Christopher Taylor: P2P Download Solutions

Peer-to-peer downloading is one technique for transferring files that is moving beyond the pirate warez sites to the desktop of every computer on the Internet. Napster popularized the technique by de-centralizing music downloads, but there are a number of systems available now that are taking very different approaches to the problem of transferring data.

Software

• 09/15/2003 Skype is a P2P voice over IP solution coming fromt he makers of KaZaA.
• 07/13/2003 Valve, the creators of Half-Life, have a new P2P distribution system called Steam.
• 06/06/2003 PeerEnabler by Joltid is trying to provide P2P file distribution for companies. What's in it for the end user?
• 05/23/2003 I know I've mentioned this before, but I am going to start posting detailed information onto my weblog for inclusion in the topical pages that I am now building... BitTorrent is a decentralized, OSS download manager that optimizes downloads through p2p. A user offers a file for download on a regular HTTP server and sets up a BitTorrent server to manage the uploads. When a user selects a link to a bittorrent metafile in their web browser, the metafile is loaded into the BitTorrent client. The client will simultaneously download from the source HTTP server and any other clients that are currently sharing the same file. Once the download is started, the client will also begin to share the file it is currently downloading and will continue to do so until it is closed.
• 05/21/2003 Kontiki has a commercial download manager that seems to have a peer-to-peer component.

Postings

• 09/15/2003 Skype is a P2P voice over IP solution coming from the makers of KaZaA [Slashdot].

• 07/13/2003 Valve, the company that brought us Half-Life, has recently released a P2P file-system package that they will be using to distribute updates to their software titles, such as Half-Life itself as well as Counter-Strike [Steam]. The product, called Steam, may have what it takes to get P2P really going on the Internet in a way that integrates properly with the web.

• At its core, Steam is a distributed file system and shared set of technology components that can be implemented into any software application.
  
  With Steam, developers are given integrated tools for direct-content publishing, flexible billing, ensured-version control, anti-cheating, anti-piracy, and more.

  I've been arguing for a while that the key to P2P's future success is seamless integration into the web. Several other tools, such as BitTorrent, have moved in the right direction, but they aren't yet user-friendly enough to be used by the average Joe. Steam, by targeting gamers, has a built in audience that will be eager to install their client. The big question is will this provide the critical mass to get the product on everyone else's desktop and to get software writers to use the network to distribute their own titles.

• 06/06/2003 PeerEnabler is the new commercial P2P file sharing product on the market that will attempt to fill a similar niche as that being filled by BitTorrent.

  Joltid, the Swedish peer-to-peer software company formed by KaZaA founder Niklas Zennstrom, has launched PeerEnabler, a secure content distribution technology that utilises users' own PCs to disseminate content for publishers [The Register].

  The system will continually upload and download content that is popular on the network. However, it looks like the content owner will still be able to control the content in some ways that they are distributing on the P2P cloud.

  The question I have is what motivation would anyone have for installing this software on their PC? These P2P systems are starting to proliferate, but what I really want to see is a single open standard for P2P file sharing that different people can implement against. If a vendor wants to add value in certain ways be adding DRM or other content controls, then that's fine. But why would a consumer want to give their disk, CPU and bandwidth resources away for free?

• 06/03/2003 In a move that will be immediately met by a lot of criticism and speculation, Sharman Networks is going to start paying Kazaa users to distribute authorized content. Companies will pay to have content hosted through the Kazaa software. The content will show up in normal searches made through the software.

  News.com is reporting that Kazaa and Altnet are unrolling a setup where users are paid to distribute 'authorized content.' The article also mentions something about getting rid of unauthorized files, but is unclear on when and how. I'll be paying close attention to whether this P2P business model pans out; Sharman _has_ shown some shrewd business sense in the past [Slashdot].

  This is an interesting direction to go, but I think, in the end, a more open standard is going to supplant the commercial P2P applications. It isn't a P2P application that we need, afterall, but a P2P platform and API that can be easily integrated into other tools. An API that allows tools to pool computing resources "Grid style" is the way to go.

• 06/02/2003 AOL wasn't happy about the release of the WASTE sharing software that came out of their own doors and are trying to stop its distribution. This situation echoes back to the Gnutella release a couple of years ago. It's funny that those guys at Nullsoft are able to get away with these shinanigans without getting fired [New York Times]. 

• 05/29/2003 WASTE is a new secure P2P system being developed under the GPL by Nullsoft [Slashdot].

  WASTE is designed to enable small companies and small teams within larger companies to easily communicate and collaborate in a secure and efficient fashion, independent of physical network topology [Waste].

  P2P clients like Gaim, Trillian and the like are already being used to share huge volumes of files. Making the connections secure will make this type of trading less accessible to prosecution by the RIAA and its ilk.

• 05/21/2003 Today, I went to CNET's download.com to get a copy of Trillian. After searching for the application, CNET presented me with a download page. But, I noticed something on the page that I hadn't noticed before. In addition to the standard "Download Now" link that I have become accustomed to seeing on the page, there was a link called "Fast Download". I decided to try it out and what it turned out to be was a download manager provided by Kontiki.

  Once the CNET/Kontiki application is installed it runs continuously in the background and launches automatically every time you start up. It attaches your computer to the Kontiki network and makes your hard drive and bandwidth available to CNET and Kontiki for the purpose of distributing their software offerings [Zeropaid].

  Maybe everyone isn't happy, but I think this type of application is absolutely something that should be on everyone's computer. However, paying money to some company for the honor of providing the service may not be the way to go. But this or something like BitTorrent will eventually be used for nearly every download on the web.

• 03/25/2003 About a year ago, I thought about building a commercial P2P network with the focus on lowering distribution bandwidth costs. The motivation would be to allow the content owner to maintain control over its own content even though the content is being distributed from the P2P cloud. Its a good idea, but like most ideas and nearly all of my ideas, something like it is already in the works [BitTorrent][Open Content Network][via boingboing].

  In theory, if a piece of content is distributed on multiple P2P nodes, it should be possible to get download speeds that exceed those that would be typical of a unicast distribution model (i.e. downloading from a website). The key is to make the primary interface to the P2P network be the web browser and not some custom application. The network should be accessible via the standard URI scheme, but require that the user install the client software in order for them to participate in the network. It appears that both BitTorrent and the Open Content Network have adopted this approach.

  Eventually, I would like to see the web switch to a completely P2P architecture, where any piece of content would be distributed through a global P2P cloud. This would provide levels of performance and efficiencies that are unimaginable today.