BitTorrent swarms have a deadly bite on broadband nets

Fri Oct 26 18:57:53 UTC 2007

Back in the dawn of the public internet this same sort of thing was
argued fiercely on lists like com-priv (commercialization and
privatization of the internet.)

It was usually around flat rate vs bandwidth charging.

My take was that bandwidth pricing lets you buy as much pipe as you
might ever need, like 100mb/s or more SOHO, but only pay for what you
use, which seemed rational if the technology supported that.

Flat-rate pricing encourages you to guess the most bandwidth you'll
ever need in advance and only pay for that.

In theory hybrid models could exist (variable, on-demand bandwidth
shaping and all that, it's pretty easy in the p-p wireless world.)

What's happened is the worst of both worlds where vendors are selling
end-users flat-rate pipes (think, for example, 20mb/s FTTH for under
$100/mo) but wishing customers would use it as if it were priced per
bit.

This is a business model dislocation.

It reminds me of the time, back in my heartier young man days, when
I'd frequent an all you could eat buffet nearby and finally the owner
tossed me out after I overstayed my welcome one day, I'd sit there
doing school work and make trips to the buffet every so often, saying
"yes, that's ALL you can eat, now get OUTTA here!!!"

-- 
        -Barry Shein

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