News Analysis November 19, 2007, 12:01AM EST

Mounting Peer-to-Peer Pressure for Comcast

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Comcast Chairman and Chief Executive Brian Roberts, May 8, 2007 Larry Burton/Bloomberg News

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However thin the disguise, the inclusion of encryption in a technology used by millions could make peer-to-peer networks an even greater haven for the distribution of pirated or other illegal content, especially if peer-to-peer companies were to move to more industrial-strength versions as ISPs take countermeasures.

Net-Neutralizing Efforts

All of this is creating fodder for Net neutrality advocates, who argue that Comcast's methods show how big network owners can use their pipes unfairly. "Vuze provides a very concrete example of the kind of harm [throttling by ISPs] can create," says Fred van Lohmann, a staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has also criticized Comcast's actions. "Too many people have relegated this to piracy, when even more it's about the future of innovation. If you're trying to build a video service that might compete with Comcast, it's very difficult to do that when they're altering the network and not telling you how they're doing it."

Even BianRosa thinks there's a better way. "We think the game of cat and mouse is the wrong way to go about things," he says. That's why Vuze filed its own petition to the FCC on Nov. 14. The goal is twofold. First, it wants the FCC to set rules about what ISPs can and can't do to manage, filter, or shape traffic over their pipes. This includes a requirement that ISPs disclose their policies and tactics publicly. He also hopes the petition for rulemaking will spark increased conversation between ISPs and the peer-to-peer crowd, whose technologies suck up as much as 50% of all U.S. bandwidth, by some accounts. "This isn't just a regulatory approach," he says. "We intend to have a constructive dialogue with the ISPs. It's a case of, 'Help us help you.'"

BianRosa believes it's time for ISPs to embrace—rather than demonize—the leading peer-to-peer players. As peer-to-peer traffic grows apace, ISPs will increasingly be forced to throttle delivery speeds or consider video fingerprinting techniques that anger consumers, lead to lawsuits, and create PR imbroglios. Privacy advocates already are crying foul over news that AT&T (T) is considering use of one such fingerprinting system (BusinessWeek.com, 11/7/07).

Addressing Network Strain

No doubt, the peer-to-peer crowd is working hard to become more legitimate, so as to find profitable business models that let them make the most of their innovations. Case in point: Vuze. It was founded by the engineers who created Azureus, a BitTorrent program that is the most popular tool for sending video files—many of them pirated—over peer-to-peer networks. This January, the company launched the Vuze site, for the express purpose of using the Azureus tool to distribute content licensed from content owners.

So far, some 13 million people (more than 2 million in October alone) have downloaded the Vuze player, and the pace is accelerating. The site offers mostly obscure fare to appeal to the college crowd, such as sci-fi fantasies and outdoorsy reality shows featuring babes in bikinis. But the deals with Showtime and PBS show that mainstream media is catching on.

BianRosa says there are plenty of ways for the Vuzes and Comcasts of the world to work together. "There are techniques we can implement with them to address the strain on their network," he says. An ISP like Comcast could use the same software tools Vuze uses to find the quickest route between all those PCs. That could help an ISP minimize the strain on its own pipes, right down to shifting prime-time traffic onto peer-to-peer networks to make sure delivery of Comcast's own exclusive content isn't degraded at all.

But that's going to be a hard sell to network operators that also sell TV services, and could be threatened by anything that aids in the delivery of free video services over the Internet. The Comcast controversy is unlikely to be settled amicably any time soon.

Burrows is a senior writer for BusinessWeek, based in Silicon Valley .