BitTorrent, Inc.

Infobox_Company
company_name = BitTorrent, Inc.
company_
company_type = Private company
company_slogan = All together now.
foundation = 2004
location = San Francisco, California, USA
key_people = Doug Walker, CEO Ashwin Navin, Co-founder & President Bram Cohen, Co-founder & Chief Scientist Eric Klinker, CTO
num_employees = 60 (2008)
industry = Internet Software & Services
products = Content Delivery Content Aggregation Internet Video-on-demand
homepage = [http://bittorrent.com/ www.bittorrent.com]

BitTorrent, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, is an American corporation that develops peer-assisted Internet content delivery technology based on the BitTorrent protocol. The company was founded on September 22, 2004 by Bram Cohen and Ashwin Navin, BitTorrent's Chief Scientist and President respectively. BitTorrent, Inc. also maintains the BitTorrent protocol.

Business model

The company has announced three main business lines: content aggregation at http://www.bittorrent.com where the company, on February 25, 2007, released a web-based store to distribute movies, TV shows, music, and video games. The company also licenses its technology, called BitTorrent DNA (Delivery Network Accelerator), [ [http://www.bittorrent.com/dna?csrc=splash BitTorrent DNA ] ] to websites "to add the speed and efficiency of patented BitTorrent technology to their current content delivery infrastructure, significantly reducing bandwidth costs while increasing capacity over standard HTTP delivery solutions." The third product offering is the BitTorrent Software Development Kit (SDK) for consumer electronics and home networking hardware manufacturers. [ [http://www.bittorrent.com/about BitTorrent » Company ] ]

The BitTorrent online destination features downloadable and ad-supported streaming content.

BitTorrent DNA allows website developers to overlay their content delivery network (CDN) vendor with BitTorrent's P2P CDN, built on the company's widely used client software. One should be able to expect dramatic cost savings using P2P bandwidth relative to the cost of CDN bandwidth, however ISPs may view this as an unattractive application of their network capacity.

In the words of the company's president: "BitTorrent has fundamentally changed the Internet by enabling high-speed and high-quality content distribution on the web," said Mr Navin. "Today we have announced the role BitTorrent.com will play as a hub for consumers to enjoy their favorite entertainment, but we see a future that involves BitTorrent's content delivery platform powering thousands of websites, including those of content creators themselves." [ [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/10e2522c-8018-11db-a3be-0000779e2340.html FT.com / Technology - Film industry bows to BitTorrent ] ]

The BitTorrent SDK (or what the company calls "BitTorrent Certified" program) offers compatibility between hardware, such as Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions and other Internet-enabled devices, and the BitTorrent client.

Partners

According to the Company's website, the company has announced partnerships with some many companies, [ [http://www.bittorrent.com/about/partners BitTorrent » Partners ] ] [ [http://www.bittorrent.com/about/press/bittorrent-inc-launches-the-bittorrent-entertainment-network BitTorrent » pressreleases ] ] including:

* 20th Century Fox [http://www.bittorrent.com/partners/twentieth-century-foxDead link|date=July 2008]
* Comedy Central [http://www.bittorrent.com/partners/comedy-centralDead link|date=July 2008]
* Lionsgate Films [http://www.bittorrent.com/partners/lionsgateDead link|date=July 2008]
* MTV [http://www.bittorrent.com/partners/mtvDead link|date=July 2008]
* Paramount [http://www.bittorrent.com/partners/paramountDead link|date=July 2008]
* Spike TV [http://www.bittorrent.com/partners/spikeDead link|date=July 2008]
* Warner Brothers [http://www.bittorrent.com/partners/warner-brosDead link|date=July 2008]
* Netgear [http://www.bittorrent.com/devices BitTorrent Device Partners] ]
* Buffalo Technology
* D-Link
* New Line Cinema

ee also

* BitTorrent
* BitTorrent client
* BitTorrent DNA

References

External links

* [http://www.bittorrent.com/ BitTorrent Homepage]
* [http://www.bittorrent.com/about Company Overview]
* [http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowAllList?QueryCorpNumber=C2676150 Company Foundation]
* [http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/news/2007/10/bittorrent BitTorrent Bets on New CEO, New Business Models]
* [http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=88843/ BitTorrent to Open Video Store]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12694081/ Warner Bros. to sell films via BitTorrent]
* [http://www.sfweekly.com/2008-01-23/news/bittorrent-comcast-eff-antipathetic-to-fcc-regulation-of-p2p-traffic/full SF Weekly BitTorrent, Comcast, EFF Antipathetic To FCC Regulation of P2P Traffic]
* [http://www.p2p-blog.com/item-448.html Netgear and D-Link to Team up with BitTorrent]