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

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

10 Million Strong and Growing

The broadband video space is getting a lot of coverage these days.  Beyond the hype of 2008, we can see the industry getting serious about building real online video businesses in 2009. I’d like to address a couple myths that seem to permeate the industry, and report on some interesting stats about Vuze.

Myth #1 — Consumers won’t download a video application.
According to our internal data (and Google and Quantcast), we’ve just passed the milestone of 10 million monthly uniques to our content portal, the Vuze HD Network.  We’ve been thrilled at the way our community has embraced the new design of Vuze 4.0, and think this disproves the conventional wisdom that people are only willing to stream videos from their web browser.  People do download applications that have compelling value propositions.  It’s the case for iTunes and Skype, and it’s the case for Vuze, which enables our users to Find, Download, and Play great videos – in HD – anytime, anywhere.

Myth #2 — Online video viewers are not engaged.
Well, this might not be a myth for some services, but we were surprised when we read research from TubeMogul, entitled How Much of a Typical Online Video Is Actually Watched?  This piqued our curiosity, so we did some number crunching and found that Vuze HD Network viewers are far less likely to drop off at any point during the video than the average web viewer watching a short-form web video.  This culminates in Vuze viewers being a full four times more likely to watch a five-minute video all the way to the end than the viewer of an average web video.

We suspect that more people watch videos to completion on the Vuze HD Network because they find content that is relevant to them, and because they love the superior picture and sound quality.  Which would you rather watch – grainy pixilated web video streams, or stunning full screen HD videos?

Some Interesting Stats About Vuze:
Here at Vuze, we haven’t been concentrating on industry buzz or PR.  We’ve been quietly focusing all our resources on building features for our growing community of users.   The results speak for themselves:

• Since our Vuze 4.0 launch in mid-October, 1 million unique users have signed up for the new Subscriptions feature, and more than 8 million total subscriptions have been created.
• Total Friend Connections among our users (to share content and get faster downloads) have increased more than 350% since mid-October.
• Search traffic on Vuze has increased more than 700% since June 2008, with our users currently conducting more than 1 million search queries per day.
• In the past 3 months, we’ve gotten more than 45,000 emails from our users with comments, constructive suggestions, and support for the direction we’re headed. In the words of one user (Josh K) who recently reached out to us:

I had this client since its humble beginnings - and I feel compelled to say that I believe Vuze is to other torrent clients as iTunes is to other music players. In my mind, that’s an accomplishment. Keep on in the direction you’re going - it’s awesome!

Thanks, Josh - and thanks to everyone who is using Vuze. We have a bunch of things in the hopper that we think will give the product a whole new dimension.  With our efficient cost structure and amazing technology, we’ll continue to innovate and scale into 2009 and beyond.

Stay tuned,

Gilles

The low down on downloading

Last week, Ernesto from Torrent Freak asked us a question, “What are your top tips for optimizing download speed?” so our co-founder and CTO, Olivier Chalouhi set to responding. Seems to me that as many people as possible should profit from his wise words, so here they are:

1. Seed. Downloading speeds will be sub-optimal for everyone unless everyone plays their part and seeds. Private tracker sites are a great example of how the overall speed of the swarm increases when everyone is seeding and downloading in equal measure. So, play your part in seeding and tell others to as well.
2. Be connectable. Make sure you’re not fire-walled by opening up your incoming ports or by enabling UPnP in your router otherwise you’ll be leaving bandwidth on the table.
3. Manage your upload speed. It is all about striking a balance. You don’t want the upload speed to be too high, nor do you want it to be too low. Ideally you want to set your upload speed to be 80% of the maximum possible line speed.
4. Select the right torrents. Your download will be faster if you choose to download a torrent where there is a good balance of seeds and peers. For instance, Vuze ranks its search results according to the number of seeds and peers to make this easier.
5. Be realistic. Check the swarm average and if you’re already above average, then you just need to be patient. If you’re below average, go back and check some of these other things I’ve mentioned.
6. Get a Friend Boost. I wouldn’t be a Vuze developer if I didn’t give a plug for the Friend Boost feature we recently developed. When you create a network of Friends on Vuze, you agree to seed content to each other on a preferential basis. That is, if one of your friends has a torrent that you want, you will be able to directly use a portion of their bandwidth to get it. In most cases this will increase your download speed.

Obviously ways in which to actually implement some of these tips will differ from client to client. If you want to find out how to do it on Vuze, you can check out our wiki.

Happy downloading.

The next step towards an open and free Internet

FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin’s conclusion last week that Comcast had been improperly blocking bittorrent traffic was, for us, a major milestone in what has been an exciting journey that began in November of last year.

We had known for some time that ISPs were throttling bittorrent traffic, and we realized that our vantage point on the industry put us in a unique position to stand up for what’s right. So we decided we had to take action. We filed a petition with the FCC asking them to put in place clear rules on the issue of ISP network management practices.

Since then we have testified at an FCC hearing at Harvard, attended a second hearing at Stanford, joined with our community to monitor traffic throttling practices, and published our findings. All along the way, we have been overwhelmed by the support we have received from our community of users, from their comments in forums to their participation in collecting data with our plug-in.

So, we were thrilled to learn of Chairman Martin’s conclusion and to hear that he agreed with our cry of “foul!”. We were particularly pleased that Chairman Martin asked Comcast to be transparent with consumers about their past practices and future plans for network management. From the outset we have said that, to be fully effective, rules must be accompanied by a requirement for transparency into what ISPs are actually doing.

The Chairman’s statements do not yet represent the view of the full Commission. However, we hope the other four Commissioners have the courage to follow Chairman Martin’s lead and adopt a decisive order condemning the use of the “man in the middle” technique and other similar network management tactics. And while we await the Commission’s decision, we will continue to push for the rules we believe are required to create an open and free Internet that will benefit consumers everywhere.

Jay and the Vuze Team

Who made the most Friends?

The time has come and our competition to make the most Friends has ended. So that the lucky winners of our limited edition t-shirts don’t get mobbed with Friends requests, I won’t publish their names here, but suffice to say, they will be notified and their t-shirts will be winging their way to them shortly.

Now, don’t stop making Friends just because the competition is over. Being Friends on Vuze is the best way to share torrents quickly, easily and securely. Better still, by being Friends on Vuze you can increase your download speed as you give each other preferential treatment when it comes to seeding. Don’t just take my word for it, see what an early fan has to say.

And if you want to add me as a Friend, feel free, I’m mobrien. I hope to share with you soon.

Micky