p2pnet.net news review:- If watching international TV channels on the internet is something you want to do, here’s a way to do it easily – and for free!

I recently discovered Zattoo, a new-ish ‘provider of P2P IPTV to provide users with diverse and desired content of the highest possible video quality in one browser’, so says their company profile.

From the website:

Zattoo was founded in US in 2005 by Sugih Jamin, professor for computer science at the University of Michigan, and Beat Knecht, software product marketing professional and former McKinsey consultant in Silicon Valley.

Zattoo acquires, transports and presents quick-start, long-play streaming video in one browser for all channels for broadband users anywhere. Zattoo is the only provider of P2P IPTV to provide users with diverse and desired content of the highest possible video quality in one browser, while dramatically reducing cost and increasing reach for broadcasters, and enabling advertisers to leverage the best aspects of both web-based and traditional television advertising methods. Zattoo partners with broadcasters and advertisers to serve consumers with a wide selection of content from various sources in one easy-to-use web interface. Zattoo is built around a state-of-the-art peer-to-peer streaming platform developed by leading technologists at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). Zattoo is based in San Francisco and maintains an office in Ann Arbor as well as in Zurich, Switzerland.

(All requests to Zattoo for an interview and information were ignored, so this review is based solely on info gleaned from their website, and my own experience using Zattoo.)

As a long-time P2Per and devoted arch enemy of corporate and cartel control and media manipulation, and their desire to provide online content in the form of streaming and P2P services, offering low quality ‘product’ infested with DRM, IP address restrictions and other specific player-only (read iTunes/iPod) requirements, I was quite wary of installing Zattoo and filling my registry and folders with spyware and hidden keys. A scan with Ad-Aware SE Pro before installation gave me no warnings or found anything to be afraid of, so I went ahead with the installation.

Zattoo currently lists 41 European channels on offer – from Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and Spain. Some are commercial (private) stations; some are state-run with few or no commercials.

As described in the excerpt above, the picture and sound quality are very, very good indeed, even after enlarging to full-screen view – much better than what one is used to receiving from CNN and other networks offering live or recorded streaming. I was quite pleased.

If you don’t understand French, German, Italian, or Spanish, an important function in the Zattoo browser/player is the ability to switch between left and right audio channels. This is useful for watching programs and movies that are broadcast in both the local and original languages. Not all stations offer this function and not all broadcasts are shown in dual-channel stereo, so it’s important you visit the stations’ homepages for listing information, or just try switching the audio channels when you see a program or movie you want to watch.

Strictly English-language channels currently being offered are BBC Prime, CNN International, and Euronews.

The pan-European station ‘Arte’ mostly offers programs in French and German – sometimes with hard-coded subtitles in French and German, but they also often broadcast English-language films and documentaries.

BBC World is also listed but for some unknown/unstated reason this channel is blacked out. I haven’t tried all of the channels †only the ones I’m interested in, so it’s possible that others might also be blacked out for whatever reason.

Zattoo apparently uses P2P technology, but what kind it is I don’t know. Their website gives no specific information on it and as I said, all of my emails went unanswered.

As Zattoo’s main operations are apparently based in Zürich, it’s not surprising that all of the channels offered are European. But as they’re also headquartered in San Francisco, it’s odd there aren’t any US stations, considering they claim content owners and ‘advertisers benefit from Zattoo’s closed-loop model which combines the best attributes of web-based (banner and targeted-text) advertising methods with the proven effectiveness of TV-style video spots’, and ‘Content owners are assured against piracy because no part of the encrypted video stream is stored on the network.’

Perhaps not so odd, since most major US networks and movie studios have struck a deal with Bram Cohen to offer a paid subscription P2P service, complete with user licenses and DRM.

I haven’t seen any banner or text ads in Zattoo, but that may be because the current version of Zattoo is v2.2.4 Beta, which would also account for its relative slowness in starting up.

In many countries a TV license is required for anyone who owns a TV. So how can this service be free and license-free?

From the Zattoo Blog:

20minuten, a free Swiss newspaper, published an article covering Zattoo, in which the journalist kind of made me state that consumption of TV through Zattoo is not subject to the Swiss TV and Radio tax (aka. Billag fee).

Reality is a bit more complex. We talked to Bakom back in November 06. Their press contact told us that ‘Zattoo is the unique single only service in Switzerland that is Billag-free. Here’s why: The ruling by Bakom regarding Billag fees is actually in favor of Billag and makes it very clear that if a subscription fee is charged by the provider, even for Internet TV, then Billag must be paid as well. Zattoo, however, being subscription (fee) free, is the sole exception.’

What do we think? There’s a good chance (98%) that you’re paying the fee already, so no reason to worry or to do anything. If you’re not, and your only mean of consuming TV is through Zattoo, you could play hardball and decide not to pay the fee. Or you can be a nice guy (like we are), pay the fee, and keep watching MusicStar with peace of mind.

Update: If you never bothered to pay Billag for your good old television set, the Zattoo experience of television anytime anywhere may be a good reason to start doing so.

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Here’s the official explanation from Bakom (Ofcom – Federal Office of Communication, Switzerland):

Private reception via the internet

Conditions for the private reception of radio programmes via the internet:

1 Reception via ISDN or broadband connections (e.g. ADSL, cable network, etc.)

2 Reception via corresponding software (e.g. media players)

3 If these conditions are met and there are no other radios in the household, there is an obligation to register for the reception of radio programmes via the internet.

Conditions for the private reception of television programmes via the internet:

Reception via broadband connections (e.g. ADSL, cable networks)

Reception using appropriate software (e.g. Mediaplayer, Realplayer)

Conclusion of a subscription for the reception of television programmes over the internet with a corresponding internet services provider (this condition may cease to apply in future if the live streaming of programmes which can be received without subscription improves both qualitatively and quantitatively to such an extent that it corresponds to current levels of terrestrial programming).

If these conditions are met and there are no other televisions in the household, there is an obligation to register for the reception of TV programmes via the internet.

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The above regulations apply only to people in Switzerland. Your own country may have different laws. If you live in Switzerland (or possibly even Lichtenstein) you probably already pay the license fee if you own a television. Contact your local authorities for more information.

Because these stations are European, I’m not sure if any/all of them can be received with Zattoo outside Europe. There’s no information available regarding this, so I’d be interested to know from anyone living outside Europe if Zattoo works for them.

I stated above that I was sceptical about using Zattoo and expected the usual low quality picture and audio streaming I’ve become accustomed to, and I was ready to burn Zattoo with a scathing review, mentally preparing my remarks before I’d even installed the program – because they ignored my emails.

But I’m happy to say that my Zattoo experience was a very positive one and I recommend you to try it. I won’t be uninstalling it anytime soon.

catflap – p2pnet

Slashdot it!

Also See:
major address – Big Music’s counterfeit claims, March 1, 2007

If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at thIs the end (of the Net) nigh?zze University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.

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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!

This entry was posted on Monday, March 5th, 2007 at 10:40 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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