Here is another great new entry in the independent publisher resource kit: Prodigem. In their official Web pages they describe Prodigem as a peer-to-peer hosting service and content management system.

In simpler words this is really a great new way to host and very efficiently distribute large media content files.

Say you have a 50MB video clip file that you would really like to get out in front of everyone connected to the Web, but you are totally scared by the bandwidth costs that this may impose on you (assuming some hundreds visitors will go visit it - 50MB by 500 visitors is 2.5 GB of bandwidth). All hosting providers charge an extra fee when the bandwidth consumed by your visitors exceeds an agreed amount.

What do you do then?

By using Prodigem (now free for 100 MB) you will have a content repository space through which publish Torrents for which the costs will be very low.

Prodigem makes use of BitTorrent to enable you to distribute your content regardless of how large your content is. Prodigem can take out almost all of the complexity required in preparing BitTorrent files and making them available for others to use including having the Prodigem servers seed your torrent so that it can be distributed.

You simply upload your content via the web and with the click of a few buttons, the Prodigem service creates as many Torrents as you want, containing all of your selected files.

According to some sources BitTorrent makes up over 1/3rd of global internet traffic. Given that downloading large media files via BitTorrent is as simple as clicking on a link (assuming you have the right P2P software supporting BitTorrents) Prodigem provides a breakthrough solution, available now, to distribute large media files in a very cost-effective way for any independent publisher out there.

I have tried out and it does work.

While my media files have been rather small to take advantage of the characteristics of such delivery and distribution method, I have nonetheless achieved an effective and resource respectful distribution of my rich-media content at no cost to me.

I am so happy that an opportunity of this nature has appeared that I'd be happy to provide my humble financial support to this truly valuable service.
As said, Prodigem uses BitTorrent peer to peer (p2p) filesharing to enable you to distribute very large media files at an extremely low cost.

For now Prodigem is completely free, and while this will not likely last forever, it is a true opportunity for content publishers producing large media files.
Prodigem can only be used for the distribution of legally licensed material cleared for distribution via P2P filesharing. So, if you are an artist, creator, author, blogger, podcaster, amateur mogul, lead guitarist, independent movie director or person, and you have material which has been licensed openly, such as with a Creative Commons license, the sky is now the limit.

Prodigem does not use DRM.

The economies of scale that enable you to distribute your content so cheaply come from the reliance on your audience to help in the distribution effort as automated through bit torrent.

This is a good thing.

To learn more about Prodigem before registering, visit:
http://torrentocracy.com/prodigem/about.shtml

Prodigem is currently in a limited testers phase and will be opened to wider availability shortly.

In the meantime, you can download content and see what's available from the Prodigem Torrent Tracker.

What is BitTorrent?

BitTorrent is an P2P filesharing technology. It takes advantage of your spare bandwidth. BiTorrent is a P2P application though it does not rely on a custom P2P network. This technology, emerged in 2003, utilizes a method called download swarm that, contrary to what usually happens, makes your download *FASTER* as the number of people downloading the same file increases.

BitTorrent is a also a protocol for distributing files. It identifies content by url and is designed to integrate seamlessly with the web. Its advantage over plain http is that when multiple downloads of the same file happen concurrently, the downloaders upload to each other, making it possible for the file source to support very large numbers of downloaders with only a modest increase in its load.

Download BitTorrent:

• Windows
• Mac OSX
• Linux - see various options on this page

I also personally recommend Shareaza 2.0, a full-featured free P2P file sharing solution that is easy, good looking, and has every bell and whistle you may hope for.