Cha2....same thing was done earlier this month by ISLD..
September 07, 1999: 3:15 p.m. ET
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. (NB) -- By
Laura Randall, Newsbytes. Digital Island
[NASDAQ:ISLD], a provider of cross-border Web
hosting and private networks, is teaming with
streaming media company RealNetworks
[NASDAQ:RNWK] and software maker Inktomi
[NASDAQ:INKT] to build a network that adds video
and audio delivery to its global e-business services.
Digital Island already delivers applications and
content to its 81 global e-business customers. With
this latest deal, the company wants to expand its
"geographically intelligent" network with high-quality
streaming video and audio and a guarantee of content
control.
For example, the new network will enable a
Madonna fan in Iran to download a high-quality copy
of her latest video in less time by bypassing the
traffic of the mainstream Internet, said Digital Island
spokesman Irwin Greenstein. At the same time, a
major record label that wants to block the
downloading of Madonna's latest video in Iran can do
so through the firm's TraceWare technology. Acting
as a sort of Internet atlas, TraceWare enables the
granting or restricting of user access to content on a
per-country basis, Greenstein said.
Financial terms of the non-exclusive streaming
deal weren't disclosed. Digital Island is enhancing its
network by integrating RealNetworks' G2 software for
delivering sound and video and Inktomi's software for
storing data on the network. The companies claim
the network is the first of its kind for broadcasting
sound and video worldwide on the Internet.
Digital Island, which went public on June 29, has
been carving a niche for itself in the Internet caching
market by focusing on the often-onerous exchange of
cross-border e-commerce. So far, it has inked deals
to provide networking services to 81 companies in 19
different countries, Greenstein told Newsbytes.
The San Francisco company has also recently
signed caching deals with Compaq Computer,
Bidcom, Intraware, and E*Trade.
Internet caching firms try to sidestep network
congestion to deliver Internet content services via
satellite or a decentralized network of servers. Digital
Island's competitors in the global network services
market currently include UUNet, Akami, Sandpiper
Network, and Inktomi. But analysts expect big
players like AT&T, Cable & Wireless and Exodus to
develop their own overseas caching technologies.
Internet Research Group, a market research firm in
Los Altos, Calif., predicts the caching market will
grow to $1 billion by 2000. |
