p2p at its finest
p2p news / p2pnet: In the intro to the p2pnet repub of Dan Roth`s Torrential Reign story on Bram Cohen and BitTorrent in Fortune Magazine, we say Roth didn’t include a description of BT in the story. Not everyone knows BT’s ins and outs so, separately, we posted TurboGeek’s breakdown, which appears as a Reader’s Write. In fact, there is a sidebar in Torrential Reign, says Roth. It just doesn’t show up in the online version. Go here to check it out.
He also told us about a new web site Fortune is trying out, and it’s pretty cool: a virtual magazine. You can have a look at it here and you’ll find the original BT story in the TOC on page 68.
Steve Pyke’s lead-in pic of Cohen (below) is captioned: A BIT OF A GENIUS Cohen cracked the riddle of how to transfer massive files over the Net with his software.
The ramifications are blindingly obvious ……….
But I’m really excited because I consider this to be almost a major Net first, and not because we’re able to tell you about Fortune’s new site, as interesting as it is.
Rather, it may be a first-time example of how two kinds of ultra-different publications at extreme ends of the communications spectrum, and with distinctly different kinds of audiences, can cooperate and share to the mutual benefit of themselves and their audiences.
Yesterday’s Torrential Reign prompted a comment post from a p2pnet reader which suggested I’d better watch it or Google would de-index me. “This isn’t an original news story,” said the Reader’s Write. “Google ever finds out about this and you’ll be delisted forever.”
heh
Anyhow, I did another post explaining my stories policies in which I also said, “I believe the time to get people to read is when they’re reading. Asking them to go to another site ‘for the rest’ seems counter-productive, and doesn’t always work. On the other hand, they’ll usually go there once they’ve read the piece in full. To me, the message is what’s important, which is why p2pnet is published under a Creative Commons license. Our logo says ‘People to People’ and that’s where it’s at. The Net is about sharing and there’s nothing more important to share than information.”
Roth’s story carries important messages.
His portrayal of Cohen hasn’t been seen before, at least in this kind of depth. It offers a fascinating glimpse of how BT came into being and its subjective message is: you can be anything you want to be if you try hard enough. And that message is vitally important to a lot of people in online communities around the world.
It also shows how a developer can end up working with a vast corporate presence in a way which could change them both, exposing each to different ways of thinking.
But this article wouldn’t normally have seen the light of day in the parts of the Net frequented by p2p communities because with all due respect to Fortune, it’s not the kind of outlet that’s widely read in those areas.
We can all help each other
When I first started publishing p2pnet, I contacted this or that mainstream outlet fairly regularly to see if I could use a particular story. The answer was invariably No. And it still is. So when I approached Roth, who’s a senior Fortune editor, I was expecting the same response: I had to read his email twice before I realised he was saying Yes. After all, Fortune is a huge, famous US publication and p2pnet is a small, upstart news site, and never the twain would normally meet.
One of my themes is: the corporate media are slowly being replaced by blogs and citizen journalists, and until this development with Fortune, it hadn’t occured to me that there might be a way for them to co-exist.
But this shows they can.
The potential ramifications are blindingly obvious so I won’t go into them here, except to say if any major pub wants to talk about the possibilities, I’m up for it ; )
It’s enough for me to say I’m grateful to Dan and his employers for allowing p2pnet to publish Torrential Reign in full and without restrictions.
It proves we can all help each other no matter how different we may at first seem to be.
But much more importantly, it’s peer-to-peer at its finest and it shows how easy it could all be with a little goodwill and a willingness to step into the beyond.
Cheers! And all the best …
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Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win
- Mohandas Gandhi
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 political representatives. 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.
See:-
p2pnet repub – Torrential Reign, October 18, 2005
breakdown – BitTorrent, not the movie, October 19, 2005
stories policies – p2pnet stories, October 18, 2005
October 19th, 2005 at 8:56 pm
…will fortune reciprocate and start running some of our stories in their pages? that’s something i’d like to see and might help me believe that the fotune 500’s of the world are paying attention.
with p2pnet running their article, it seems to me that we haven’t gained much, if anything. we were always on their radar. i don’t believe fortune 500 CEO’s even know it was reprinted here. is fortune putting a link to p2pnet anywhere on its site?
also, what is bram pointing to in the photo? is it the stack of $8point75million he received from the cartels?
and what the hell is sudoku, and why should i care?
October 19th, 2005 at 9:46 pm
Hey catflap.
Vey nice, and no buts ; )
I see this as a big step in the right direction. You put one foot in front of the other and all of a sudden ……….
Cheers!
October 19th, 2005 at 10:28 pm
i agree jon. that’s not what i’m saying, tho…
i think that p2pnet and other sites that do report and investigate the real, non-lamer news from both sides (however false THEIR side is
) have done so much more than the big companies and illegal movie and music cartels in bringing out the truth to people who care to learn it.
even though some companies which are contracted by the cartels – ie: bigchampagne – which allows p2pnet to use their data, and although they keep their opinions about p2p illegality in reserve – they do more to show that the sue ‘em all campaign doesn’t work and is actually THE thing which is helping bring down the cartels – and they’re paying for the service.
i agree it’s a a big step – but not the first. “our” side (the consumers with rights, choices and their [the cartels'] salaries) have taken many more, much bigger steps to show them what, how, and where we want our information and entertainment.
if fortune 500 companies really want to show they’re listening to us, they should start by printing p2pnet’s articles in their pages. the time for baby steps is over. we’ve (p2pers and true freedom-of-choicers) taken our big steps by reporting the truth and lies of the cartels and their paid politicos and lobbyists and faux police forces. we’ve made our case clear.
that’s my “but”.
we want what we want, when and where and how we want it. and they cannot stop us.