North American Network Operators Group
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Re: Senator Diane Feinstein Wants to know about the Benefits of P2P

  • From: Jeff Wheeler
  • Date: Mon Aug 30 17:41:49 2004

p2p is different due to its decentralization. in other words, what once required a server to do can now be done by anyone sitting in front of their home computer. it in a way revitalized the idea of every computer on the 'net being it's own host - capable of serving up whatever the user wishes to whomever wishes to view it.

the problem is that while in the 'real world' this wasn't a big issue (a user giving away copies of the latest CD they bought from their front porch wasn't likely able to distribute it to too many people, and it cost them money to do it) on the 'net it is an issue (user has no noticeable costs, and the distribution is world-wide).

the various industries in question have realized that controlling distribution is impossible, the only thing they can control is the content itself (thus the various copy protection mechanisms, and legislation to implement the copy-protect flag) except that breaks fair use rights of the consumer. I hate to say it, but the *AA may need to look to Microsoft's Windows/Office activation scheme for guidance - while a bit of a nuisance, it actually allows customers to make fair use of their software while protecting MS from some of the piracy issues. Not that I have any idea of MS's software activation can translate in to protection of CDs and DVDs and whatnot, but it's something to think about (it's certainly better than the current mechanisms: copy once and never again, or copy only digital files that are of a degraded quality, or only playable on certain players to prevent copying via a computer, among I'm sure many others).

--
Jeff Wheeler
Postmaster, Network Admin
US Institute of Peace


On Aug 30, 2004, at 5:03 PM, Sean Donelan wrote:

On Mon, 30 Aug 2004, Fred Baker wrote:
This kind of a "you're different and therefore wrong" mismatch has made
complete hash out of quite a variety of discussions concerning user
experience and user requirements on the Internet. Please listen carefully
when someone talks about having limited rate access. The assumptions that
are obviously true in your (SP) world are completely irrelevant in theirs.
If you want their opinions - and this opinion was explicitly requested -
you have to respect them when they are offered, not just bash them as
different from your experience.
I've always wondered what really makes P2P different from anything else on
the Internet? From the service provider's point of view, users accessing
CNN.COM is a peer-to-peer activity between the user and CNN. From the
service provider's point of view, Microsoft and Akamai are peer-to-peer
activities.

Freedom of the press belongs to those that can afford to buy a press.