Comcast, perhaps the most aggressive opponent of file sharing after the RIAA, has seen the light. After testing P4P, an experimental file sharing architecture that reduces network costs and bandwidth usage, the company is closer to embracing file sharing on its own network.
“We are active members of [the P4P working group,] and our engineers are actively collaborating and engaging with other engineers on it. We're absolutely engaged and part of it," says Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas.
P4P, a next generation file sharing system, has garnered intense interest from ISPs -- such as AT&T, Verizon, Telefonica and Comcast -- as well as content providers. If the architecture becomes widely adopted by ISPs, it could change the face of file sharing; P4P lowers network costs for broadband providers by reducing the distance data travels on P2P applications. The upshot? File sharing won't hurt network performance. And as an added benefit, it could also increase downloading speeds for customers. The technology could be equally beneficial for content providers since it might help movie studios and music labels track legitimate media sales.
For Comcast, the adoption of P4P would be a dramatic shift in strategy. The company has made a practice of slowing down access speeds for active file sharers or so-called “bandwidth hogs." While Comcast argues that throttling is its God-given right, the FCC said otherwise -- the government agency ruled that Comcast violated federal policy when it slowed internet traffic for some subscribers.
But in July, Comcast tested the P4P protocol on its network, and saw dramatic improvements in network performance, according to Robert Levitan, CEO of Pando Networks, a content-delivery company that conducted the test for Comcast and AT&T.
In addition, the architecture increased download speeds for broadband subscribers, The results -- though not made public yet -- “will easily blow away Verizon's results," says Levitan.
“We are active members of [the P4P working group,] and our engineers are actively collaborating and engaging with other engineers on it. We're absolutely engaged and part of it," says Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas.
P4P, a next generation file sharing system, has garnered intense interest from ISPs -- such as AT&T, Verizon, Telefonica and Comcast -- as well as content providers. If the architecture becomes widely adopted by ISPs, it could change the face of file sharing; P4P lowers network costs for broadband providers by reducing the distance data travels on P2P applications. The upshot? File sharing won't hurt network performance. And as an added benefit, it could also increase downloading speeds for customers. The technology could be equally beneficial for content providers since it might help movie studios and music labels track legitimate media sales.
For Comcast, the adoption of P4P would be a dramatic shift in strategy. The company has made a practice of slowing down access speeds for active file sharers or so-called “bandwidth hogs." While Comcast argues that throttling is its God-given right, the FCC said otherwise -- the government agency ruled that Comcast violated federal policy when it slowed internet traffic for some subscribers.
But in July, Comcast tested the P4P protocol on its network, and saw dramatic improvements in network performance, according to Robert Levitan, CEO of Pando Networks, a content-delivery company that conducted the test for Comcast and AT&T.
In addition, the architecture increased download speeds for broadband subscribers, The results -- though not made public yet -- “will easily blow away Verizon's results," says Levitan.
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