You think Usenet is dead? Media companies need to realise why the Usenet model is so popular.

For many years now, people have been ringing the death bells for Usenet, yet clearly it's still around and being actively used by many. Exactly how many hasn't always been the easiest information to glean, but a recent post by P2P-Blog and a talk by Giganews at NANOG has shone some light on the facts.

The following graph (courtesy of Giganews via Janko Roettgers from P2P-Blog) shows the global Usenet feed throughput since 2004 according to Giganews and clearly shows a significant rise, in fact a 26% annual growth rate since 2004. The graph is obviously showing bandwidth so how much of this increase is simply users connections getting fatter we're not quite sure but the initial dip followed by a huge spike after the recent spate of ISPs culling Usenet does tend to support the fact that Usenet usage is generally on the rise and that the recent culling has simply caused people to invest in a proper decent provider (see bottom of article).

Janko also has a graph showing the amount of space required to store 365 days of Usenet data for the last 6 years or so, it shows a substantial increase from 500 TB in 2004 to about 2000 TB currently. It's well worth giving his post a read: ISP Usenet Crackdown had No Effect. To see the original Giganews slides from the NANOG (North American Network Operators Group, *that was a mouthful*) conference, see here.

and so if usage on the rise..

Why is Usenet thriving?

Usenet is in a unique position compared to other downloading formats in that these days it usually has to be paid for; some ISPs still offer the service but its usually severely crippled in some way: low retention, poor completion, etc etc. So, why on earth are people paying to download copyrighted content from an unofficial source rather than via more official channels? Why have they chosen to pay for a Usenet provider (e.g. Giganews) as opposed to utilising a P2P network without cost?

The answer is fairly simple: Usenet provides a fast and easy way to download content the moment it's released and at a reasonable subscription-based price. This doesn't make it legal to download copyrighted content however which is obviously a major issue and brings us to ask: why is there no decent legal alternative yet? We believe Kyle from South Park answers that very well in the episode "Canada on Strike":

But, while the Internet is new and exciting for creative people, it hasn't matured as a distribution mechanism to the extent that one should trade real and immediate opportunities for income for the promise of future on-line revenue. It will be a few years before digital distribution of media on the Internet can be monetized to the extent that necessitates content producers to forego their fair value in more traditional media.

Basically: it will take time, the infrastructure is simply not in place yet. In the past few years we've seen "on-demand" services come and go because they haven't quite got their business models right; however they have been limited in what they can do due to the current license limitations that exist. Hulu, an on-demand TV service only available in the US, is looking at starting soon in the UK (2010) having already had a 2 and half year run in the US, but the UK release has already been delayed due to the fact Hulu have failed to get access to the licenses required to play content from the likes of the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Until these contracts and licensing laws catch up with the speed at which the internet is evolving and until media companies realise the internet is a border-free zone, we won't see a proper all-encompassing, unlimited, on-demand, subscription-based content system which is what the industry truly needs. Until such a time however, there is always Usenet.

We'll leave you with this brilliant cartoon which shows the main problem: slow, unavailable content is directly correlated to a rise in piracy; until the infrastructure is in place to serve the content then you can't hope to monetise it as there will be little demand.

Interested in Usenet? Why not check out a free trial at one of the following providers?

• Giganews - Top of the range, you're paying a premium ($30/mon for an encrypted SSL line) but well worth it. 14 days free trial.
• Newshosting - Our first choice when it comes to value, quality connection. $15/mon for unlimited bandwidth and free encryption? Bargain. 14 days free trial.
• Binverse - Comes with a free client to get you going with ease. 14 days free trial.
• Easynews - One of the oldest but my no means poor Usenet providers. Provides web access to Usenet via a browser interface (optional). 14 days free trial.