MEDIA EXECS GRINNING EAR TO EAR BITTORRENT TRAFFIC SHARE HITS NEW LOW

ARE GOOD, AFFORDABLE LEGAL OPTIONS LIKE NETFLIX FINALLY HELPING TURN USERS LEGIT? According to a recent report from the network management company Sandvine, it appears that the total amount of internet bandwidth spent on BitTorrent tra c in Europe has fallen signi cantly in the last year, dropping below % for the rst time since the le sharing boom commenced. The report states that . % of Europe’s total internet tra c can be attributed to peak hour torrenting, which is a far cry from the . % that was reported only two years ago. And it’s not just Europe — the Asia Paci c region is also experiencing the same downward trend. So what’s behind the huge decline in torrent tra c? Perhaps easy access to content through legal channels has had a hand in turning pirates into legitimate media consumers — a Sandvine report from May this year stated that . % of all downstream peak hour internet bandwidth in North America could be attributed to the streaming giant, Netflix. During the same period, . % of all peak hour tra c was accounted to YouTube.