Twitch testing peer-to-peer technology for source quality streams in Korea despite potential privacy concerns
On July 29, Twitch began testing peer-to-peer (P2P) technology as a method for delivering source quality streams in South Korea. The Amazon-owned streaming platform cited an increase in the cost of its operations in Korea as the reason for this change.
The change to P2P will only affect source quality streams, meaning Korean viewers will have to opt in to it in order to watch videos in 1080p on Twitch. This technology uses computing power from viewers' devices to provide a Full HD (High-Definition) quality viewing experience.
There are expected to be drawbacks with P2P. Aside from increased latency issues, there are potential privacy issues as well since P2P will require the IP addresses of all participants to be made available to each other, which could increase the risk of cyberattacks. In its FAQ, the streaming platform suggested that viewers with privacy concerns should switch to watching in 720p, saying:
Twitch decided to move forward with testing P2P technology for Full HD video streaming in South Korea and rolled out the test with partnered streamers on July 29.
The solution to rising expenses of the platform's operations in the country was proposed as a compromise between cutting costs and providing Korean viewers with the same HD stream quality they have been receiving. It was also stated that this approach is unique to the Korean market:
The decision to switch to P2P has been criticized, and critics have pointed out that this move is essentially sacrificing user experience and privacy to save the platform money.
While viewing content in high quality is a satisfying experience, most people likely wouldn't jeopardize their privacy for it. It remains to be seen if these changes will are permanently.
Q.
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