[LinuxUsers] UDP default now for uTorrent

[Jeff Lasman]

On Saturday 06 December 2008 11:49 pm, Roger E. Rustad, Jr. wrote:

> Wow, this could hugely impact traffic flow on the Internet
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/01/richard_bennett_utorrent_udp/

It's going to be a serious problem for VoIP (which I use almost 
exclusively, and which more importantly, telephone companies are using 
in large amounts for long distance traffic)...

UNTIL ...

the ISPs learn how to identify it and aggressively throw away the 
packets.

Which is actually much easier to do than the article points out ... deep 
packet inspection isn't going to be necessary.  Only traffic rate.

You see, VoIP is quite bursty, while torrents are quite steady.  It 
won't take ISPs long to figure out how to identify the difference.  
While at first they might throw away some (even a lot) of the wrong 
packets, it won't take the router software people long to develop good 
algorithms; after all they're going to have lots of data to deal with.

And the ISPs will do it. They'll actively fight any regulation stopping 
them from doing it because if they can't, they'll pretty much go out of 
business; no one will want to pay them if they can't get their email or 
browse the 'net.

And once they've done it they'll simply shut those users off, and since 
they'll know their endpoint address, they'll do it without recourse, 
just as Verizon has been known to shut down abusers of their wireless 
internet system.

Or they'll more simply institute traffic caps that are high enough even 
for VoIP users, but not for P2P file transfer users.

Or they'll start reporting everyone who downloads more than a certain 
amount of traffic via P2P to the RIAA and other copyright cops.

They'll do it because they have to; otherwise they won't be able to stay 
in business.

While generally my viewpoints aren't near as clear at 3:23 am as they 
are at 3:23 pm, I think I'll be able to stand by this one in the 
morning <smile>.

My personal feeling is that this time the idiots have not only bitten 
the hand that feeds them, they've bitten the hand that can smite them.

Of course I may be wrong; they may just light up all that fiber they've 
put into the ground over the last few years.

Which do you want to bet on?

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Lasman, Nobaloney Internet Services
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