Vuze Blog

Net Neutrality: Vuze Joins 24 Leading Companies

Today, Vuze co-signed a letter to the FCC supporting an open Internet with a group of 24 internet CEOs and founders, including Amazon, Craigslist, Digg, eBay, Facebook, Flickr, Google, IAC, LinkedIn, Skype, Tivo, Twitter, YouTube, and Zynga.

Back in 2007-08, Vuze was an early advocate for the net neutrality movement when we took Comcast to task for unfairly discriminating against p2p traffic.  The FCC agreed with us, and vowed to prevent cable companies and ISPs from unfairly discriminating against internet traffic in the future.  Since then, we’ve continued to consistently encourage the FCC to actively guard net neutrality.

As a small start-up, this government advocacy takes up valuable time, resources, and executive bandwidth.  However, the Vuze team firmly believes that the net neutrality cause is well worth our efforts.  There is an inherent conflict of interest in network providers (cable companies / ISPs) providing content services while arguing that they should be allowed to prioritize some content types over others.  The Comcast debacle proved the danger of not remaining vigilant, and since then, other cable operators have gone down a similarly dangerous path.

At the end of the day, Vuze simply wants a level playing field.  This is why we continue to advocate net neutrality, and why we were pleased to sign today’s letter, reinforcing the idea that:

An open Internet fuels a competitive and efficient marketplace, where consumers make the ultimate choices about which products succeed and which fail. This allows businesses of all sizes, from the smallest startup to larger corporations, to compete, yielding maximum economic growth and opportunity.

Read more here, here, here, and here.

Gilles

Tags: comcast, fcc, net neutrality, vuze

Vuze Advises FCC On National Broadband Plan

Big Ideas Workshop at the FCC

TV Everywhere is like oil companies saying “Oh you can have all the electric cars you want, as long as you still spend $250/month on gas.”

Last week, Vuze was asked to participate in an FCC workshop focused on Internet TV and its implications for national broadband policy.  The workshop was organized by Jon Peha, the FCC’s Chief Technologist, and aimed to inform the FCC as it charts the course on the National Broadband Plan.  It was great to be back at the FCC again, after our very productive conversation last year surrounding the Comcast throttling issue.

Vuze CEO Gilles BianRosa and FCC Chief Technologist Jon Peha

A few themes emerged from the workshop that I found particularly compelling.

First, within the broadband video ecosystem, we discussed how troubling it is that both the delivery system and the content are dominated by very large incumbents that prefer to operate without meaningful competition. If you think about it, the “TV Everywhere” concept under development by the cable operators is an attempt to ensure that consumers will still pay their TV cable bill, even if they don’t need it anymore. It’s like oil companies saying “Oh you can have all the electric cars you want, as long as you still spend $250/month on gas.”

Second, and very related, online video content should be separate from the network pipes it rides on. There is an inherent conflict of interest in network providers (cable companies / ISPs) providing content services, especially when they’re also arguing that they should be allowed to prioritize some content types over others.

And third, we continued to be your advocate in arguing for the ability to move your content around and watch it anywhere, anytime you want (PC, Mac, Mobile, TV), unencumbered by format incompatibilities and DRM handcuffs. Let’s face it, you already have this benefit through DVDs and MP3s. Why should the broadband video experience be any different?

At the end of the day, as an entrepreneur, I find it really bothering that cable companies are using their two-pronged monopoly (on TV content access and internet access) to arm-twist their way into broadband video, and trying to prevent innovative, more consumer-friendly concepts to emerge. Think about what e-commerce would be today if it had been left to WalMart to invent, instead of Amazon or Ebay…

You can read more in my opening statement posted here and you can view a webcast here.

Gilles

Tags: fcc, vuze

More Devices: Vuze on Tivo and PSP

In March, Vuze set course to unlock your content and give it the wings to get from your Mac and PC to the other screens in your life: mobile and TV.  At the time, support was added for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and iTunes (iPod, iPhone, Apple TV).  Since launch, millions of you have turned on Vuze device support, transferring an average of more than 18+ videos per user to watch on the screen of your choice.  Today, we’re building on this foundation by adding support for Tivo and PSP.

Our goal is simple:  Empower you to watch your content on any screen you want.

Some other companies have taken a different approach by confining their content to a single screen. We believe this is short-sighted. Companies win by listening to you and delivering the products and services you want.

Technology is increasingly making it possible to view HD entertainment on all the screens in your life: PC /Mac, mobile, and TV. In our research, you’ve expressed a strong desire to watch your entertainment anytime, anywhere, on any screen. Vuze is working to deliver on this vision.

But enough with the vision thing.  The real magic lies in the simplicity of Vuze device support.  Devices simply appear in the Vuze sidebar when they’re available.  All you have to do is drag-and-drop to the device of your choice, and prepare to watch your content anywhere you want.

Our goal is to build support for the devices you already own and love. We’re prioritizing based on a few key criteria:

• Your votes
• Quality of video support
• Total installed base.

At this point, we’ve added support for many of the major devices owned by the 10M+ monthly active users in the Vuze community.

That said, we’re just getting started.  So give it a try by downloading the latest version of Vuze.

Find out what it means to live in an open world where your content flows freely between your computer and all the other screens in your life.  You can read more here.

Let us know what you think!

Gilles

1 Million Vuze Device Users, and Counting

In March, we updated Vuze to include the ability for you to watch your videos on any screen – PC, mobile, or TV. We launched our Device feature in beta to quickly iterate and evolve the features based on your feedback.

A few short months later, the numbers speak for themselves. You’ve made it clear, once again, that the ability to watch videos on any screen is important to you:

• As of today, more than 1 million of you have turned on device support
• Over 14.5 million videos have been transferred to watch on iPhone, iPod, Xbox 360 or PS3
• On average, each of you with active devices has transferred over 14 videos to your devices.

Some companies tout reaching the millionth user as a big milestone. Around here, we’re proud to be thinking bigger with you in surpassing 1 million users of a single (though *infinitely* cool) feature within Vuze.  But don’t take our word for it.  Take theirs…  IGN, Engadget, Joystiq, VideoNuze, one happy user, and another happy user.

Looking forward to announcing the 10 millionth device user.

If you haven’t already tried it, check it out now.

Stay tuned for an update on additional devices and features coming soon…

Chris

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

We’ve been making the case for years now that Vuze users are avid entertainment fans and early adopters of hot new technologies.  Recently, we decided to prove it, once and for all.  We set out to gather some data comparing you to the average Internet user.

Let me introduce you to yourselves.

In short, you’re:

• Heavy movie fans
• Avid online video buffs (at the expense of “live” TV)
• Trailblazing tech consumers
• Ultra connected online influencers
• Uniquely attracted to science fiction and animation content.

When it comes to entertainment and tech consumption, there’s no doubt that you’re the fairest of them all.  In fact, you may just be Hollywood’s best customers.

As valued customers, you’ve made it clear on how you want your online entertainment catered to your needs:

• Screen shifting:  More flexibility to watch your content on any screen you want (PC, Mobile, TV)
• Time Shifting:  More ability to download and watch your content whenever you desire
• Higher resolution:  More HD, and less grainy, stuttering, pixelated videos
• Content:  More science fiction and animation.

Your feedback has empowered us to speak on your behalf.  Stay tuned…

For more detail on our findings, download the full summary.

Believe in the Future

“I’m a guy who doesn’t see anything good having come from the Internet.  Period.”

- Michael Lynton, CEO Sony Pictures Entertainment

Over the weekend, I caught up on the news and came across this quote from the CEO of Sony Pictures.  It reminded me of an old quote from a Hollywood leader in a bygone era:

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”

- Harry Warner, President of Warner Brothers (1927)

After getting over my initial disbelief and amusement, I came to realize that it’s tempting to be pessimistic about this new medium.  Media’s early forays onto the Internet showed great promise on the dream of delivering content to consumers  anytime and anywhere.  To date, however, we’ve only delivered on part of the promise.  We’ve built the technologies for distributing media over the Internet, but the industry has only begun to solve the business model side of how we productively monetize this distribution.

As a result, Sony and others find themselves navigating through a formidable set of challenges:

• The Internet has enabled widespread piracy
• The economics of video on demand haven’t emerged (yet) as a viable replacement for the industry’s DVD business
• The music industry’s business model has been disrupted by the “unbundling” of songs (good for users, challenging for the industry)
• Segments of the younger generation are watching less and less TV, and spending more and more time online and playing video games.

Like every other distribution platform before it (radio, TV, VHS, e-commerce), online media distribution is being adopted by users much faster than by content owners and advertisers, thereby leading to a short-term net destruction in value.

So, if you’re a studio executive, how do you begin to navigate these turbulent waters?  One thing is for sure — ignoring the sea change going on around us is not an option.  Cowering in fear at the thought of translating “analog dollars into digital dimes” will have only one effect — converting these dimes into pennies.  Rather, we believe content owners ought to adopt the burning platform paradigm.  Recognize that content distribution will be heavily disrupted anyway, and that the worst strategy is to move too slowly. Instead, experiment like your business is at stake:

• Understand the need to re-think and evolve Hollywood’s traditional licensing windows (ad-supported versus purchase or rental)
• Understand the user experience that end consumers desire (HD versus SD, streaming versus download, PC viewing versus devices)
• Evaluate the real trade-offs that DRM introduces
• Understand WHY people are free-riding content today, since these same people also spend more money than the average Internet users on non-digital platforms (more on this later).

Technological disruption can be brutal and uncomfortable for a CEO in the media industry navigating turbulent waters.  However, nothing good can emerge from a focus on short-term pain rather than long-term gain.  The key is to focus on what’s important to the end consumer, and what this consumer would be willing to pay for what’s important to them.

Consumers are changing.  Let’s change with them, and identify business models that embrace this change.

None of us want to end up with a quote like this to our name:

“While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it to be an impossibility…a development of which we need waste little time dreaming.”

- Lee DeForest, a pioneer in the development of radio (1926)

Gilles

Introducing Vuze To Go

Find, Download, Play from any portable drive

We’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about portability of your content. Across our efforts to deliver your videos wherever, whenever you want them, we’ve been focusing on devices that you already care about and own – notably iPhone, iPod , Xbox 360, and PS3 to date.

In addition, there’s another device that most of you own. Based on a recent survey, 72% of you (Vuze users) own a portable hard drive to carry around your media files. Combine this with the fact that you use an average of 2.9 computers on a weekly basis, and we decided to focus some attention on making it easier for you to take your media with you.

Let’s face it, you don’t always have the ability (or desire) to install Vuze on the multiple computers you use at work, in school, or at a friend’s place. With this in mind, we set out to make it possible for you to run Vuze from the same portable drive where you store your media files, anywhere you go.

To do this, Vuze teamed with a company called Ceedo to create a simple, elegant app we’re calling Vuze To Go - a completely portable, self-contained version of Vuze.

Vuze To Go installs on any portable disk drive, like a USB hard drive or a flash thumb drive, rather than on your computer’s hard drive, and enables access to the full functionality of Vuze – anytime and anywhere. Just plug your portable drive (complete with Vuze To Go) into any PC and you’re ready to go. Vuze will run seamlessly from the portable drive, and all of your downloads can also go directly to that drive. And, like Vuze on your main computer, you’ll be able to play all the content in your Vuze Library even when you’re offline.

For you techies, Vuze to Go contains a virtual operating system, plus your familiar Vuze application.

While the core version of Vuze remains free (and always will), we’re offering a PC version of “Vuze to Go” for only $9.99. Try it out free for 2 weeks, and let us know what you think.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Chris

Now playing, on all your screens

iPhone, iPod, Xbox 360, and PS3

With Vuze, you’ve come to expect full screen HD entertainment on your Mac and PC. What if you could take these HD videos and easily watch them on the TV in your living room, or the iPhone in your pocket? Ask no more.

With today’s release, we’re unlocking your content and giving it wings to get from your Mac and PC to the other screens in your life:  mobile and TV. Welcome to an open world where you own your content, and you can watch it on any screen you want – large or small.

Multiple Devices:
As part of our thinking, we asked you two weeks ago how you wanted to get your HD video from your PC to your mobile and TV.

The results (based on over 25,000 votes tallied in a single weekend) made it clear you care.  Among those responding, more than 80% of you took an interest in at least one device option.

Which devices would you like us to prioritize?

As of today, you’ll be able to watch your videos on iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Vuze has always supported open platforms and technologies, and we’ve designed our device support to embrace as many of the devices you asked for, as possible. Expect more to follow soon.

Smart About Formats In An Open World:
One of the key pain-points in digital video today is the lack of a consistent video format standard. We look forward to a day when the format landscape is no longer fragmented across a dizzying array of file formats: H.264, MPEG-4, divx, wmv, avi… In the meantime, Vuze will serve as your translator so you don’t have to know which type of file is required for playback on a specific device.

Your Content, Playable On Any Screen:
Another key pain-point has traditionally been cumbersome transport between devices.  Beyond the format maze, its been difficult to get videos easily exported to devices - especially game consoles.  The Vuze team spent considerable time thinking through how to simplify this experience.  Simply drag-and-drop files to the device of your choice within Vuze, and then click play on your Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or Apple devices.

As a result, you’re not locked into a single platform, and you can enjoy the best content across multiple platforms and screens.

How does it work?
The first thing you’ll notice when you download the latest version of Vuze is a new Sidebar item called Devices. Turn it on, and take it for a spin.

Turn On Devices Beta in Sidebar

iTunes, PS3, and Xbox 360 will be auto-detected and show up under Devices in your Sidebar (if they’re present on your computer or network).

Drag-and-drop videos from your Vuze Library (or desktop) to the device of your choice.  Vuze will detect whether or not the video format will playback on the device you select, convert the file, if necessary, and make it available for playback on the device.  All you have to do is sit-back and play your HD content on whatever screen you want.

Drag & Drop From Your Library To A Device

For iTunes, Vuze will push the video into your iTunes Library for transfer to your Apple devices.

For PS3 and Xbox 360, simply turn on your console and click the video you want to play.  Vuze will stream the videos from your PC or Mac directly to your game console.

You’re now free to enjoy full screen HD on all your screens.  If you’re anything like us, the first time you transfer a video from Vuze to your iPhone, a smile will cross your face…

Give it a try and let us know what you think.  You can learn more here.  We’re launching the feature in beta so you can help us quickly evolve and improve it.  Awaiting your thoughts…

Gilles

Psst… Quick question for you

Let’s say the Vuze team just happened to be thinking about a top secret project to help you watch downloaded videos on your TV and your mobile devices.  Which device integrations would you want us to elegantly support within Vuze?  We’re strong believers in an open world, and would like to support multiple devices (hypothetically, of course).  Which devices would you like us to prioritize?

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Cox Cable Delaying Traffic: Comcast Revisited?

Like many of you, we’re watching with growing concern recent announcements by Cox Cable that they’ll be taking steps to classify different types of Internet traffic as  “time-sensitive” and “non-time-sensitive,” and may “delay” certain traffic deemed to be “non-time-sensitive.”   Squarely on the list of “non-time-sensitive” (read “second-class citizen”) is all traffic using peer-to-peer protocols.  That includes all bittorrent applications, including your Vuze application.   We take that personally, and think you should too.

Cox outlined their plans at a very high level in their recently published Congestion Management Policy.   The complete list of low priority uses includes:

• File Access (bulk transfers of data such as FTP)
• Network Storage (bulk transfers of data for storage)
• P2P (peer-to-peer protocols)
• Software Updates (managed updates such as operating system updates)
• Usenet (newsgroup related).

That means if you’re engaged in any of these apparently “second-class” activities and the network gets bogged down, you may see your connection slow — even though you’re paying the same price as everyone else for access. Cox’s announcement also notes that the low-priority list may change or expand in the future.  Of course, the one of these that hits home for us (and you) is “peer-to-peer.”

Here’s what concerns us.  While Cox may consider our content and business to be unimportant or of lower priority, all of the content we deliver through the Vuze HD Network is delivered using our bittorrent-protocol-based technology.    That means that when you’re downloading Vuze content using Vuze, whether its a PBS documentary, the latest episode of “Pink” or some great user published content, it will automatically be classified as “non-time-sensitive,” and thus may be subject to delay at Cox’s sole discretion.  Suffice it to say, our 10 million users who access over a petabyte of Vuze HD Network content every month care about “delay” of their content.

This is all both odd and troubling.  On the list of “time-sensitive” activities entitled to higher priority is “streaming video and audio.”  Apparently, Cox doesn’t know or perhaps doesn’t care that we offer a progressive download (“virtual streaming”) option for much of our content.   Like other streaming experiences, you push “Play” and within seconds the content begins playing for the user.  That’s the experience our users expect.  So it would appear that under the new Cox regime YouTube and Hulu (and of course Cox services) are high priority, while Vuze’s similar services are relegated to the back of the bus.

Granted, Cox’s new classification system does not appear to mean that content will be automatically “delayed,” but it’s unclear what the criterion will be for making the determinations of the nature and extent of any delay.  Nor is it clear what the actual impact will be on the Vuze user experience or others who enjoy the benefits of peer-to-peer technologies.  This greatly concerns us.  There’s no doubt that Cox would minimize such potential impact, but we are loath to trust the judgments of a network operator about what does or does not hurt our business, particularly when they too are in the content business.

It also remains to be seen whether Cox’s plan and actions fully comply with the standards enunciated in the FCC’s recent order against Comcast.  Some of you will recall that Vuze became involved last year in a similar controversy with Comcast.  In that case, Comcast was accused of improperly interfering with Internet traffic through the use of false reset packets, also known as the “man in the middle” technique.  Several consumer groups filed complaints at the FCC against Comcast, and Vuze filed a Petition for Rulemaking requesting the FCC to promulgate a set of clear rules that would govern “reasonable network management.”  Vuze even testified at the FCC’s first field hearing at Harvard University.

The FCC eventually came down hard on Comcast, finding that their use of false resent packets was an “unreasonable” network management technique and a violation of Federal law and policy.  In the Comcast case, the FCC found that Comcast’s interference with peer-to-peer protocols appeared to contravene the federal policy of “promot[ing] the continued development of the Internet” because that interference impedes consumers from “run[ning] applications . . . of their choice, … including the video programming made available by vendors like Vuze.”  [Comcast Order, p. 25]

It remains to be seen whether Cox’s techniques will withstand FCC scrutiny, particularly under a new FCC Chairman to be appointed by President Obama, a known supporter of net neutrality.

Not surprisingly, FreePress.net, one of the original complainants against Comcast, was quick to express concern over the Cox announcement:

As a general rule, we’re concerned about any cable or phone company picking winners and losers online. These kinds of practices cut against the fundamental neutrality of the open Internet. We urge the FCC to subject this practice to close scrutiny and call on Cox to provide its customers with more technical details about exactly what it’s doing.”

We join Free Press and others in calling for close scrutiny by the FCC of Cox’s activities affecting peer-to-peer traffic.  In the meantime, we will also be taking steps to monitor instances of actual interference with the delivery of our programming.  Fortunately, this task just got a bit easier thanks to the efforts of Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist, Vint Cerf, and Google who, working with MLab, recently made available online tools for measuring interference with bittorrent traffic.  We encourage all of you to use them and speak out about any irregularities.

Thanks for helping to keep Vuze and the Internet open and free.

Jay Monahan

General Counsel