P2P File Sharing

P2P On the Hill – The Industry Talks

This post is part of a series on the US House of Representatives hearing on P2P.

5. Clark Wants Gov. Regulation

A few people at the hearing focused on various efforts in government and industry.

Eric Johnson from Dartmouth University works with major companies to secure their data. He talked about "digital wind," a phenomenon where obscure files get caught up in the widespread distribution of popular files because they share a common keyword in the title or metadata.

Mark Gorton from LimeWire said the software has a user base of 50 million and its market share has grown to nearly 75%. The company is working to make its software and default settings safer to use for novice users. While he expressed concerns about protecting content owners, he offered no commitment to doing so and instead fobbed off that role to ISPs.

Bob Boback from Tiversa, which monitors P2P networks, shared research data that 38% of files being traded are music and 19% are video, and showed examples of sensitive data available from foreign and US governments.

• P2P On the Hill - Clark Wants Gov. Regulation
• P2P On the Hill - Who Stole My P2P Cheese
• P2P On the Hill - What the Feds Say
• P2P On the Hill - U.S. Witch Hunt