Kontiki keen on content delivery plan

After years as an executive at Netscape Communications and AOL, Mike Homer took on a series of investment and advisory roles at Loudcloud, Tellme Networks, Palm and TiVo starting in 1999. Network World Senior Writer Kathleen Ohlson spoke with Homer about Kontiki, a recently launched peer-to-peer content distribution company targeting corporations and media companies.

The current economic conditions have hurt many companies, and some people are leery about launching a new venture. Were you fearful?

No, I wasn't fearful. First of all, since leaving AOL in April 1999, I've been a founding investor in Loudcloud and Tellme in the last year and a half. Working with investors the entire time, out of the hundreds and hundreds of companies, I've seen only two companies that had good management with big ideas - Loudcloud and Tellme. What I mean by a big idea is [one] impacting hundreds of millions of people.

Who is your target audience?

The end users in businesses, colleges and homes are the target audience. People buy the service from entertainment and media companies, which delivers rich media to end users. [Kontiki is also targeting large companies.]

How does the Kontiki Delivery Network work and what are you offering?

Anything a user orders will appear in an inbox; they'll get it and read it like an e-mail. . . . The end user sees the Web site links and clicks on the video.

The Kontiki Network asks for permission, it downloads the client and then launches the audio, etc.

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If a customer has DSL or broadband, whatever they order will come in less than a few seconds. If they don't have Windows Media Player or RealPlayer, [the Kontiki Delivery Network] will go out to automatically get it.

Video, audio, music, software, games and documents in PDF and images in JPEG will be offered. You can pick and choose what you want, whether it's a 2-minute audio or a 90-minute video.

How is the Kontiki Delivery Network different from what's being offered now?

We've built specific software that handles different things. It's similar to traffic signals. Video is wrapped and sent through . . . various routes and [the network] organizes the pieces. It sends it over the routes even if a certain route is at fullest capacity.

We offer time shifting, or subscriptions. For example, a user wants CNN morning news at 6 a.m. We need it to be delivered between midnight and 6 a.m. and we look at the best times to deliver that on a single route.

It works similar to an air traffic controller trying to slot a plane and bring the plane to land.

What kind of security have you implemented in the network?

There's no way a person can ask for a file or forward it along. Peer-to-peer technology controls all the nodes.

The first thing we do is encrypt network protocols using network nodes.

There's no way anyone can change, intercept or replace any of the nodes. It's like a prison - once you're in there, we can't let you out or let anybody in.

Each file has a unique identifier, it's encrypted and sent through the network. On the other side, it's decrypted and the network identifiers are compared.

If any bit of the file is changed, the file will be discarded. . . . Business rules are given [by the company to the end user surrounding] how and when the file will be used. . . . It's a fully distributed secure network; it won't allow anything foreign in.

Content Management

Read how Kontiki Delivery Network will be targeted at enterprises and media companies, such as CNN, 60 Minutes and Charles Schwab