From the “Duh” department of journalism, Reuters whips up a little commentary on the latest CacheLogic report:

Traffic in the popular file-sharing network BitTorrent has fallen in the wake of a crackdown on piracy, but file sharers have merely shifted to another network, eDonkey, new data released on Monday showed.

Move along folks, nothing to see here. People like stealing music and movies, film at 11. I like how Reuters attempts to make eDonkey look hip and cool:

A study by the Cambridge-based Internet analysis firm CacheLogic found that eDonkey is now roughly on par with BitTorrent in the United States, China, Japan and Britain.

It is the dominant peer-to-peer file-sharing network in South Korea, which has the world’s highest percentage of high-speed Internet use, and also in Italy, Spain and Germany.

Anyone who is over the age of 16 and is not a certified geek has never used eDonkey. People feel like they need to wear a propeller beanie when they use it and while we here at BBB are perfectly comfortable with our geek status, we’d be very surprised if anyone who thought themselves “cool” would use it.

Now that the internet has become more than just a fad, cities are realizing that cheap access to broadband is a great benefit. Unfortunately the FCC has ruled recently that the incumbent telecom companies do not have to share their copper wires with competitors. But there is a loophole: Wireless.

Philadelphia is inching towards realizing its WiFi dream, a dream that is shared by other cities like San Francisco. Today the word has come that Hewlett Packard and Earthlink are two companies that have been shortlisted for building out a Philadelphia-wide WiFi network, beating out groups that include AT&T;-led consortia.

Many cities will be jumping on the WiFi bandwagon and the trend couldn’t come at a better time for ISPs like Earthlink who will now lose access to millions of customers because of the FCC ruling.

Bram Cohen, inventor of BitTorrent (the software that you use to pirate movies unless you have been living under a rock) is in secret negotiations with two unnamed Hollywood studios and the MPAA mothership herself:

``There is a whole new market that’s being developed with filtering tools, ways of allowing these technologies to develop while preventing copyright infringement,’’ said Dean Garfield, the MPAA’s legal affairs director. ``We’re hopeful that Bram will be a partner in moving BitTorrent in that direction.’’

Negotiations between the MPAA and BitTorrent are continuing, talks that Cohen characterizing as `friendly.’’ BitTorrent is also in discussions with two studios he declined to identify.

The article is a curious PR puff-piece because it attempts to portray the recent Supreme Court “Grokster” ruling as working in BitTorrent’s favor. For those of you who are not asleep at the wheel, the recent Grokster ruling said the following:

“For the same reasons that Sony took the staple-article doctrine of patent law as a model for its copyright safe-harbor rule, the inducement rule, too, is a sensible one for copyright. We adopt it here, holding that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties.”

Translation: if we can prove your P2P software is used for piracy, then we can sue your ass out of existence. At this point, BitTorrent has probably jumped the shark. We wish Bram well but we just can’t picture him meshing well with studio-types. He’d show up at the parties and everything would get kind of awkward…

Heard of the Yammys? Of course not, its the awards that Yahoo! is giving up to user uploaded videos. Their five categories are:

Road Trips:
Fun vacation moments from near and far.

Office Humor:
Pranks, skits, and other office hijinks.*

Bloopers:
Send us your DOH moment!

Pets:
We want to see what Fluffy can do.

I Can’t Believe It ! (Misc):
It doesn’t fit into any of these categories, but you think we just gotta see it.

Sounds real promising. I can’t wait to watch these instead of the stupid Oscars.

Be cool before everyone else on your block. Don’t know what Podcasts are yet? Who cares! You’re already on to the next new technology: Vodcasts

Podcasts are so last month. If you want to get in on the hip trip, you’ll turn your attention (and camcorder) to vodcasts—Video-On-Demand-casts, that is. No, this isn’t stuff of the future. By following the steps I’m about to outline you can create and distribute a downloadable vodcast today.

Not that we expect any of you to be bright enough to follow Chris Breen’s technical instructions. Since our motto is: “We live in the future so that you don’t have to,” we figured we would share the latest trends with you.

I am sure that you all remember with trepidation the day that we breathlessly reported how Internet Cosmonauts Google had launched their rocket- er campaign- to destroy TV. Of course, the problem back then was that you could only search TV transcripts (translation: the really boring text for deaf people that you get when you accidentally hit the “mute” button on that mutant Japanese remote for your Hi-Fi entertainment center).

Then we revealed that Google was accepting user-submitted uploads of video! Knowing the kind of horrible crap most people record onto their given-to-me-by-mom-and-dad-on-xmas camcorders, we trembled with anticipation: surely the next Steven Spielberg would be found!

And today fair readers, you can finally see (and search through) these uploaded videos.

I’ve been amazed by your cool videos. I had never seen a robot dog harassing an iguana before, or a monkey doing karate, and I had no idea you were such good dancers. There’s more than home video, too - like this UNICEF story featuring David Beckham.

If that isn’t an explanation of the current box office slump we don’t know what is…

Gizmodo has late breaking news on the imminent death of Telecom:

Everything is still rumors so nobody knows whether it will be a merger or if Yahoo will be buying Skype outright, but regardless it will a big step up in the world of instant messaging.

Skype is one of the most popular Voice-over-Internet providers and adding their technology to Yahoo! Messenger could bring vritually free phone calls to tens of millions.

There is a surreptitious war taking place right outside your door and you don’t even know its happening. Amazon’s A9 and Google are fighting over who will provide better photos of your front door:

Google plans to use trucks equipped with lasers and digital photographic equipment to create a realistic 3D online version of San Francisco, and eventually other major US cities.

The move would trump Amazon’s A9 service, which offers two-dimensional photos of buildings on US city streets.

The trucks would drive along every San Francisco street using the lasers to measure the dimensions of buildings, to create a 3D framework onto which digital photos can be mapped. This would complement the mostly top-down view of San Francisco available through Google’s Keyhole satellite photo application.

The goal is to create similar 3D online versions of other cities in the US and overseas.

We can’t wait for people to create the first 3D San Francisco quake level so that we can blow up the cross on Mt. Davidson.

One of the few weaknesses of BitTorrent is that it is sometimes hard to find seeds. Bram has decided that his new startup’s first project will be just that:

Whiz kid inventor Bram Cohen and a small cadre of developers and entrepreneurs are in the final stage of launching an advertising-supported search engine dedicated to cataloging and indexing the thousands of movies, music tracks, software programs and other files for download over Cohen’s popular BitTorrent protocol.

The new search engine, which essentially is an agreement with AskJeeves, will go live in 2 weeks. This is an interesting move for Bram. Firstly, by building a BitTorrent search engine he is clearly aiming to solve one of the few oversights in his product and establish his new startup company as a major contender in the P2P arena. However, Bram has always walked a fine line to avoid invoking the wrath of the MPAA/RIAA/Copyright Cabals.

From a legalistic standpoint, search engines are more protected than the “tracker” sites which were summarily shutdown by the MPAA earlier this year (which we reported here along with the hilarious screenshots). Still, we worry that such a search engine will provoke exactly the kind of response that Bram has so skillfully avoided for so long. Good luck dude. You’ll need it.

In a decision that was not entirely unexpected the FCC has now ordered all internet-phone companies to provide 911 service to their customers.

In a 4-0 vote, the FCC decided on Thursday to require Internet phone companies to improve 911 access within 120 days.

Analysts say the ruling could boost expenses for Internet-phone companies, most of which don’t have deep pockets. And some doubt that Internet phone companies can meet the FCC’s 120-day target, noting that the wireless industry still has some problems with 911 access despite a decade’s worth of effort.

The irony here is that while VoIP has exploded to over 1.5 million customers nationwide in just a couple of years, they are still completely dependant on local phone companies to provide 911 service. Naturally these dinosaurs aren’t so hip on helping to build their own grave. What a surprise.

The good news is that the ruling will now force local bells to provide 911 service to VoIP customers. Yay government.

The Guardian is reporting that the BBC is starting a trial service allowing customers with broadband to download TV shows on demand.

Randomly drawn from applicants around the country, with the only stipulation being that they have high-speed internet access, they will be the first to experience the BBC’s so-called interactive Media Player, or iMP.

The corporation will move a step closer to delivering what it calls “iTunes for the broadcast industry” later this year, launching a public trial of iMP, which allows viewers to download any show from the previous week that they may have missed.

Clearly this is linked to the fact that Brits have become accustomed to downloading American TV shows via BitTorrent rather than suffer the months-long wait for new programs to jump across the pond. Now we here at BBB can live just fine with almost every Asian country being more advanced technologically than us. However, our blood boils over when even the Limeys have us beat. Isn’t there a reason for that whole little revolution thingy? They have a monarchy! These people are about as cutting edge as tea with crumpets and they’re ahead of us.

<small>We are so very ashamed of you all. Mr. Bean is mocking you.</small>

According to a News.com article, Vonage is now testing new routers which will free VoIP subscribers from computers and landlines:

With the special router and handset, individual customers would be free to roam about their home or office, untethered from a modem or phone jack and without a connection to a laptop or desktop computer.

This is the equivalent to having a wireless handset that you probably already have in your house except that the phone is automatically routing the calls over the internet rather than a phone line (but you don’t need to be tethered to a computer with internet connection). This means you can buy one for grandma.

Already in Asia, you can buy cellphones with WiFi so that you can make cell calls over an internet connection rather than using precious minutes. Only a matter of time before cellular goes the way of the Dodo. Time to evolve people (that means you have to stop dragging your knuckles now).

With the recent upgrade of iTunes to 4.8 for both Windows and Mac you can now also purchase music videos along with tracks from the store. This is a fantastic addition to iTunes as my buddies and I have been using the store as our secret source for many high quality music video downloads (of course, you weren’t supposed to be able to download back then).

Some initial coverage on MacRumors.com:

The Antidote by Morcheeba ($9.90 for 10 songs, 1 video)
Warning Shots by Thievery Corporation ($1.98 for 1 song and 1 video which is 27MB, 480x360).
Stand Up by Dave Matthews Band ($11.99 for 14 songs, 1 video, 1 PDF)
Pink Bullets by The Shins ($1.98 for 1 song, 1 video)

At this point, videos appear to be “extras” to provide incentives for customers to purchase full albums. Apple does not appear to be selling videos individually at this time. Similarly, Apple offers PDF Booklets for some other album purchases (ex: In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson).

The pesky thing about those of you who don’t absorb knowledge like BBB is that there are all those annoying acronyms out there. It’s like when you’re not looking they’re fucking like rabbits and producing new acronyms some of which stand for other acronyms! Like Paris Hilton would say (if she was capable of speech) “Its, like, so confusing!”

Well, we have good news for you. Two of your favorite wireless technologies are combining into one:

This week the Bluetooth people adopted UWB as a future fast connection. What not many people have spotted is - the big winner in this could be UWB. Sure, Bluetooth is a slow protocol for headsets, and UWB is, potentially, much much more. But Bluetooth is established. It’s in phones and regulators understand it. If Bluetooth likes UWB, that could really be a major factor to convince the people that are blocking UWB - operators and regulators outside the US - that UWB is safe to use.

If you have no idea what all that meant then you should just give up now. The future is going to be ruled by 13 year-old girls who can text message each other faster than you can speak.

A lot of people are pretty skeptical when they hear BBB talking about the death of TV. TV is such a quintessential American pasttime that it is inconceivable to people that it could ever die. Well, to our skeptics, here is another nail in the coffin:

Television’s share of global advertising spending is expected to slip by 2007 as more ad dollars are diverted to the Internet, according to an industry forecast released on Monday.

Television’s share is expected to peak in 2006 at 37.9 percent of global ad spending, before slipping to 37.8 percent by 2007, according to a new study by ZenithOptimedia, a division of French advertising group Publicis.

https://upload.video.google.com/

Your work deserves to be seen.

You’ve made a great video. Now who will watch it?

Whether you produce hundreds of titles a year or just a few, you can give your videos the recognition and visibility they deserve by promoting them on Google - for free. Signing up for the Google Video Upload Program will connect your work with users who are most likely to want to view them.
Sign up and upload…

We’re accepting digital video files of any length and size. Simply sign up for an account and upload your videos using our Video Uploader (please be sure you own the rights to the works you upload), and, pending our approval process and the launch of this new service, we’ll include your video in Google Video, where users will be able to search, preview, purchase and play it. Find out more here.
For major producers…

If you’re from a TV station or production facility, we have a separate process to help you join the Google Video Upload Program.

They are certainly not the first to launch an internet TV platform but they certainly seem to be one of the most well thought out:

Announcing a new platform for internet television and video. Anyone can broadcast full-screen video to thousands of people at virtually no cost, using BitTorrent technology. Viewers get intuitive, elegant software to subscribe to channels, watch video, and organize their video library. The project is non-profit, open source, and built on open standards. Today we’re announcing the project and releasing our current sourcecode. The software is launching in June.

NPR has a great 10 minute segment investigating the growing chaos taking place in traditional media. Highlights include quotes from the head of Procter & Gamble’s advertising division stating that they want to take their $5.5 Billion underwriting away from TV…

“The collapse is coming.”

Just what we all wanted, yet another way to watch MTV:

MTV Networks, home to raucous pop culture television hits like “The Osbournes” and “Punk’d,” on Wednesday launched a free Web-based “channel” that places many of its popular programs on the Internet.

MTV, a unit of media conglomerate Viacom Inc., debuted “MTV Overdrive,” a web site where viewers watch full length music video on demand, extended versions of programs that have aired on MTV’s television network and original video updates from its MTV News operation.

But why would MTV want to cannibalize its own young audience by allowing them to stay on the computer rather than watch TV?

Van Toffler, President of MTV Networks Group said he is not concerned that putting the shows on the Web will draw viewers away from the MTV television franchise.

“The TV experience is still great. Our ratings are moving higher and we don’t fear that (losing viewers),” he said at a press conference. “(Also) we are capturing money that is going to new media.”

Stay tuned. The channel supposedly launches on April 25th.

We’d thought you should have this to chew on:

Google Inc. plans to put out a call for personal video clips as it moves to further expand the reach of its Web search business, company co-founder Larry Page said on Monday.

“We’re going to start taking video submissions from people,” Page said at the annual cable industry convention in San Francisco.

So is Google going to hire people to sit around and look at millions of incoming video clips to make sure none of them are copyrighted or hardcore porn? Or is this some free-for-all like 2GB inboxes for Gmail users?

We will take a wait-and-see approach on how ‘personal’ Google allows the videos to be…