Can P2P applications learn to play fair on networks?

Mon Oct 22 00:50:39 UTC 2007

On Mon, 22 Oct 2007, Simon Lyall wrote:
> So stop whinging about how bitorrent broke your happy Internet, Stop
> putting in traffic shaping boxes that break TCP and then complaining
> that p2p programmes don't follow the specs and adjust your pricing and
> service to match your costs.

Folks in New Zealand seem to also whine about data caps and "fair usage 
policies," I doubt changing US pricing and service is going to stop the 
whining.

Those seem to discourage people from donating their bandwidth for P2P 
applications.

Are there really only two extremes?  Don't use it and abuse it?  Will
P2P applications really never learn to play nicely on the network?