Comcast and Pando Networks have agreed to help forge a bill of rights for peer-to-peer file distribution on broadband networks. The companies want to include other industry experts to clarify which choices and controls consumers should have when using P2P.
“Working together, Comcast and Pando can help lead the discussion about what consumers should expect,” said Comcast CTO Tony Werner. “Doing so is in the best interest of everyone involved — ISPs, P2P companies and consumers.”
Reaching Consensus
Comcast and Pando hope to foster an industry-wide consensus on the processes and practices that Internet service providers should use. In particular, executives from both companies say they believe PC users should have the right to control their computer resources when using P2P applications.
“By having this framework in place, we will help P2P companies, ISPs and content owners find common ground to support consumers who want to use P2P applications to deliver legal content,” Werner said.
To quantify their recommendations, the two companies will jointly conduct tests of Pando’s Network Aware P2P technology that will measure performance, speed, bandwidth consumption, distance and geography, and their collective impact on ISPs. In addition, Pando said it plans to conduct further tests on the cable, DSL, fiber and wireless networks of other service providers.
“We need more data and analysis of how P2P applications deliver content over a variety of different networks,” said Pando CEO Robert Levitan. “By sharing the test methodology and results, all P2P companies and ISPs can learn how to more efficiently deliver legal content.”
Earlier this month, Pando released trial results indicating that its new P4P protocol is capable of operating at higher speeds than conventional P2P, which in turn promises to optimize network costs for ISPs on Comcast’s fiber-optic network, noted Martin Lafferty, head of the Distributed Computing Industry Association.
“The fact…