Peer-to-Peer Nets 'Here to Stay'

This article examines trends in peer-to-peer (P2P) computer technology, which Wikipedia defines as "any network that does not rely on dedicated servers for communication but instead mostly uses direct connections between clients (peers). A pure peer-to-peer network does not have the notion of clients or servers, but only equal peer nodes that simultaneously function as both 'clients' and 'servers' to the other nodes on the network." P2P nets can be used to share any kind of file, including photos, free software, licensed music, and any other digital content.

A panel of industry experts met at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) in January 2005 to discuss the future of this technology. Their central conclusion, according to this BBC News report, was that P2P networks are "here to stay, and are on the verge of being exploited by commercial media firms". The anticipated growth in use of this technology may be explained by the resolving of several high-profile cases against those found guilty of P2P piracy for illegally sharing music, movies, and software. This article highlights some of these copyright issues and explores how these issues impact P2P trends.

Excerpts from the article follow:

"...Since the first successful file-sharing network Napster was forced to close down, the entertainment industry has been nervous and critical of P2P technology, blaming it for falling sales and piracy. But that is going to change very soon, according to the panel...

The music and film industries have started some big legal cases against owners of legitimate P2P networks - which are not illegal in themselves - and of individuals accused of distributing pirated content over networks. But they have slowly realised that P2P is a good way to distribute content, said Travis Kalanick, founder and chairman of P2P network Red Swoosh, and soon they are all going to want a slice of it. They are just waiting to come up with 'business models' that work for them, which includes digital rights management and copy-protection standards...

The BBC has already decided to embrace the technology....

...But the technology is still demonised and misunderstood by many. The global entertainment industry says more than 2.6 billion copyrighted music files are downloaded every month, and about half a million films are downloaded a day. Legal music download services, like Apple iTunes, Napster, have rushed into the music marketplace to try and lure file-sharers away from free content.

Sales of legally-downloaded songs grew tenfold in 2004, with 200 million tracks bought online in the US and Europe in 12 months, the IFPI [International Federation of Phonographic Industry] reported this week. But such download services are very different from P2P networks, not least because of the financial aspect.

'...there are going to be different models for commoditising P2P,' said Marc Morgenstern, vice president of anti-piracy firm Overpeer. 'Consumers are hungry for it and we will discover new models together,' agreed Mr Morgenstern.

'Increasingly, what you are seeing on P2P is consumer-created content,' said Derek Broes, from Microsoft. 'They will probably play an increasing role in helping P2P spread,' he said.

Looking into P2P's future, file sharing is just the beginning for P2P networks, as far as Mr Broes is concerned. 'Once some of these issues are resolved, you are going to see aggressive movement to protect content, but also in ways that are unimaginable now,' he said."