Peer-to-peer technologies have revolutionized how we download things, and now the inventor of BitTorrent wants to do the same thing to live streaming. For more than five years, Bram Cohen has been trying to change live streaming the same way he changed file sharing, which is especially significant now that live streaming has become so ridiculously popular, and he may have finally succeeded. Cohen was recently awarded a patent for a BitTorrent-based streaming technology that could be the start of a new breakthrough.
Hoping to revolutionize live broadcasting on the Internet, Bram Cohen started working on a new protocol for live streaming video more than half a decade ago. At the time BitTorrent was believed to be responsible for a third of all Internet traffic. However, streaming services were quickly gaining momentum. The problem with streaming, live streaming in particular, are high latencies. It can sometimes take up to a minute before a “live” stream reaches the audience. Cohen solved this problem with a new BitTorrent Live protocol that has a much lower latency while sharing the bandwidth costs among users. This allows anyone to stream to an audience of millions at minimal cost. This week Bram Cohen’s patent for the live streaming patent was awarded (pdf). According to BitTorrent’s inventor, who still works at the company, his technology can shape the future of live broadcasts. Two years ago BitTorrent Inc. first demoed the technology in a web-based player, but this project was later discontinued. The company is now working on a new release that will come in the form of a mobile application.
