As broadband becomes more widely available, new streaming video services currently under development could supplement today s satellite and cable television programming services. Today, many broadband ISPs are accelerating their customer acquisition programs by promoting streaming media as broadband s killer application. In the future, as compression algorithms improve, multicasting is deployed, and additional content is moved closer to Internet users via edge-network caching servers, all Netizens will enjoy enhanced streaming audio and video. Companies such as Cidera, Akamai and iBeam are cashing in on caching servers that store the most popular streaming video content at the edge of the Internet, alleviating Net congestion and latency problems. Broadband will remain the single most effective way that Net users can improve the quality of their streaming media experience.
Content providers are also very interested in streaming media technology.
With the proliferation of bootlegged movies and other forms of info-entertainment sold by content pirates, content providers are becoming increasing concerned about the management of their content rights. In today s digital world, it is not difficult for an individual with a digital master to create hundreds or hundreds of thousands of bootlegged copies of a popular movie, depriving the content owners from receiving the monies rightfully due to them. Further, sometimes the markets become flooded with poorly reproduced content and unsuspecting consumers purchase the inferior quality content. Since streaming media does not download the content on the user s hard drive, the content remains more secure and less susceptible to theft by others. Companies such as InterTrust, ContentGuard, MediaDNA and others are creating secure platforms for digital content to be transmitted over the Net.