JamieG Analysis

There has been much noise coming from main stream and blogs about how the internet will grind to a halt if we all started to download large media files. For example, if we move away from DVD distribution to online distribution. What everyone expect to happen eventually.

I have heard a good example of this in that, the day a very popular movie was released, millions of DVD where sold. The internet simply does not have anywhere near the capacity, even with future predictions of massive increase in data throughput.

But looking at DVD duplication, the same issues also exist. When this big movie was released, they would have needed to press so many copies that doing it in one pressing plant would be impossible.

A number of MASTERS would have been distributed to pressing plants around the world. This would also reduce shipping costs.

So in real terms, the Master was distributed to PROXY agents who distributed for that region.

This also use to be a problem on the internet. How many people would remember the days or WEB-PROXIES? Back when the web was reasonably static and bandwidth was at a premium. Each ISP would have its own PROXY server with a few terabytes of storage to cache content. It saved the ISP a lot of money as they did not have to download the content every time a customer hit a particular website. It would download it once, keep a copy, and send that to any other customer that requested the same content.

Proxy-Web server developed into a standard. They have largely been ignored now as, relatively, the bandwidth is cheap now, and also web pages have become dynamic in nature. (They change all the time) so caching them has become redundant.

These are mature and well understood problems and solutions.

Another technology that is similar to this is P2P (Peer 2 Peer) networking. For example, torrents, emule and other software that is by and large, used to download illegal content.

I find it VERY strange that a new P2P proxy standard has not been developed. It makes complete sense that ISP’s do exactly what they did in the early days. Implement a NEW proxy standard for P2P networks. A “Torrent Proxy” if you will.

Media files could not be more ideal for this. They are large and expensive to move around. They clog up links. They are VERY static.

If such a standard was created and many ISP’s implemented it, distribution of a Movie as fast as it can be done on DVD would be very realistic even on TODAYS INTERNET.

This would save everyone involved a pile of money.

However, no one is talking about this. No one is holding up the common sence flag!

Now, I don’t really have a good reason WHY this has not happened, but here are a few ideas.

1. No one is willing to support a P2P proxy when largely it is used for illegal content. And the media companies have gone after ISP’s have that setup queasy P2P proxies in the past.

2. The big media companies have not realised that DRM, by its nature, will not work. The internet was designed by the military to bypass any obstacle. So does the nature of consumers who want content. DRM can ALWAYS be subverted by at the very least, the analog hole. There will ALWAYS be copies of all content flying around the big COPY machine that is the Internet.

If we accept these issues as a given, it makes no sense NOT TO IMPLEMENT P2P proxy standards for ISP’s to implement. This will save them money, and ultimately the consumer.