IceColdMikey

You asked an interesting question, namely:Although my answer will not be technical it will contain policy and privacy issues.

OK IceCold, here we go:

As I understand it, the technology exist for your Internet connection to be traced and monitored and I also believe that there are laws, both in the UK and US, where the authorities can demand from your ISP provider logs of your Internet activities.

The technology also exist to perform "deep packet inspections" of your live Internet connection and also some ISPs will try to hack into your computer just to check on you. I remember that when I was a Virgin customer (a UK ISP) some years back they tried to get into my PC but my firewall blocked them. I emailed their helpdesk about this but did not get a reply.

As you know, P2P connections can be throttled without affecting normal browser-type connections and most ISPs prefer this to other types of technical solutions because those methods carry inherent dangers to law abiding Internet users.

Because the same tracking and snooping technology that can be used to track paedophile-type activity can also be used to read your emails, track your financial transactions and delve into your on-line and private live.

However, whenever an ISP announces that they intend to employ snooping technology there is a customer backlash and various privacy activists start to campaign against its installation.

Although there are data protection and privacy laws government and big business are always looking for ways to circumvent them, even to the point of breaking those laws and hoping that nobody finds out, e.g. BT's "Phorm" experiment that tracked some of their customers usage.

One other thing about P2P, when you are downloading using P2P you are actually downloading from several sources simultaneously and from different points around the world, this type of communication is easier to throttle or block than track.

Finally, and to summarise, where there are Internet servers distributing illegal material the necessary national authorities, under US led guidance, are finding and closing them down. However, illegal distribution via P2P are a little more difficult to deal with because the technology that may be employed may intrude into areas of customer privacy.

I hope I have answered your question even though my knowledge and experience are UK based.



UK Bob