Can P2P applications learn to play fair on networks?

Sun Oct 21 19:05:48 UTC 2007

On Sun, 21 Oct 2007, Joe Greco wrote:
>> If only a few protocol/applications are causing a problem, why do you need
>> an overly complex response?  Why not target the few things that are
>> causing problems?
>
> Well, because when you promise someone an Internet connection, they usually
> expect it to work.  Is it reasonable for Comcast to unilaterally decide that
> my P2P filesharing of my family photos and video clips is bad?

So what about the other 490 people on the node expecting it to work?  Do 
you tell them sorry, but 10 of your neighbors are using badly behaved 
applications so everything you are trying to use it for is having 
problems.  Maybe Comcast should just tell the other 490 neighbors the 
10 names and addresses of poorly behaved P2P users and let the neighhood
solve the problem.

Is it reasonable for your filesharing of your family photos and video 
clips to cause problems for all the other users of the network?  Is that 
fair or just greedy?