Now video goes peer-to-peer

Here comes the next disruptive Internet technology: Delft University of Technology and the Free University of Amsterdam have launched a new peer-to-peer video player software, Tribler 4.0, which makes it possible to watch video clips via the Internet.

The Dutch universities are making this technology available to broadcasters both in the Netherlands and abroad, and representatives of both the UK’s BBC and the Netherlands Public Broadcasting attended the Tribler launch, sharing their vision on the future of digital television over the Internet, and the likely role of Tribler.

Tribler is based on peer-to-peer technology, which means that everyone who is watching a film is working together to distribute it. For video producers this results in a substantial reduction in the costs of reaching a large audience. P2P networks are structurally different from a server–computer structure, where every user downloads files from one central server. Within P2P the user becomes also an uploader to the next user, removing the need for a central computer that provides every file to all users

Once running, Tribler automatically starts searching other users that have the program running on their computer. When a connection is established it starts exchanging information about files that are available in the network. These files can be personal, or shared files, or files received from another person.

Peer-to-peer technology is used for an increasing number of applications, including telephony, file sharing and chatting, and the Dutch government has funded the I-Share research programme, which aims to develop peer-to-peer technology such as video distribution.

I-Share project is part of the Dutch national Freeband knowledge infrastructure program.

Since the start of the Tribler project last year, researchers from several university faculties have worked on Tribler 4.0. Internally it uses new technology related to direct playback, recommendation and cooperation. Field results from these subsystems will provide new scientific insights. Tribler4.0 usability is also improved as a result of feedback from users of previous Tribler versions.