The ABC and bitTorrent – you heard it first on Troppo!
Posted by Nicholas Gruen on Tuesday, August 22, 2006
I was recently banging on about the ABC and podcasting re-iterating Steven Bounds’ suggestion that the ABC could lower the cost of distributing podcasts by distributing them over BitTorrent when the very next day I hear that the ABC are considering doing just that.
The ABC is also considering file-sharing technologies such as BitTorrent to make it easier for users to download large video files, Mr Moran [ABC new media and digital services technical production manager] says.
“Our research is indicating that significant enough numbers of our audience have faster connections now and we are certainly actively considering using BitTorrent,” he says.
“There’s a feeling that we might lag a little bit behind actual audience capacity and expectation, and I think the commercial networks more so than us but we are actively considering it.
“I’d like to see it as soon as possible.”
Veryily it will be a good thing. Except then I’ll need to work out how to get BitTorrent to work :(.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006 at 11:47 PM and filed under Economics and public policy, Uncategorised.
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It is indeed good news. Especially because it shows the ABC is up with the right technology. Torrent is easy. You’ll be fine.
Posted on 23-Aug-06 at 1:46 am | PermalinkGood on ole Aunty. As FXH said torrenting is easy and very friendly.
Posted on 23-Aug-06 at 9:24 am | PermalinkDon’t try using Morpheus tor Bit Torrent on your employer’s network – not because of copyright issues – but because it can open up the network and set off alarms all over your IT department. I installed Morpheus last month and was downloading a file just before lunch. By the time I got back to my office to find a swarm of IT guys who had shut down my computer.
Posted on 23-Aug-06 at 12:59 pm | PermalinkWhat Chris says is true — BitTorrent is currently not looked on with kind eyes by most corporate IT personnel, and will either be blocked altogether or treated as a breach of Appropriate Use Guidelines. Definitely a home use technology at the moment …
It gets blocked for much for the same reasons that Instant Messaging networks such as MSN Messenger and ICQ are considered a Bad Thing — it’s seen as bypassing all the firewalls and other layers of corporate protection put in place, and a big time-waster.
In other words, we’re currently seeing the classic knee-jerk reaction to new technology — just like with email and the Internet. In 3-5 years I suspect that BitTorrent will be an integral part of most corporate IT systems — distributed, reliable file transfer is just too useful to ignore.
Posted on 24-Aug-06 at 2:46 am | PermalinkDon’t use it at work.
But at home – download a tiny but feature-packed client called “utorrent”, install an anti-corporate-spying program (peerguardian 2) and then you’re ready to go. Torrents of all types (and states of legality) can be found at mininova.org and isohunt.com.
Posted on 25-Aug-06 at 1:32 pm | Permalink