Azureus Expands Zudeo
There's a tale of two BitTorrents emerging in the online distribution community. On one side is the BitTorrent, Inc. camp and the other is Azureus. Although outwardly very different, the two are both aiming to become successful distribution points for authorized media.Azurues' platform mechanism is an application called Zudeo, released in December of 2006.
It's had a successful introduction so far, with non-copyrighted content being so far the most popular content. The application, based on Azureus 3.0, has an extensive catalog of various trailers, clips, creative commons and home brew material - with an emphasis on high definition content. The community is also encouraged to distribute home brew material for distribution via BitTorrent.Not to be outdone, BitTorrent, Inc. has ramped up its authorized distribution platform as well. Like Azureus, it has an extensive catalog of material. However, it includes a considerable amount of mainstream media, thanks to its position as a movie-industry friendly distribution avenue.
Yet this doesn't mean Azureus is being left out in the cold - quite the opposite. What Azureus lacks in movie-industry interaction it makes up for in sheer popularity. Some estimates place this client at the zenith of the BitTorrent food chain, and it appears that eager distribution companies are ready to take the online plunge.
In a press release announced today, Starz Media has agreed to release a "broad range" of media via Zudeo. Keeping with the Zudeo tradition, the content will be released in high definition video. This is the second major distributor to employ the Azureus platform after the BBC signed up late last year.
“Through this partnership with Azureus, we hope to reach the millions of genre fans online and build upon the avid audience interested in our video titles and series,” said Marc DeBevoise, senior vice president, business development and strategy, Starz Media. “We’re excited about Azureus’ high resolution format and its potential."
Although very different from BitTorrent, Inc., there are some similarities. According to Starz Media, the content released on Zudeo will be released in the Windows Media DRM environment. In addition, GeoFiltering will be applied and enforced by identifying the billing zip code and IP address. So the content won't be free, at least not now.
