CacheLogic bids to make P2P DRM-friendly

Cachelogic today finally released its VelociX™ Accelerated Media Delivery Platform. I say finally because I've had an interview with CTO and co-founder Andrew Parker (left) in my own cache for over a week, awaiting the breaking of the embargo.

"Pure peer to peer (p2p)  has some fundamental problems in how it scales and operates. What's needed for this to become commercial is a hybrid between p2p and content distribution. That's what we've built."

In building VelociX™ Cachelogic had to work with a lot of open source projects, such as BitTorrent, and make them DRM-friendly. The result, out of necessity, is technology available under an open source license, Parker said.

"In order to get our Cache Discovery Protocol (CDP), which is like DHCP for caches, into all sorts of different clients, it has to be under an open license. They need open reference implementation."

But the result is to benefit content industries, which insist on the use of DRM, as well as a business model that sounds a lot like Whitacre Tiering, where CDP content reaches users faster than content which doesn't pay for the privilege.

And this emerging hybrid world is the real headline, Parker notes.

"I've been a developer for a long time. All our caching is Linux based. It uses all sorts of open tools. We live in a hybrid world. You've got Microsoft, Apple, and the Linux community. BitTorrent is open yet it's in both open and closed software."

Nothing the open source world can use like a touch of gray. Probably suits you anyway.