Faster file sharing to be offered
By Peter Svensson
Associated Press Technology Writer
NEW YORK — Peer-to-peer file sharing, the primary vehicle for online piracy, has been as unpopular with Internet service providers as it has been popular with users.
Providers have banned, blocked or slowed peer-to-peer traffic in their efforts to keep the flood of music, video, games and software from overwhelming their networks. But Verizon Communications Inc. has broken ranks with the industry and is set to announce today that it plans to help its users share files faster — at least those who do it legally.
With researchers at Yale University and a group of companies that make file-sharing software, Verizon collaborated to enable faster downloads for consumers and lower costs for participating ISPs.
File-sharing accounts for one-third of all Internet traffic, according to Arbor Networks, a maker of traffic-management equipment, and some estimates are higher.
At a conference in New York, the Verizon group will present test results showing that when an ISP cooperates with a file-sharing software maker, they can speed downloads an average of 60 percent — though collaboration boosted some downloads sixfold on fast Internet connections.
"This test signifies a turning point in the history of peer-to-peer technology and ISPs," said Robert Levitan, chief executive of file-sharing company Pando Networks Inc.
"It will definitely show ISPs that the problem is not peer-to-peer technology, the problem is how you deploy it. It is possible to deploy P2P to their advantage."
In P2P systems, users download files from one another, usually at the same time they're uploading files to other users.
The original Napster was a P2P system, as are the KaZaa and BitTorrent systems in current use.
Levitan said the technology might be ready for use by next month, when NBC makes available free downloads of its TV shows using Pando's software. The shows will be financed by advertising, and P2P technology will be an essential way for NBC to cut costs. Distributing an hourlong TV show in high definition using traditional delivery systems would cost the network about $1. With P2P technology, that cost can be cut by 75 to 90 percent.
