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Share and share alike

2 comments on Share and share alike

Share and share alike
: I haven’t done a video weblog (aka vlog) in too long because (a) I’m lazy and (b) I’m cheap — that is, I don’t want to find myself with a big bandwidth bill.

The solution to that problem is bubbling up: weblog P2P. It was a topic raised at the Boston weblog conference and now John Robb is raising it again, starting to define how it would work.

Unlike nefarious Napster, weblog P2P would work, Robb says, only via links, not hard-drive searches. Thus the files would be legit. And they’d be served from many webloggers all sharing the bandwidth bill. Content communism.

2 responses to “Share and share alike”

  1. Shamus Avatar
    Shamus

    I love this idea. P2P is, in my opinion, wasted on piracy and pornography. Its a brilliant medium for distributing data, and hasn’t really been put to use in any meaningful way yet.
    I use Kazaa from time to time, and its great for getting something that EVERYONE has, and was the perfect way to find the “Star Wars Kid” movie and all its many forms.
    It would require everyone who participates to download a seperate application, and for it to REALLY work many would have to be willing to leave the app running even when not in use, donating their bandwidth to the cause. Would bloggers adopt such a program?
    I would.

  2. Matt Haughey Avatar
    Matt Haughey

    Brewster Kahle’s Internet Archive has developed a system of caching and mirroring so you don’t get hit with big bandwidth bills: freecache
    They also have a program in beta called “Open Source Movies” that will host your movies free of charge.
    I’ve talked to Brewster Kahle in person about these programs, it’s his feeling that someone’s creativity (like your vlogs) shouldn’t be taxed by bandwidth bills, so he’s hoping to expand this project to allow hosting of any self-created film.