yes i can see how this may be a problem, there seems to be drawbacks to however u try to improve the loading situation.

however i have tried many times to dl a file with only 1 host only to get 3/4 of the way thru it and the server is then busy for ever and eventualy becomes unavailable. anything that improves distribution would i think give u more chance of geting the whole file, as at least someone will be more likely to have got the whole file.

maybe there can be some administration of this problem - the simplest being to expire the incomplete partial downloads after a few days or so of failing to get any more of the file, at least this would drasticaly reduce the number of hosts reported as having the file available, maybe eliminate it - or simply only share the partial download while activly downloading.

more complicated would be for the client to report what portions of the file it has - maybe this could just be in the filename itself ? then a client cld use this information to tell if all portions are available.

neither would not need any change to the protocol.