100 P2P Users Upload 75% of Content

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers say that about 100 people (called pirates in the article) are responsible for 75 percent of all downloading on BitTorrent (and the same group does 66 percent of all uploading), and says that the way to shut down the p2p network is simply to disincentive that relatively small number of people. The other large group identified in the study were people (such as from copyright enforcement agencies) who uploaded fake content to frustrate other users. No suggestions were made about how to prevent people from uploading fake content — but it was suggested that the first group could have their ad revenue cut or could be heavily fined."

Re:Sounds a little low, but...

[Lumpy]

I personally know about 30 people that have automatic scripts on their MythTV boxes that automatically upload TV shows the second they are done recording and the commercials have been flagged and removed. So there has to be 40X more than who I know unless I am highly connected at the center of internet piracy.... Yarrrr!

Hey feds! Give me $1,000,000 USD tax free and I'll give up all the goods you need on these horrible evil people that are destroying humanity as we know it!

Yes I have a price. Everyone does.

The research is complete garbage

[rs1n]

Here's a quote:

"In our opinion," the authors of the study conclude, "the success of BitTorrent lies in the availability of popular content which is typically protected by copyright law, and people who take the risk of publishing that content do it because they receive an economic benefit. If in the future these users lose their incentive, either because of a decrease in advertising income or due to having to pay very expensive fines, BitTorrent would very likely cease to offer this content, which would make people stop using the application on a massive scale."

These people have no clue how torrents and seeding works. When someone completes a torrent, they can choose to then seed that download. There is no economic incentive there whatsoever. The seeder gets absolutely nothing out of seeding. All it takes is one person to make an initial seed, and then if each downloader joins in seeding that content, then the number of seeds grows exponentially. Anyone can create a torrent, and anyone can seed. These guys make it sound like there is some sort of main repository from which all other downloaders get their torrents.

Re:Just don't get the P2Ping crowd

[hipp5]

You're trying to tell me that they didn't make crappy movies and music before the advent of P2P? Because that's absolute bullshit. The only reason why it seems like there were so many great movies and such great music in the past was because we've forgotten all the crap. You're also comparing the yearly volume of recent releases to a back-catalogue containing 100 years worth of good movies and music. I file your comment under "when I was young I used to walk 10 miles to school in the snow".

Disagreeing with the law - how to?

[h00manist]

The "study" may be BS. But it does raise the issue of how to disagree with the law, disobey it, without being punished for it. You are essentially risking punishment for ignoring the law. It may be a small issue, it may be a stupid law, but if someone picks you out for punishment, you could be set up, screwed, and ruined big-time. Cheating on taxes, drinking a beer in the wrong place/time, smoking a joint, downloading copyrighted things, running a red light, all of these things could set you up as a target for someone who wants to make an example out of you or whatever. For example I refused to comply with a local law requiring me to check ID for every user that used a computer at the cybercafe. (No, not in the US). I just couldn't agree. However, eventually a user abused the law, and now I'm answering in their place in a defamation case, perhaps being forced to pay thousands in damages - alleging I allowed the defamation by not following the law. They too felt abused by their boss apparently, and went to a cybercafe to send some emails accusing the boss of corruption and a dozen four-letter word things. Well, it's a big crime here. Not checking the ID is nothing, but now I'm caught as a target in bigger issues.

So disagreeing with the law is legal, scoffing at the law may result in nothing much of the time, but it's actually perhaps best to consider better ways to protest the law, while checking your options in case you are required to show your compliance with the laws.