Netflix and many other developers are reportedly interested in WebTorrent, a technology that will let viewers stream videos faster.
Feross Aboukhadijeh, a Stanford University graduate, started WebTorrent a few years ago, though he recently got back to working on the project now that streaming services have become prominent. He is also the founder of PeerCDN, a peer-to-peer-assisted content delivery network, which Yahoo bought in 2013.
So what is WebTorrent? First off, a little history. Back in 2002, BitTorrent rolled out, and it was a huge leap forward in file sharing possibilities. With the surge of streaming services, BitTorrent started to seem a little outdated. In a nutshell, WebTorrent is a combination of the two technologies.
"WebTorrent is a streaming torrent client for the browser . . . It's written completely in JavaScript – the language of the web – and uses WebRTC for true peer-to-peer transport. No browser plugins, extensions, or installation is required," the WebTorrent homepage reads.
The technology can considerably help online service providers that require massive amounts of data, especially companies that need to stream a lot of data, such as Netflix and Hulu, to name a few.
"I felt that the idea of 'people-powered websites' – websites that are hosted by the visitors who use them – was too revolutionary to keep locked up as proprietary software, and I wanted to do more to push the idea forward," Aboukhadijeh tells TorrentFreak.
Right now, services slow down when faced with tons of Web traffic during peak hours. The case, however, is different with WebTorrent, as a large number of uploaders means more and more people connecting, equaling to faster services. It's no wonder why Netflix has set its eye on this.
"Imagine a video site like YouTube, where visitors help to host the site's content. The more people that use a WebTorrent-powered website, the faster and more resilient it becomes," Aboukhadijeh continues.
WebTorrent can potentially redefine the Web down the road. Also, it will be interesting to witness how the project will progress and help create more developments in the foreseeable future and whether streaming services will rise up against it or jump on the bandwagon.
