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March 10, 2004
BitTorrent, RSS and Broadcatching, Catching On
Posted by Ernest Miller
Bad pun, I know. So sue me.
Today I've come across a couple of posts relating to the revolutionary idea of Broadcatching, that is, using RSS and BitTorrent as a new distribution channel.
A new blog, Outside the System, authored by an indie media producer, discusses in detail how broadcatching could be an alternate distribution channel for movies (BitTorrent + RSS = Broadcatching):
These margins and the edges of cost and value are a hamper on the real blossoming of video distribution on the Web, and can only be aggregated so far out of the way. P2P swarming technology is the only current viable route to break that stalemate by spreading at least part of the costs away from your own bandwidth pipe, but under a system like BitTorrent that's only really useful if there are a lot of people with fully download copies to swarm from (so you have a classic tipping point model of efficiency.) Promotion preceeds adoption preceeds efficiency.
The brilliance of an RSS approach, though, is that it builds in at least two important features that BitTorrent alone doesn't address. First, it provides a method of propogation through editorial filters -- a successful editor picking new BitTorrent works could help create an instant rush to the tipping point, in the process decreasing the cost of bandwidth on each copy. Second, it turns BitTorrent into a subscription system, one where your system automatically collects new content of a large size overnight (for example.)
Read the post for a concrete example of how expensive traditional internet distribution is and how broadcatching can alleviate this problem.
The film used as an example, because the author of the post executive produced it, is Nothing So Strange , which documents the aftermath of the assassination of Microsoft's chairman Bill Gates on December 2, 1999. Bonus cool factor: Bill Gates Assassination Film Goes "Open Source," Releases "Evidence" DVD:
"Nothing So Strange" will be released under a license that allows all of the "source" footage of the movie to be used without restriction, in personal or commercial projects, but keeps the actual film as created by the filmmaker under copyright. "You have free access to all the parts of the movie," said Flemming. "But you can't just copy our version of it--you have to make your own original work with the various parts."
Waxy.org pointed me to a collection of links to blogs that post MP3 files (mp3 blogs/rotation etc.). For example:
Could it be more obvious that MP3 blogs would benefit from broadcatching?
For more information on Broadcatching, see also:
BitTorrent + RSS = The New Broadcast
Broadcatching - Not Broadcasting
Broadcatching - The Early Days
RSS + BitTorrent Announcement Soon?
Comments (3)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Blogging and Journalism | Broadcatching/Podcasting | File Sharing | RSS
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Ernest Miller pursues research and writing on cyberlaw, intellectual property, and First Amendment issues. Mr. Miller attended the U.S. Naval Academy before attending Yale Law School, where he was president and co-founder of the Law and Technology Society, and founded the technology law and policy news site LawMeme. He is a fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.
Ernest Miller's blog postings can also be found @
1. Cypherpunk on March 10, 2004 11:54 PM writes...
One thing I don't understand about this BT+RSS concept. Do you literally mean Bittorrent as we know it today, with its particular strengths and weaknesses? Or is this just a generic term for P2P file transfer?
Consider the differences between BT and P2P, as they would be used to distribute a file. First, BT can start re-distributing it (that is, a downloader becomes an uploader) before the file is finished. P2P will re-distribute it only after the file is finished downloading. Second, BT can only re-distribute when people are nice enough to keep their particular BT client running even after the download finishes. P2P will generally allow for redistributing any data which has been downloaded, no matter how long ago it was.
Now, how do these play out in this "broadcatching" idea? The first feature, immediate redistribution, is advantageous for BT primarily for large files. With a 3 MB song, the download is finished in a few minutes and so redistribution is ready almost right away, for both P2P and BT. But with a multi GB video that may take many hours to download even on a typical broadband system, BT has a real advantage as the redistribution can start amost immediately. So if broadcatching is considered primarily in terms of video content, BT is a better model. But for audio or text content, the more generic P2P would be just as good.
The second feature, persistence of redistribution, is an advantage for P2P primarily for data which doesn't have much timeliness. In the context of RSS, the idea presumably is that people want to get the data soon after it is available, so timeliness is important. In that case P2P's advantage is nullified and either BT or P2P would work about as well.
By this analysis, "broadcatching" of video would be best implemented with BT, although it would be good if the data could also be put onto a regular P2P network for the benefit of those who want to download older episodes. Other, less volume intensive forms of content wouldn't benefit from BT's unique features and could be handled by using RSS to announce the availability of the information on a regular P2P network.
The ideal system would be something that combined the best of both: a P2P system enhanced to allow uploads before the file has completed, using similar chunking and distribution algorithms as BT. This would provide rapid redistribution of large, high-demand files; while still making them widely available for an extended period of time.
Permalink to Comment2. Ernest Miller on March 11, 2004 04:49 AM writes...
There are a variety of improvements one could make to either P2P or BT, depending on the particular application you are considering.
Permalink to Comment3. mark sailes on May 22, 2004 01:05 PM writes...
Buttress is a java implementation of boardcatching
Permalink to Commenthttp://buttress.sailes.co.uk/