Bit451 - "decentralized YouTube" (distributed anonymous p2p media network)

[Bit451]

Bit451 is an open source decentralized/distributed anonymous p2p media network. It has been characterized as "YouTube meets BitTorrent meets Bitcoin".

Synopsis

Bit451 is comprised of multiple open source projects working together as one: a video browsing interface, a mesh of file transfer protocols/networks with streaming content capabilities, and a specialized distributed database, are its primary components. You, as a Bit451 user, will have the option to simply access the network directly from your browser, no additional setup required - or, to run a light, streamlined service to help host and contribute to the Bit451 network. Website creators can also easily tap into and serve Bit451 to their visitors using the same light setup configured to their liking.

As for the Bit451 network itself, it will have all the features you have come to know and love: user accounts/profiles, favorites, ratings, subscriptions, playlists, search, recommendations, and much more. The network is community-based, so the users and content you interact with is determined by your preferences and the users you trust. If you don’t specifically know or “trust” any users starting out, don’t worry, you’re not alone and the default settings will work just great. Bit451 will also introduce an automatable cryptocurrency payment plugin system, so that content consumers and producers can buy, sell, and host content for their favorite coins.

For broader reuse, Bit451 will create:
* a P2P distributed database which can easily be repurposed by other P2P apps; see Database
* a P2P file sharing network crossover methodology/capabilities to bridge and integrate multiple different protocols; see File Transfer
* a P2P serverless deterministic account-based social content network frontend; see Portal

At this point you may be wondering, that all sounds great but what's so wrong with YouTube?. (Yes, Bit451 can even read your mind! Pretty amazing so far, right?..)

Feedback on any and all aspects of Bit451 are strongly desired and encouraged! Please join in to Discuss, Donate, and Contribute!
...

Read full white paper

Discuss (further) at /r/Bitcoin
at /r/Bit451

Please join us!

[DooMAD]

It's fair to say at this point that youtube does need some stronger competition to keep it honest.  Particularly after the recent fuss about either removing videos by indie music publishers or stripping their advertising from videos.  It seems they've backtracked from that idea now due to the public outcry that ensued, but it's not an encouraging sign either way.  I'm only about a third of the way through reading the site, but it sounds like it's got potential.

[m3]

a p2p youtube might not work because there will be alot of spam as a result. We would in a way go back to Web 1.0 if we do a p2p youtube.

[Bit451]

It's fair to say at this point that youtube does need some stronger competition to keep it honest.  Particularly after the recent fuss about either removing videos by indie music publishers or stripping their advertising from videos.  It seems they've backtracked from that idea now due to the public outcry that ensued, but it's not an encouraging sign either way.  I'm only about a third of the way through reading the site, but it sounds like it's got potential.

Indeed! Please consider joining us or supporting us in some way (as simple as upvoting at Reddit!).

a p2p youtube might not work because there will be alot of spam as a result. We would in a way go back to Web 1.0 if we do a p2p youtube.

The community structure of Bit451 negates the spam: it just won't be subscribed to by anyone.

[Bit451]

The conversation is progressing nicely, especially at /r/Bitcoin. Multiple improvements have been suggested already. Please join us and add your thoughts!

[RVienz]

what ?? Decentralized Youtube ?? it will be awesome cuz will hosted all people not only datacenter

[BitCoinDream]

The conversation is progressing nicely, especially at /r/Bitcoin. Multiple improvements have been suggested already. Please join us and add your thoughts!

Well... I'm not much into reddit. So giving my thoughts here. If u think it is substantial, please discuss...

In Bitcoin blockchain, we have to deal with very little data per block. But, to have a media file blockchain, we might face a network traffic problem. Plus, we need to consider the incentive for a miner, or r u planning about a new coin to support this ?

[Bit451]

what ?? Decentralized Youtube ?? it will be awesome cuz will hosted all people not only datacenter

Exactly!

The conversation is progressing nicely, especially at /r/Bitcoin. Multiple improvements have been suggested already. Please join us and add your thoughts!

Well... I'm not much into reddit. So giving my thoughts here. If u think it is substantial, please discuss...

In Bitcoin blockchain, we have to deal with very little data per block. But, to have a media file blockchain, we might face a network traffic problem. Plus, we need to consider the incentive for a miner, or r u planning about a new coin to support this ?

Thanks for your question. There is no blockchain. The Bit451 Database uses a light, embedded distributed database, modified for P2P use. Bit451 can be thought of as a P2P file sharing overlay network. The originally planned network to overlay is BitTorrent, but it has evolved to have crossover capabilities to bridge multiple different P2P/cloud file sharing protocols like Storj, Freenet, MaidSafe, etc. Bit451 will provide the ability to create user profile/accounts/channels, index media content across said protocols, favorites/ratings/subscriptions/playlists, etc.

Does that answer your question?

[Bit451]

Q&A on integrating the Popcorn Time project...

[Bit451]

Which wallet should Bit451 account generation / recovery functionality be forked from? What do you think?

[miffman]

Does this mean everyone holds a copy of the data? Would this not become very client heavy?

[Bit451]

Does this mean everyone holds a copy of the data? Would this not become very client heavy?

No, the content data itself is distributed across the File Transfer networks (i.e. BitTorrent, MaidSafe, Storj, etc) independently of Bit451. The Bit451 Database metadata (i.e. the core of Bit451) has a replication method modeled on the concept of communities and community-based trust, meaning that you only replicate records from the accounts in your community. Thus the total [meta]data stored per node should be very light. Does this answer your question?

[onezerobit]

This seems like a good project.

I believe you have already done your research on Youtube's CDN and its algorithm of distributing videos based on popularity? (will be very very helpful in reducing the network overhead, and transmission delays.)

If not, you should research a little bit about Youtube CDN network on how it realizes pseudo-decentralized architecture (from the infrastructure's point of view). Might help you push your development a little further.

Apart from that,  i am overly curious and interested on how are you going to overcome the very-very-very-high network bandwidth such a project will demand. There are ISP's out there who are actively throttling Video Streaming service speeds. (this will be your biggest challenge.)

[Bit451]

This seems like a good project.

I believe you have already done your research on Youtube's CDN and its algorithm of distributing videos based on popularity? (will be very very helpful in reducing the network overhead, and transmission delays.)

If not, you should research a little bit about Youtube CDN network on how it realizes pseudo-decentralized architecture (from the infrastructure's point of view). Might help you push your development a little further.

Apart from that,  i am overly curious and interested on how are you going to overcome the very-very-very-high network bandwidth such a project will demand. There are ISP's out there who are actively throttling Video Streaming service speeds. (this will be your biggest challenge.)

Thanks for your feedback. So, Bit451 actually isn't so much concerned with the delivery of the content itself. Rather it works as a sort of interoperable mesh of multiple different P2P file transfer networks/protocols (i.e. BitTorrent, Storj, Freenet, I2P, Tor, MaidSafe, Bitcloud, Tahoe-LAFS, Dropbox, etc), providing one seamless experience for the end user. Bit451 lets each of those networks do its own thing (the hard work) as far as (streaming) content delivery via the Portal Gateway as necessary, though some networks (ex: Storj) have streaming capability built-in.

So Bit451 provides streaming access to the P2P content spectrum. Bit451 users then index said content via Bit451 accounts. This [meta]data is what's stored on Bit451's network, via the Bit451 Database. And this completes the YouTube-like experience.

Does that help clarify?

[Bit451]

Hopefully this UML of the Bit451 technology stack will give a better idea of the architecture and how it all fits together:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Bit451/Bit451/master/uml/bit451-technology-stack.png

[onezerobit]

Hopefully this UML of the Bit451 technology stack will give a better idea of the architecture and how it all fits together:

Ah yes, this clarifies it to the core. Wonderful idea!.

[Bit451]

Ah yes, this clarifies it to the core. Wonderful idea!.

Fantastic, thanks! Any support is greatly appreciated of course!

[W-M]

This sounds like a very interesting idea.
I'll be sure to read through the white paper soon and get back with my thoughts.

Have you guys heard of MediaGoblin, who are/were more-or-less wanting to make something similar (but I believe development ceased or is very slow at this time at least)?

[onezerobit]

This sounds like a very interesting idea.
I'll be sure to read through the white paper soon and get back with my thoughts.

Have you guys heard of MediaGoblin, who are/were more-or-less wanting to make something similar (but I believe development ceased or is very slow at this time at least)?

I do not know about media goblin, but i heard PirateBay was working on something similar (that is if they are still free), i believe they were planing on launching their browser for their torrent media?

[Bit451]

This sounds like a very interesting idea.
I'll be sure to read through the white paper soon and get back with my thoughts.

Have you guys heard of MediaGoblin, who are/were more-or-less wanting to make something similar (but I believe development ceased or is very slow at this time at least)?

Yeah, MediaGoblin has some similar goals, but their execution is... well, quite different than the Bit451 vision...

• MediaGoblin is not actually decentralized, as it claims to be. All its content and data is centrally stored on the hosting server. It is only "decentralized" in the sense that any machine can install MediaGoblin. So that seems like a bit of false advertising, to be honest.
• MediaGoblin requires a conventional Python/SQL server to run.
• MediaGoblin is not aesthetically- or user-friendly.

Bit451, on the other hand, is: totally decentralized (all its content is in the mesh of P2P file transfer networks, all its [meta]data is in its DDB); serverless (fully JavaScript-powered); aesthetically- and user-friendly.

I do not know about media goblin, but i heard PirateBay was working on something similar (that is if they are still free), i believe they were planing on launching their browser for their torrent media?

PirateBrowser is basically just a customized Tor Browser, so it doesn't have much in common with Bit451