Broadcatching refers to the use of RSS feeds and BitTorrent peer to peer file sharing as an alternative to distributing multimedia content on the Internet. It is a play on words, in contrast to broadcasting.

Broadcatch is a word coined by Fen Labalme in 1983.

"Broadcatch connotes a many to one gathering of information, using a network of personalized agents to ideally sift through all available information and return just that which is of possible current interest from trusted, authenticatable sources and in a form and style amenable to the user."

Since a Steve Gillmor column for Ziff-Davis in December 2003, the discussion has spread quickly among many bloggers (Techdirt, Ernest Miller, and ex-Tech TV host Chris Pirillo, for example). However, it's Scott Raymond whose entry best explains what has everyone excited:

"I want RSS feeds of BitTorrent files. A script would periodically check the feed for new items, and use them to start the download. Then, I could find a trusted publisher of an Alias RSS feed, and 'subscribe' to all new episodes of the show, which would then start downloading automatically — like the 'season pass' feature of the TiVo."

While potential illegal uses abound (as is the case with any new file-distribution method), this idea lends itself to a great number of ideas that could turn traditional distribution models on their heads, giving smaller operations a new opportunity for content distribution. Similar to Lindows, the system leans on the cost-saving benefit of BitTorrent, where expenses are virtually non-existent; each downloader of a file participates in a portion of the distribution.

RSS feeds layered on top keep track of the content, and because BitTorrent does cryptographic hashing of all data, subscribers to the feed can be sure they're getting what they think they're getting, whether that winds up being the latest Sopranos episode, or the latest Sveasoft firmware upgrade.

Despite ample discussion, one of the first practical applications of this idea has only surfaced recently. Programmer Andrew Grumet has announced the release of a beta version of an RSS and BitTorrent integration tool for Radio Userland's news aggregator, available here.

TV RSS is another solution.

Azureus has also an RSS feed-reader plug-in which can be used in conjunction with the sites mentioned above.

Podcasting is starting to integrate BitTorrent to help podcasters deal with the download demands of their MP3 "radio" programs. Specifically, iPodder supports BitTorrent for the RSS 2.0 enclosures that power podcasting. Also X Hollywood aggregates RSS feeds from BitTorrent sites.

RSS-TorrentFlux is an Add-On for TorrentFlux enabling it to use RSS-Feeds for automated downloading.

WritTorrent provides RSS 2.0 feeds for the Azureus BT tracker, and a plugin for automatic blog publishing of .torrent files.

External links

• Kedora TV a directory of video RSS feeds
• Torrentocracy a MythTV plugin, allows you to join bit torrent (p2p) sessions linked to from RSS
• Broadcatching, March 6, 2004
• First broadcatching application
• X Hollywood news feed
• Thinkingest Commercial broadcatching
• Prodigem is a web service which allows you to upload openly licensed content, click a button and its servers create a torrent, seed the torrent and create an RSS feed with the torrent enclosure.
• WritTorrent is providing research, resources, standards, and software development for broadcatching.
• VJTorrents is a free RSS Video feed of VJ Mixes performed and recorded live.