P2P Won't be Controlled

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: July 17, 2004 10:21:48 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: P2P Won't be Controlled

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
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org
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


- - -

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: July 16, 2004 6:17:42 PM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Company Releases Real World Data on File Sharing
> Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com
>
> [Note:  I posted a story on the CacheLogic story earlier.  This story
> gives more detailed information then anything else that I've seen.
> Here's a pointer to the press release of CacheLogic on the study:
> <http://www.cachelogic.com/news/pr040715.php>.  I haven't been able to
> find a copy of the study on-line.  If I do, I'll post a pointer to it.
> This item is worth reading, especially to see the traffic numbers.  P2P
> filesharing appears to be THE killer app for the NET.  DLH]
>
> Company Releases Real World Data on File Sharing
>
> If you want to find out what's happening, just connect to the net.
> That's what CacheLogic did: it measured P2P file sharing in six
> Internet hubs around the world.
>
> by Alex Goldman
> ISP-Planet  Managing Editor
> [July 16, 2004] 
> <http://www.isp-planet.com/research/2004/cachelogic_data.html>
>
> 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.
>
> Rather than fight P2P technology, the company would, of course, prefer
> that ISPs adopt its Cachepliance system which delivers a more efficient
> P2P architecture (see Building a Bettter P2P Delivery System).
>
> Unfortunately, as we noted in our article on the Cachepliance system,
> given the legal assault on all forms of file transfer undertaken by the
> RIAA, the legality of any solution that gathers data on or assists the
> operation of P2P file sharing may be subject to the whim of Congress
> and other lawmakers.
>
> The Streamsight 510 is not illegal, because it does not aid P2P
> functionality, and it does not trace any individual's activity.
>
> You may wish to drop this little device into your network to find out
> what's really going on. In its report for June, 2004, CacheLogic says
> that its U.S.-based equipment found that about two-thirds of all
> traffic was P2P (with about 11 percent HTTP, and 22 percent "other"
> including e-mail and FTP).
>
>
> Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
> Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>

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