Real World data on P2P traffic - it can't be controlled

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[Some excerpts from a recent postings on Dave Farber's Iper list - BSA]


Dave,

Of course, statistics on P2P usage only capture data on P2P applications
that can be identified as such.  As efforts by governments (and ISPs) move
toward constraints and restraints on such P2P usage, the trend of
particularly "sensitive" P2P applications cloaking themselves to appear as
other more "innocuous" types of applications and data will greatly
accelerate.

P2P transactions can be hidden as anything from encrypted e-mail, to
payloads hidden in mundane photos (steganography), to low level network
utility traffic -- even morphing as necessary on a dynamic basis.

This all makes genuine control over P2P, especially the types of materials
that the powers-that-be will most wish to control, extremely problematic in
the long run.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
[email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected]
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - 
http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org
Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet
                      Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on
Computers and Public Policy


-----------------

Downloading for Democracy (Politics 2:00 a.m. PDT)
http://go.hotwired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64237,00.html/wn_ascii

 Peer-to-peer networks aren't just for trading music and movies. A law
student, frustrated by government secrecy and possible conflicts of
interest, launches a website that uses P2P networks to distribute telling
government documents. By Kim Zetter.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .



- - -

> From: Dewayne Hendricks 

> Company Releases Real World Data on File Sharing

> Privacy advocates say P2P file sharing increases music sales and helps 
> the industry gain exposure for new artists. The RIAA says that P2P 
> file sharing is theft, occurs largely on college campuses where it 
> harms networks built for education, and harms record companies.
>
> CacheLogic says none of the above, only that P2P file sharing is 
> growing as both legitimate and illegitimate use explode. The company 
> points to the widespread availability of Red Hat Linux's Fedora 
> product on BitTorrent as a legitimate use of P2P.
>
> CacheLogic has real world data to back up its assertions. The company 
> recently developed an application monitoring appliance, the 
> Streamsight 510 (see Examining Layer Seven ), and deployed it in six 
> POPs around the world to measure the extent of P2P traffic in America, 
> Europe, and Asia.
>
> Between January and June of 2004, the products saw KaZaA (which the 
> company calls Fast Track) replaced by BitTorrent as the world's most 
> popular P2P app.
>
> The data also says that over the last mile, P2P traffic is 80 percent 
> or more of all traffic. The company notes that for systems designed to 
> be asymmetrical (as in most consumer broadband offerings today) the 
> fact that P2P traffic is symmetrical (i.e., P2P users upload as much 
> as they download) causes extra strain on the last mile portion of the 
> ISP's network architecture.
>
> P2P use is widespread, the company's report notes. "In a 30 day 
> period, a single unit of CacheLogic equipment observed P2P accesses 
> from 3.5 million unique IP addresses."
>
> ISPs that operate on the assumption that a few bandwidth hogs cause 
> problems for everyone will be disillusioned if they obtain real data 
> on their network, the company warns.
>
>
>
> Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
> Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
>


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