By Jeffrey Jolson

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 3/9/08 — With deals already done with NBC Universal, NY-based P2P Pando says it had cleared hurdles with ISPs including Comcast and Verizon to run TV and movies.

Though questions remain, implications are that the peer-to-peer networks, blamed for nearly killing off the music industry, or at least changing it forever, will work with networks and studios without similar results. Films and TV shows have sounder copy-protection than songs which will require their co-operation in file sharing without advanced hacking, which consumers rarely understand or feel comfortable with.

Company CEO Robert Levitan told Hollywood Today “The online business for media companies is a challenging. What we allow is NBC and Universal is to do is go from losing money on every download to making money.”

Most P2P companies such as Napster, Kazaa, Gnutella and others have attempted to cut deals to legitimatize themselves from the category of music pirates. So legit companies working in this area is a new field, with perhaps insurmountable problems ahead.

For one, P2Ps use a huge amount of bandwidth on the Internet, a problem for the ISPs. More important is that companies like Time Warner, Comcast, Verizon, etc., work contently with studios and TV networks. And the studios will do anything to prevent the music industry disaster to happen to them.

“The movie studios and TV networks have learned from the music business, which had no business model, said Levitan. “They can make money; the TV business is doing that now.”

To varied results. TV models generally allow fans to watch a TV show the next day with commercials, maybe in a week without regular commercials. Yet a TV series can get $20 million for its airtime – what makes the industry work. The Internet money is a few hundred thousand, maybe $2 mil if you’re the hit “American Idol” or whatever show of the week.

Same with the film industry. There is no reason to make big films, average cost over $120 million, without the chance of a blockbuster – most fall short anyways. That means you need a strong opening box office weekend – without Internet piracy eating into sales – and huge legit DVD sales after.

Levitan thinks sales tracking will overcome what is the biggest concern at every studio and the reason for the industry labor strike, and continuing strife. “If the studios can track and control the movement, they will be OK with it.”

He added that the Hollywood studios should cut the cost of their product, also unlikely. “What studios have to do is sell DVDs online for less money while reducing their costs where they get better or comparable margins.”

Finally, Levitan said he could bring all HD movies over the Internet, which we would welcome but is a difficult proposition. The ISPs hate the bandwidth usage on even songs at three MBs. HD movies would take about 11 gigabytes. “If peer to peer and ISP’s can work together, then we can deliver HD over the Internet.”

Of course, the studios may have an opinion on that. HD’s increased tech requirements are one of their best defenses against piracy.

Here’s what the company is saying today in their media materials: Pando Networks Releases Results of Global P4P Field Test to Improve P2P Performance in Broadband Networks

Increased Delivery Speeds and Lower Network Costs Achieved Worldwide

Prando Networks, the leading provider of managed peer-to-peer (P2P) content delivery services today made public more details of the recent P4P field test, demonstrating how advanced P2P protocols can increase delivery speeds for consumers, while reducing network delivery costs for Internet service providers (ISPs). The new details revealed by Pando Networks demonstrate significant benefits for national and international broadband networks using multiple technologies including cable, DSL, and fiber.

The results show increased delivery speeds by up to 235% across US cable networks and up to 898% across international broadband networks. The results also show Pando’s ability to use P4P and Pando Network Aware™ technology to rout data internally across the broadband networks instead of pulling data from external sources that put more strain on the networks. For example, across US cable carriers, Pando increased the percentage of data routed internally across their networks from 2.2% to 43.4% of all downloads. This optimization reduced inter-ISP data transfers by an average of 34% (up to 43.8 % in the US and 75.1% internationally) demonstrating that network awareness provides significant network efficiencies for all ISPs.

Initial results of this field test, reflecting data exclusively for the US-based Verizon Communications broadband network, were presented March 14th in New York at the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) P2P MARKET CONFERENCE by Co-Chairs of the P4P Working Group (P4PWG) Laird Popkin (Chief Technology Officer of Pando Networks) and Douglas Pasko (Verizon Senior Technologist). The details released today represent the complete test that was conducted globally and features data collected from more than 3,000 ISPs worldwide.

The technology used in this first P4P field test was developed by engineers at Pando Networks based on research from Yale University. The protocols and specifications are being shared within the P4PWG, which is open to all ISPs and P2P technology providers, and sponsored by the DCIA.

The impact of this new system is wide ranging. It makes the Internet a more scalable media distribution platform while benefiting various online media constituencies. It helps ISPs reduce network operating expenditures as well as enable content owners to distribute longer form, higher quality content.

DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty said, “The global results achieved by Pando Networks in this initial P4P field test exceeded our expectations coming out of preliminary simulation studies. In particular, the fact that P4P demonstrated enormous benefits worldwide for cable as well as telco-based ISPs, and for small as well as large network operators, augurs extremely well for profitable mutually beneficial collaboration.”

“We are certainly thrilled with the results from our global test. Pando is now ready to help ISPs deploy ‘carrier-grade’ P2P technologies,” said Popkin.

As part of the test that began February 21st, Pando Networks delivered video content to more than 1 million people across global broadband networks including AT&T, Bell Canada, Bezeq International, BT, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox, Orange, Sasktel, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Time Warner, Tiscali, and Verizon. Pando used ISP-supplied topological data for some of the networks, such as Verizon and Telefonica, while using proprietary Pando Network Aware™ technology to deliver content across other networks such as Comcast and AT&T.

Commenting on the release of the results, executives from industry leading ISPs indicated support for the initiative and a willingness to participate in more testing.

“Having been involved in the P4P Working Group since its outset, we are very pleased that the initial field tests have validated the extensive simulation studies conducted prior to this important step. We’re interested in approaches to content delivery that are good for users, content providers, and network providers. These trials are a first step in that direction,” said Charles Kalmanek, Vice President – Internet and Network Systems Research, AT&T Labs.

“These newly released test results demonstrate the applicability of P4P to cable ISP infrastructures. The initial results are promising, and we look forward to continuing our mutual efforts with P2P companies distributing legitimate content in order to improve the efficiency of their applications on our network,” said Tony Werner, CTO at Comcast Cable.

“The results of the testing have been phenomenal,” said Pasko of Verizon. “Customer and network benefits to our large US-based telco broadband network were seen as soon as the test began.”

“These results signal a historic turning point in the history of P2P” added Robert Levitan, CEO of Pando Networks. “Finally, ISPs and P2P technology providers can work collaboratively. Our goal is an important one: scale the Internet into a better media distribution platform.”