March of the Diggs: Trent Reznor to be on Digg Dialogg
Every so often, the social voting news site Digg holds a “Digg Dialogg,” a chance for Digg community members to submit and vote on questions that will be asked of an interesting and/or powerful person. The latest announced guest is certainly interesting: Trent Reznor, founder of the rock band Nine Inch Nails, Digg co-founder Kevin Rose announced on the company blog today.
Reznor has long been a critic of digital rights management (DRM) as an effective… Continue Reading
OneSwarm delivers new way to share files anonymously
Today, virtually everyone is a content provider. But content distributed through BitTorrent trackers can be monitored by third parties, a fact some users don’t like. Third parties can, for example, monitor sharing and then use the data for marketing purposes.
Enter OneSwarm, a file sharing application made by some of the same developers who created the BitTorrent client BitTyrant. Instead of transmitting data directly from sender to receiver and identifying them both, the OneSwarm application forwards data through multiple… Continue Reading
BitTorrent loses its $17M funding?
The news continues to be bad for file-sharing startup BitTorrent, according to a report at TechCrunch, which claims the San Francisco company’s recent $17 million venture round has been substantially reduced.
In a letter reportedly sent to shareholders, BitTorrent chief executive Eric Klinker writes that the company raised its third round led by DAG Ventures in May and June of this year. But changes to the company’s business model and projections spurred DAG to demand that… Continue Reading
BitTorrent picks up $17 million as it shifts gears
Coming on the heels of our post yesterday morning about BitTorrent’s new partnerships, it has emerged that the company has taken on $17 million in new financing, according to a filing ferreted out by peHUB.
The funding is a surprise, because BitTorrent’s business hasn’t been growing as strongly as the company anticipated. While CEO Doug Walker expected strong business from video companies, who need to distribute their content, demand for BitTorrent’s peer-to-peer sharing platform has been… Continue Reading
BitTorrent finally inks a pair of game partnerships, but no video yet
Peer-to-peer content delivery system BitTorrent has signed on two new partners, Aeria and IAHGames, who will use the company’s DNA network to deliver content for their massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs).
It’s good to finally see some news out of BitTorrent. The company went quiet after confirming a rumour early in August that it was laying off 12 employees, or about 20 percent of its work force. Afterward, it denied suggestions that it was refocusing its… Continue Reading
Comcast gets a wrist-slap from FCC over blocking P2P, just as anti-P2P bill passes Congress
The Federal Communications Commission this morning took the expected step of passing a cease-and-desist order for Internet service provider Comcast, which has persistently blocked or “throttled” peer-to-peer traffic using the Bittorrent protocol on its networks.
Mostly symbolic, the rule will likely be overturned on a court appeal, as the FCC has not been given formal authority to regulate how ISPs handle their traffic. However, it should help to bring a long-contested issue to a head.
P2P traffic… Continue Reading
BitTorrent’s plan: Ride the video wave to the bank
For almost a year, a private war of sorts has been waged on the tubes of the Internet: A handful of large Internet service providers, challenged by the traffic loads caused by peer-to-peer file sharing protocol Bittorrent, have been secretly, persistently blocking Bittorrent traffic. The community has fought back, enlisting media and political support to force the ISPs to observe Net neutrality — the concept of treating all traffic equally.
It’s a fight with broad implications,… Continue Reading
BitTorrent and Comcast have a deal, but is P2P really safe?
Peer-to-peer traffic on the internet appears to have received a temporary reprieve this morning, with an announcement by major internet service provider Comcast that it will stop specifically targeting BitTorrent traffic on its networks and instead focus on limiting only the heaviest bandwidth users, regardless of which download protocol they use.
P2P traffic is essentially a technique for spreading data transfers through a cloud of users’ computers, rather than sending data directly from a commercial server… Continue Reading
BitTorrent’s Bram Cohen moves back to development team
Bram Cohen, the inventor of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer sharing protocol and founder of the company of the same name, has stepped down as chief executive.
The company has named a new Doug Walker its new CEO, and Cohen will move into the position of chief scientist, once again focusing on the company’s P2P technology. We speculated almost a year ago that Cohen (pictured here) would need to step out of the CEO role as the company… Continue Reading
Video delivery is hot: Move Networks raises $34M, BitTorrent’s surprise
Move Networks, a company offering video delivery technology for customers such as ABC, Fox, CW, Televisa, Discovery and ESPN.com, has raised a whopping $34 million round of capital.
This makes Move one the best funded video delivery companies out there. Late last year, it raised $11.3 million. The company is helping the large broadcasters get online, and competes against a number of other well-funded companies, such as Brightcove. These companies could put a dent in plans… Continue Reading
BitTorrent’s big day
BitTorrent, the San Francisco start-up that has long been considered a renegade by the movie industry, opened up a new movie store today with full backing by Hollywood studios.
The move is significant because the company’s founder, Bram Cohen created the Bittorrent protocol, a popular file-sharing program that used peoples’ computers to distribute movies across the Internet for free, and it became one of the most popular tools for pirates.
However, his company, also called BitTorrent, now… Continue Reading
Joost, BitTorrent offering new ways for you to get video
Joost and BitTorrent, two start-ups focused on bringing video to your home using cheap peer-to-peer communication networks, are making progress.
Joost, the company launched by the co-founders of popular Internet phone company Skype, announced a deal with Viacom to bring a range of Viacom content (from properties like MTV Networks, BET Networks and Paramount Pictures) for free to its TV platform. Joost is still in testing mode. But the agreement is significant, because it brings content… Continue Reading
BitTorrent acquires uTorrent
BitTorrent, the San Francisco file sharing company that just received $20 million in venture backing to boost its video distribution offering, has just acquired the popular uTorrent application.
The amount was undisclosed. Like BitTorrent, uTorrent uses the same popular “bittorrent” protocol to distribute its files. But uTorrent’s application is lightweight and high-performance version, popular with Windows
The combination helps BitTorrent’s in its efforts to stake out a leading role in video distribution, as it cuts deals… Continue Reading
File sharing company BitTorrent raises $20M
Plenty of rumors have circulated about BitTorrent, the popular San Francisco file-sharing company, speculating on its latest funding round and the fate of its brilliant chief executive.
Here’s word from the horse’s mouth: BitTorrent has raised $20 million in its second round of capital, led by Silicon Valley firm Accel Partners, the company told VentureBeat earlier Thursday. Existing investor DCM participated. And while we don’t know what will happen with Bram Cohen, we came away from… Continue Reading
BitTorrent trys to avoid squeeze — strikes deals, raises more cash?
San Francisco’s BitTorrent used to enjoy all the buzz surrounding video downloading. Its peer-to-peer file sharing technology allowed for cheap, easy distribution at a time when video streaming technologies were nascent. That’s changed, despite its announcement today of deals struck with major studios.
Today, it will unveil deals with Paramount, MTV Networks, 20th Century Fox and some other studios. Users will be able to purchase or rent movies from these sources, in a video store to… Continue Reading
“Young Guns” form secret Silicon Valley society
That’s what Rolling Stone wants you to believe, in its latest edition. In a story called “Baby Billionaires of Silicon Valley,” Rolling Stone catches up with a group nine entrepreneurs who get together to strategize. This is another hype job, since none of these people are billionaires. (Update: Blake Ross, in comment below, says this is no secret society, and headline is wrong.)
From the piece:
That’s why they’ve gathered here tonight. This is one of the… Continue Reading