Netflix is Killing BitTorrent Traffic

Forget DMCAs, DRM, fines, and lawsuits: the best way to tackle piracy, as those in the know have been screaming for years, is to make content affordable and easily accessible. iTunes proved it was true for music back in 2003, and a new report from Sandvine shows that Netflix is doing it for film and TV. The report shows that Netflix accounts for 36.5% of all internet traffic in North America, while BitTorrent traffic has plummeted to a low of 6.3%.

Highlights of Sandvine’s findings include:

• Netflix continues to slowly increase its domination of North American fixed networks, accounting for 36.5% of downstream traffic in the peak evening hours
• In Latin American, two companies, Facebook and Google, now control over 60% of total mobile traffic in the region
• The release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Ascendance DLC caused a significant spike in bandwidth usage, and accounted for 12% of traffic on one North American fixed network on its release date
• During the season five premiere of Game of Thrones, HBO’s two streaming properties (HBOGO and HBONOW) accounted for 4.1% of traffic on one US fixed network; an increase of over 300% of their average levels
• BitTorrent continues to see a decline in fixed access bandwidth share, and now accounts for only 6.3% of total traffic in North America, and 8.5% in Latin America
• Netflix’s recent decision to encrypt their service will result in the majority of Internet traffic in Latin America and North America being encrypted in 2016

BitTorrent traffic has been falling for over 7 years; in 2008, torrents accounted for 33% of internet traffic, which fell to 22% by 2011. Legitimate video-on-demand services, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Instant Video, seem to have successfully undermined illegal firesharing.

Last year, Sandvine’s Dan Deeth told Mashable, “People have shifted their activities to streaming over file sharing, Subscribers get quality content at a reasonable price and it’s dead simple to use, whereas torrenting or file sharing is a little more complicated.”

Thank you BGR for providing us with this information.