A Clash Of Civilisations: Media Embrace P2P, ISPs Want Blood

“I’m a network engineer for an ISP. We currently restrict P2P applications to 512kbps for all users. And for good reason. P2P applications can cripple a network, they’re like leaches. They consume all available bandwidth for endless periods of time. What I think will eventually happen is users will start having to pay for transfer.” - BitTorrent, 2007

The term “net neutrality” blasted onto the public scene in 2006, when blogging posts referring to the issue rose from 286 in 2005 to almost 39,000 in 2006. In 2007, 33,087 blogging references were made to net neutrality, and by already by April of this year, 14,000 comments on the subject had been posted.

2008 will be a record year for blog chatter on net neutrality, and why wouldn’t it be given recent comments by the likes of Virgin Media’s CEO (the UK’S second largest ISP), Neil Berkett, who said: “This net neutrality thing is a load of old bollocks.” Virgin Media, like Comcast in the US, is prepared to ’shape’ Internet traffic by capping P2P users and giving preference to groups which can afford to pay more for higher speeds.

Yet, as ISPs arch up and challenge the ‘free ride’ afforded to P2P users, selected media groups, including PBL here in Australia and NBC in the US, are toying with P2P model of content distribution, allowing their programs to be distributed free-of-charge across P2P networks like BitTorrent in return for encoded advertising content.

The PBL trial is using Hiro technology to encode the material, as well as track file-sharing and ad downloads. For users wishing to see the complete video file, they must download Hiro software and view embedded ads in the program. These ads canot be fast-forwarded or removed.

If a CPM-backed P2P distribution model proves increasingly viable and lucrative (for media), the pressure will be on content producers to flood the system with entire video libraries as well as first releases - all of it backed by targeted advertising.

So this is the scenario, P2P traffic booms with a wealth of content, media groups make a dollar, much of it at premium rates, and overnight ISPs are forced to shoulder an exponential growth in data volumes with little in the way of price compensation.

If you think Virgin’s CEO (and every other ISP) is going to cope that, you’re living in la la land.