Spanish researchers at the Carlos III University of Madrid have posted interesting results today in regards to filesharing.
The researchers say a tiny fraction of users are responsible for over two-thirds of all content published, and over three-fourths of all downloads.
Using the names, ISPs and IP addresses of uploaders and downloaders to 55,000 torrents published to Mininova and the Pirate Bay, the group concluded that just 100 users were behind 67 percent of the uploads and 75 percent of the downloads.
Result for: fraction
Subscribers of TiVo who have access to a broadband Internet connection have gotten good news today from the DVR pioneer. The company has partnered with Amazon to deliver its new HD downloads directly to TiVo subscribers.
The new service will be offered to all Series3, TiVo HD, or TiVo HD XL customers with a broadband connection. As for pricing, new HD movies will cost $3.99 - $4.99 to rent, while older titles will be priced at $2.99.
This would make for one of the easiest HD video services available so far. Television episodes are also available through the service, and can be purchased for $2.99.
“Consumers are seeking affordable entertainment alternatives to an expensive trip to the movies. With HD downloads for movies and TV shows, TiVo and Amazon can transform any night into a memorable movie experience, all for a fraction of the cost of the theater,” Tara Maitra, general manager and vice president of content services and advertising sales at TiVo Inc, said.
Result for: fraction
Subscribers of Netflix‘ online DVD/Blu-ray rental service have been complaining about receiving damaged or cracked discs from the company. “Over the last two months, we’ve had probably four to six Blu-ray discs in a row arrive with small cracks at the edge of the disc that render it unplayable,” says Pete Brown, whose wife has been a Netflix subscriber for three years.
Blu-ray is structured significantly different to DVD in that DVD is comprised of two 0.6mm thick polycarbonate discs with the data recorded to a thin metal substrate in between, while Blu-ray is a single 1.1mm polycarbonate disc with the data recorded at the top, and protected by a 0.1mm coating. The Blu-ray discs circulated by Netflix may be more affected by the process than DVDs, and you have to remember Blu-ray is still a very young format.
“The coating is supposed to protect the discs but it could also be making them more brittle,” says Adrienne Downey, senior analyst at research firm Semico. “Ultimately Blu-ray is a new technology and they are still working the kinks out of it.” The problem can’t just come down to the discs however, as BlockBuster customers don’t complain about damaged Blu-ray titles as much.
For Pete Brown and his wife, the experience has been particularly bad. They added Babel to their queue and received a cracked disc. Upon receiving a replacement disc of the same movie, they checked and found that it was also damaged. To make it worse, the same thing happened the third time too. “At a point, my wife was like, maybe they are sending us same thing to us over and over again,” said Brown.
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