BitTorrent is gaining more and more mindshare on the Internet. It is a great tool and I've been using it for a long time, but I had no idea how pervasive it had become.

Several sites are pointing out that BitTorrent accounts for 35% of all traffic on the Internet. Actually that data is several months old from a study conducted by CacheLogic between January through June 2004, and the current percentage may be higher. The more interesting stat in the study is that around 60% of all network traffic is peer-to-peer related. The percentage of overall network traffic P2P represents on a regional basis ranges from 55% in Europe to 80% in Asia. As more and more legal file distribution shifts from http and ftp to BitTorrent, those numbers may get even higher [ArsTechnica].

That is simply amazing. Of course, I should probably be upset by these trends. Afterall, the business I am in is dependant upon the legal distribution of media. But, I just love the idea of P2P technology. What I tell people all the time is that P2P and illegal music and media sharing is part of the ecosystem that we live in. Some efforts to fight it will be somewhat effective. But more effective is to build something better. 4:47:08 PM    comment []