BitTorrent Urges Netflix to Switch to P2P, Netflix Exploring It

[Poke]

Make the switch.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/...-to-Switch-to-P2P-Netflix-Exploring-It-128730

 

[king3pj]

Make the switch.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/...-to-Switch-to-P2P-Netflix-Exploring-It-128730

I like the sentiment but I don't think this is the answer. I don't use Bit Torrent myself but I know how it works. It was very popular when I was in college and students would constantly have their dorm internet suspended for the rest of the week for going over their weekly data limits. The reason they were going over their limit wasn't because they were downloading to much illegal music. It was because their computers were constantly uploading files in the background to other users and they weren't smart enough to turn that off.

P2P services like bit torrent rely on individual users like us being the server for others to download from. Files you download from bit torrent are then made available for other people to download from you. They pool this all together so that one person trying to download can be getting bits from several different uploaders who have that file on their computer at the same time. That way a bunch of people with upload speeds much slower than a typical download speed can add up to make acceptable transfer speeds.

This is the way it would work in Netflix's case. You want to watch an episode of The Walking Dead on Netflix. That episode is then stored on your computer for you to watch. When someone else wants to watch that episode from Netflix you and a group of other Netflix customers who have that episode stored on their computers would upload it to the new user who wants it. This would happen in the background without you necessarily even knowing about it.

That's all fine and dandy for a free service like Bit Torrent. I have a big problem when a service I pay for like Netflix wants to do it though. I pay them to watch videos. I do not pay them to turn my computer into one of their servers. I do not pay them to take up storage space on my computer. I do not pay them to slow down my internet connection and eat up my data limit by uploading files off my computer to other users.

 

[king3pj]

Here is another problem. They would likely still need to run some of their own streaming servers. Most of us who watch Netflix probably don't do it on a computer. Two other big streaming services I know of that use P2P are Spotify and Vudu. Both of those services only use you as an upload server if you use your computer to do the streaming. As far as I know they haven't figured out how to turn devices like an Apple TV, Roku, or game console into an upload server. This means that all those people using a computer would be uploading tons of data while those of us using a streaming box wouldn't be uploading any. They probably wouldn't be able to meet all the streaming demand using only people who watch Netflix on a computer as their servers.

Gaming consoles have pretty large internal storage these days but devices like the Apple TV and Roku have practically none. Even in the case of gaming consoles I don't see Sony or Microsoft letting Netflix take hardware resources away from gaming to upload files.

 

[Tampa8]

You are right on. This just doesn't make sense as a solution.

 

[king3pj]

You are right on. This just doesn't make sense as a solution.

They would have to make the service free for uploaders to get me to be ok with it. Even then I think I'd rather pay the $8.

 

[77TA]

About the only way I see it working would be to make it voluntary with credit given to those who choose to participate. Kind of like someone with solar panels giving excess electricity back to the grid.

 

[mike123abc]

I still do not see any way for this to work for Netflix. They have all licensed copyrighted material, how are they going to spread it around so much and keep control.

 

[TheKrell]

I don't know this, but I'm pretty sure content is already spread around among Netflix servers. So, this would just be a broadening of that spread.

 

[king3pj]

I don't know this, but I'm pretty sure content is already spread around among Netflix servers. So, this would just be a broadening of that spread.

Yes, they are currently spread among lots of servers around the world that they own or rent. This is different though. Peer-to-peer (p2p) means that one customer (peer) is uploading the content that another customer (peer) is trying to stream. They're saying that this could prevent throttling because it would be tougher for ISPs to tell which data is Netflix streaming when it's being downloaded from thousands of customer owned computers instead of the dedicated servers Netflix leases.

It would greatly reduce Netflix's bandwidth costs because instead of them paying to stream content into Comcast's network their customers would be uploading that data for them. They wouldn't be the first company to do this (Vudu, Spotify) but I'm strongly against it. I don't want them offloading their data load to my computers and internet connection. I don't ever have a problem with data caps being a cord cutter but if I was uploading to other Netflix users even when I'm not actually streaming myself I have no doubt that I would. This is why I never stream Spotify from a computer. I only use my iOS devices and my Onkyo AVR's built in app. Those devices aren't part of the p2p network, at least not on the uploading side.

 

[mike123abc]

Does Vudu even really use P2P any more? They abandoned their boxes years ago.

 

[Ronnie-]

I do not think that they do. It worked well enough when they had their own stand alone boxes, and that is really the only way I could see this working well.

 

[king3pj]

Does Vudu even really use P2P any more? They abandoned their boxes years ago.

I do not think that they do. It worked well enough when they had their own stand alone boxes, and that is really the only way I could see this working well.

After doing some research it doesn't look like they have been using P2P since Wal-Mart bought them in 2010 except on the boxes they built. I didn't hear about that change but I remember hearing a big outcry when people realized that they were doing that in the beginning.

 

[king3pj]

https://torrentfreak.com/spotify-starts-shutting-down-its-massive-p2p-network-140416/

After a little more research I found this article from 2 weeks ago. Basically it says that Spotify has started to phase out p2p and move to central servers. This was never a factor for me using my Onkyo or iOS devices but they have been using computer listeners as upload servers for years without really advertising that fact. The streaming industry (Vudu and Spotify) has abandoned p2p networks. Netflix would be crazy to shift to a p2p model now when data caps are becoming more and more prevalent. I don't see this happening.

Edit: that article also gives some insight into how p2P works and why it's cheaper for a streaming service like Spotify or Netflix to use it.

 

[mike123abc]

It might be cheaper for the company to use P2P, but a user that has is bandwidth cap blown by one of these services would not be very happy...

 

[Yespage]

I'd presume streaming MP3 is a tad easier on the uploading than MP4.

 

[jevans64]

They would have to provide the hardware at no cost to anyone wanting their experience to work this way. They could use the " Private Tracker " model, where free download credits are given when a certain amount of data is uploaded. Like others have stated, I think NetFlix is just trying to skirt the throttling by ISPs before they are nickled and dimed to death.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I'm sorry but I do not like this. I will not be a server for someone else. To each their own bandwidth.

 

[mike123abc]

I'm sorry but I do not like this. I will not be a server for someone else. To each their own bandwidth.

I do not see this happening with copyrighted material. As mentioned above I think it simply wild speculation by the P2P enthusiasts.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Ok, good deal.. I think it would be a bad idea.

 

[comfortably_numb]

While not exactly the same thing, Comcast is doing something similar- they are turning their leased cable modem gateways into public hotspots for other customers to use. I didn't like them using my gateway to create a "cloud" for other customers so I bought my own. I don't see how companies can get away with "socializing" their networks like this. Sounds like P2P for Netflix would be the same idea- socialized storage and bandwidth. They won't be using MY computer as a sever for others to use. Sorry if that sounds selfish!