Senator Diane Feinstein Wants to know about the Benefits of P2P

Mon Aug 30 21:31:12 UTC 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.
>