internet gateway capacity after all. BitTorrent Inc. announced today that it will work together with the ISP to optimize their software, so that it puts less stress on the network.

Ashwin Navin, president of BitTorrent Inc. told TorrentFreak: “We are happy that Comcast is increasing the upload capacity on its network and that they will stop sending TCP resets to BitTorrent clients. We plan to jointly test how ISPs can better address the large volume of P2P traffic and share our research with all ISPs and application developers. This is a huge win for the Internet community as a whole.”

Still, Comcast will continue to throttle heavy users, who actually use the bandwidth that was promised to them in their contracts. It is to be expected that Comcast and other ISPs will have to step away from the all-you-can-eat plans they have been offering for years, now that people actually start to use bandwidth they signed up for.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

The Myka box, is a small set top box, not all that dissimilar from the AppleTV although larger. Like the Apple product, it aims to be a video playback device for your television, able to pull video from computers on a local network. What makes the Myka different, however, is that it incorporates a BitTorrent client.

Incorporating torrent technology into a set-top box could be a very powerful driving force for the torrent community, bringing it into the homes and minds of many more people. Quite how Comcast will feel about it though, is another matter.

Technically, the box’s specs look good, with HDTV resolutions up to 1080i available. Of perhaps greater note is that it may be possible, with its h.264 support, to playback Blu-Ray torrents. Also, there has been suggestions posted to the Myka forums, that a Blu-Ray drive could be coming in the future. If so, it might cut into some of the sales the PS3 has been getting.

Hardware wise, the system seems solid enough. The only options, at present, are the size of the included hard drive. The OS, for those of you that care, will be a highly customised version of Linux. PAL versions, with SCART are also promised.

Legally, there are some worried about how the Grokster decision might affect things in the US. Selling a product which can infringe copyright was held in that case to be ‘contributory infringement’. Myka boss, Dan Lovy, told TorrentFreak “We’ve looked the legal side extensively. We are like a movie projector. It has kept the competition down though, to our advantage.”

Price-wise, its comparable with the Apple offering. The 160Gb model is $20 more expensive than the equivalent AppleTV but this may be felt by many, to be a small price to pay for access to the vast library of content available.

At present, we haven’t seen one in the flesh, so to speak. According to Myka, BitTorrent inc. is currently developing the torrent software, but we hope to bring you a full review as soon as possible.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

It turns out that the DNA application is almost identical to uTorrent. “All of the resources are there, dialogs, icons, etc. It is a full blown µTorrent client that just doesn’t display it’s User Interface” writes Wefixedtheglitch, who reverse engineered the application.

The algorithm has changed a bit of course. Pieces are no longer picked at random because this doesn’t work for streaming, so it has to start with getting the first bits, first. Another difference between uTorrent and DNA is that the latter has a built in webserver. This server is used to stream media from localhost or 127.0.0.1, but also introduces some vulnerabilities.

Wefixedtheglitch reports: “It is not impossible for ANY website to hijack and offload content onto your “btdna.exe” process. I consider this risk as “HIGH” and do not recommend users to have the “btdna.exe” software installed on their systems due to these risks, especially if your ISP limits/charges you for bandwidth overages.” This claim was backed up by an additional researcher upon TorrentFreak’s request.

This report contradicts an earlier statement from BitTorrent Inc. CEO Ashwin Navin, who told TorrentFreak: “BitTorrent DNA only accelerates content that a user clicks on. It does not anticipate user wants, or pre-load a user’s PC with content they did not explicitly ask for (via an HTTP request from a webpage).”

One thing is for sure, BitTorrent DNA isn’t perfect yet. Several users reported that it slows down their web-browsers, with Linksys router owners being particularly affected. We have contacted the BitTorrent team about this slowdown issue before and they told us that they are working on a fix. I have no doubt that they will also address the security issues if there are any, but for now I think it is better to uninstall the application when you don’t need it.

DNA automatically starts with Windows, and has to be uninstalled separately from the mainline client. It is pretty well hidden and many users probably don’t even know that btdna.exe is running, as its only noticeable when the Windows task manager is opened.

Update: We received a response from BitTorrent Inc.

The blog post suggesting BitTorrent DNA is an “exploitable” version of uTorrent is erroneous. The blogger you cite should have been more diligent in his/her research, but one can hardly expect reliable information from an anonymous blog. While it is possible for any application to send requests through btdna.exe as a simple proxy, the DNA client will only accelerate authorized URLs that are registered by BitTorrent Inc. in the DNA service center. When an authorized URL is passed to the proxy, the DNA client connects to a managed infrastructure that includes a high performance tracker that introduces the client to DNA peers who have also requested the same file. The DNA service center also includes a real-time
dashboard that provides our customers visibility and control over their accelerated content, as well as better management over their entire content delivery infrastructure.

As far as the user is concerned, BitTorrent DNA only receives data that a user requests. Like any BitTorrent transfer, it is ‘private’ in that it never uploads anything you yourself haven’t requested from a webpage. It does not anticipate user wants, or pre-load a user’s PC with content not explicitly requested via an HTTP request from a webpage. Our terms for DNA
require websites to disclose to users why and how DNA improves the experience for video, software, and games with P2P acceleration.

Furthermore, BitTorrent DNA when fully released in BitTorrent mainline will allow users to see and fully control DNA activity through the mainline interface. Currently DNA is being deployed as a stand alone application, but DNA functionality will be added to mainline seamlessly in the future. We have standardized our development for PC clients on the uTorrent codebase. Mainline 6.0 was the first to leverage this codebase, and our DNA client also leverages the uTorrent codebase but includes many new enhancements beyond uTorrent for things like video streaming for example.

Not all P2P video streaming is created equal, and we strive to offer progressively downloaded video maintaining as much of the efficiency “rarest-first” offered in traditional BitTorrent. Making video streaming with BitTorrent work reliably and efficiently is non-trivial engineering, and we’ve spent quite a bit of time getting it to be the best implementation available.

The best place to visualize DNA video in action is here:

Or for full length movies and TV shows here:

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Here’s a demo of a BitTorrent accelerated demo video that is available worldwide. In order to play the video you need to install BitTorrent DNA and restart your browser. This demo also shows how much bandwidth you share with other peers who are watching the same video. It works like this; the user who wants to watch a stream first has to install the BitTorrent DNA application, which is also bundled with the BitTorrent mainline client. When the user plays a BitTorrent accelerated stream it will not only download data, but also upload it to other people who are watching the same stream, similar to a regular BitTorrent download.

Most ISPs probably wont be happy with peer-to-peer streaming because their customers will use even more bandwidth, but it will be a great cost saver for sites like Youtube. In fact, it is safe to say that it could save them thousands of dollars a day in bandwidth costs. TorrentFreak talked to Ashwin Navin, president and co-founder of BitTorrent Inc., and he told us: “It’s safe to say that this product is relevant to all major players in the video space. Any company who is pushing lots of video can benefit from BitTorrent DNA, because it’s very easy to implement, and it delivers dramatic benefits. Whether a company is delivering video, software, or games, BitTorrent DNA can increase the reliability, efficiency, and quality of content delivery. Users notice the benefits immediately when streams are higher quality and are no longer choppy.”

The Watch Now section currently list thousands of clips, some of which are supported by ads. Unfortunately it is only available in the US at the moment, but this will change in the near future. Ashwin told TorrentFreak that this is just a soft launch, international versions will be rolled out as soon as we identify some sponsors to make them available. Another downside is that there are no big movie or TV distributors in the “Watch Now” program just yet, but they are always a bit behind when it comes to technological innovation. However, this does not mean that they start empty, Ashwin told us: “Our partners have published some great content, such as the entire “Ring” series in Japanese, the “Zatoichi” sequels, and hit Bollywood films like “Rang De Basanti”, which have huge fans around the world. We even have some stand-up comedy and special interest automotive videos from GT Channel.”

BitTorrent Inc’s next step will be to move beyond the PC environment into other consumer electronics devices such as moblile phones and DVD-players. The possibilities are endless, as Ashwin notes: “We will soon be announcing more progress with device manufacturers integrating BitTorrent technology into the next-generation of consumer electronics. Between the hardware makers and a new slate of partners deploying BitTorrent DNA, I believe the BitTorrent ecosystem will grow from its current 150 million installed clients to a billion clients installed in the next few years.”

Interesting times, stay tuned!

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

The percentages reflect the percentage of PCs that has these applications installed. September last year Azureus was installed on more than 3% of all PCs but their install rate has declined by more than 30% this year, while uTorrent’s install rate nearly tripled.

In the table below we have listed the 5 most installed BitTorrent applications. It is interesting to not that Azureus moved from the first to the third spot over the past year. The BitTorrent mainline client is now runner up. This means that BitTorrent Inc. now owns the two most popular BitTorrent clients.

The percentages in the table indicate the install base of the most popular BitTorrent clients:

From the data where the report is based on we further learn that Limewire’s popularity is slowly declining. However, with an install base of almost 18% it is still the P2P application that is installed on most desktop computers. Unfortunately Digital Music News has trouble interpreting their own data, they claim in their press release that it is 36.4%, but that is the market share compared to other P2P clients (shame on you!).

Apart from this tiny mistake, there are a few more concerns about the usability of the data. For example, install rates do not equal usage. The fact that someone installed a P2P client does not mean that they actually use it. So the report can’t say much about the popularity of a filesharing network or application. Secondly, it could be that Azureus and BitTorrent Mainline are installed on almost an equal number of PCs, but that the BitTorrent mainline client is hardly ever used. For instance, novices may start with the mainline client, but move on to better BitTorrent clients later on. Lastly, the report is based on a sample of people who voluntarily did an online spyware scan, something to think about.

Perhaps an even more important comment on the data collection for this report, uTorrent doesn’t necessarily use the Windows registry. So the real install rate for uTorrent might be even higher. Also, Azureus is a true multi-platform client, whilst this test is only for windows based systems.

In summing up we think it is (despite all the flaws) safe to say that uTorrent is becoming more popular while Azureus is losing ground. Whether this is due to negative factors affecting Azureus (such as the rebranding to Vuze, Java or the heavy use of resources), or positive factors around the mainline and µTorrent clients (such as the small install size, and low system requirements) it certainly shows a slide for Azureus.

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It works like this; the user who wants to watch a stream first has to install the BitTorrent DNA application, which is also bundled with the BitTorrent mainline client. When the user plays a BitTorrent accelerated stream it will not only download data, but also upload it to other people who are watching the same stream, similar to a regular BitTorrent download.

Some people have argued that BitTorrent Inc. would use the application (DNA) to let people seed content that they never agreed on downloading, for instance, to speed up the downloads from their entertainment network or sell the bandwidth to others.

However, BitTorrent Inc. CEO Ashwin Navin refutes this rumor and told TorrentFreak: “BitTorrent DNA only accelerates content that a user clicks on. It does not anticipate user wants, or pre-load a user’s PC with content they did not explicitly ask for (via an HTTP request from a webpage). Our terms for DNA require websites to disclose to users why and how DNA improves the experience for video, software, and games with P2P acceleration.”

BitTorrent Inc announced earlier this year that they will launch an ad-supported TV-network this fall. A TV-network powered by BitTorrent’s streaming servoce will have a great advantage compared to competing services, because it saves on resources, and keeps the bandwidth bills relatively low.

ISPs will probably not be happy with P2P streams, because it will increase the bandwidth their consumers are using – so it will cost them more money. The bandwidth war is not over yet.

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Last year, when BitTorrent Inc acquired uTorrent, it was said that the client will continue to have its own website and community for a while. Many expected that the launch of the rebranded uTorrent client as the mainline BitTorrent client would be the end of uTorrent, but this is not the case. When we asked BitTorrent Inc CEO Ashwin Navin about the future of uTorrent and the uTorrent community he told us:

“utorrent.com and uTorrent community will exist indefinitely. It’s vibrant and growing, and we value the feedback provided in the forums a lot. It is not our plan to fold utorrent.com into bittorrent.com, but foster growth for both independently.”

Great news, but some (former) uTorrent users will always have their doubts. Ever since BitTorrent Inc took over, a lot of rumors started popping up, and uTorrent was even banned from several private BitTorrent trackers.

Most people were afraid that uTorrent was sending data to the MPAA or other anti-piracy outfits. These rumors were fueled by the fact that one of the uTorrent Beta releases was marked as a trojan by some anti-virus applications. Here at TorrentFreak we looked into the suspicious behavior reported by some of our readers, but up until now we did not find any hard evidence to support these claims. With Wireshark we tried to replicate the findings reported by some users several times, both on virtual machines and in use systems, but we didn’t find anything suspicious.

But I’m sure this won’t comfort the really paranoid people among us.

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Let’s start off with some screenshots.

The Installation Disk Image

Main Window with Downloads

Click to enlarge.

Speed
The main reason I like uTorrent so much is because downloads are considerably faster in it than in any other BitTorrent client. This held true when I compared uTorrent Mac to Transmission and Xtorrent. The downloads speeds in both couldn’t match uTorrent’s. Azureus was the only one that came close, just as I had expected.

Application Launch Time
uTorrent Mac, just like its Windows counterpart, is super-light. It launches immediately (not even 1 bounce in the Dock!). This is clearly one piece of well-coded software. Probably part of the reason why BitTorrent Inc decided to buy it.

Interface
uTorrent Mac has a simple, yet appealing interface that is easy to use and navigate. It’s not as stylish as Xtorrent’s, but then again, no one can create interfaces like David Watanabe.

Search
Though it may seem that uTorrent has some sort of built-in search functionality, currently only offered by BitRocket and Xtorrent on the Mac, it does not. Typing something such as “HDTV” into the search box and hitting return will merely open a BitTorrent.com search page in your default browser.

Conclusion
It’s too early to draw conclusions but it’s a great first impression, especially for a pre-release version.

It’s worth mentioning that some Mac users such as myself like uTorrent so much, we even prefer running it under emulation than using one of the available Mac BitTorrent clients. uTorrent is not only the most popular Windows BitTorrent client according to a poll we conducted last year, but also the winner of our BitTorrent clients comparison.

Many of you are probably dying to download uTorrent Mac. Hang in there, it’s coming real soon.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Click Here for the Video

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Ashwin Navin, President of BitTorrent Inc has revealed his thoughts on the recent blanket banning of P2P at Ohio University. Noting that the University acknowledges the legitimate uses of Peer to Peer technology but remains firm on the the total ban, Navin doesn’t pull his punches. “By instituting this ban, Ohio University has demonstrated a serious lack of understanding of P2P technology’s value and role on the Internet. Furthermore, the school has closed its doors to innovation and shirked its responsibilities as an educational institution”. Tough talk indeed.

As Navin points out, the term P2P is often used synonymously with ‘Illegal P2P File-Sharing’ but sharing unauthorized files is just the tip of large iceberg of possible applications. Skype, the popular internet communications application and Joost, the forthcoming video distribution platform are both P2P technologies and both are banned at Ohio.

Peer to Peer networks rely on the processing power and bandwidth availability of their users, allowing them to communicate directly, rather than placing a heavy reliance on shifting lots of data through a central server. The P2P method of communication offers massive cost savings over the traditional central server based system, taking online distribution of content away from expensive professionals and into the hands of the cost-conscious, regular internet user.

Students at Ohio will be excluded from the revolution, a point not lost on Navin, “Many artists, along with nonprofit and budget-conscious organizations, depend a great deal on P2P to reduce the costs of publication on the Internet. A blanket ban, then, will cripple the basic Internet experience for the very students and organizations that need it most.”

Looking at the broader issue of the average web user’s endless desire for more bandwidth and it’s toll on the internet’s structure, Navin explains “What Ohio University and others fail to realize is that within P2P lies a much-needed fix for the Internet itself. The way we use the Internet today — to stream YouTube videos, to make Voice over IP calls, or to download software and video games — is actually taxing the capacity of our networks and servers beyond their design. If applied intelligently, P2P can provide more capacity to congested networks by harnessing abundant and unused computing capacity and bandwidth we have in our own PCs”

P2P can help to more evenly distribute stresses on the internet’s structure and to this end, Navin suggests an improvement to our online, digital environment, “The best way to alleviate the stress on the central backbone of the Internet is to decentralize the onus of distribution to a local level using P2P.” Hinting at the bandwidth and costs efficiencies of using P2P he continued, “If P2P is like a hybrid car, BitTorrent is the Toyota Prius.”

In an ironic twist, legitimate online businesses ostensibly set up to combat piracy, will also suffer from the Ohio ban. Navin’s own BitTorrent Entertainment Network is also banned at Ohio. No wonder Aswin and co aren’t happy.

If the likes of the RIAA and MPAA are smug at the news of a total P2P ban at Ohio they probably need to think again. While file-sharing with the outside world may be banned, the trading of material within the school network survives intact via a student operated DirectConnect (DCC+) hub. It offers a huge 3 terabyte library of content with downloads completing many times quicker than those from the banned networks.

Before the ban, the RIAA could monitor external P2P student activity in order to demand cash settlements for alleged copyright offenses. Unfortunately for them they are unable to access the internal DCC+ hub, so the students still get their files plus their privacy back and the university will no longer be plagued by the administrative effects of infringement notices.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.