TechWeb's Internet Evolution Unveils First of a Kind Research Into Peer-to-Peer Filters

Landmark Evaluation Points Up Shortfalls in P2P Market

PRNewswire-FirstCall
NEW YORK
(:UBM)
Mar 27, 2008

NEW YORK, March 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TechWeb's Internet Evolution, a Web 2.0 site dedicated to investigating the future of the Internet, today unveiled a landmark research report on peer-to-peer filters (P2P), which outlines the essential functions to ensure the continued expansion of the Internet, and concludes that most of the current generation of filters are ineffective for meeting today's challenges. Produced by EANTC (European Advanced Networking Test Center), the report titled "Peer-to-Peer Filters: Ready for Internet Prime Time?" is available at http://www.internetevolution.com/document.asp?doc_id=148803. Although this was research targeted to the more than two dozen product vendors, including established players and market leaders, only two vendors -- U.S.-based Arbor/Ellacoya and German-based Ipoque -- agreed to release their results publicly.

P2P filtering products provide two critical functions: They assist ISPs that primarily care about network capacity, and entertainment companies that would like to prevent the exchange of copyrighted content. Both the Arbor/Ellacoya E30 and Ipoque PRX-5G devices showed excellent performance and very good P2P detection and regulation capabilities. However, neither solution achieved perfect detection across the entire range of popular P2P protocols. According to the research, the effective solution will be a new generation of filters that control and reduce the amount of Internet P2P file-sharing traffic.

"It's quite clear that most vendors are still in an early phase of product deployment and their products have limited scale and functions. Based on the response to the test, both ISPs and the music industry will have to wait awhile before the carrier-class P2P tools that can meet their needs are widely available," said Stephen Saunders, Internet Evolution creator and blogger. "Internet Evolution's objective is to bring awareness to key issues that are guiding the future of the Internet. We will tackle other critical issues through in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the Internet."

"ISPs often use trial and error methods to determine the efficiency of P2P filters today; our goal was to eliminate uncertainty in this area," said Carsten Rossenhoevel, managing director of EANTC. "We discovered significant disparities between vendors' marketing collateral and what their products are actually capable of. None of the devices we tested were able to satisfy the media industry's demands to block individual copyright infringements. Three vendors vetoed publication because of problems with their results."

About Internet Evolution

Internet Evolution hosts more than 100 world-famous Internet experts - such as Kevin Mitnick, once the most-wanted computer hacker in the world; Dr. Lawrence Roberts, inventor of packet switching, and one of the world's foremost authorities on telecom network architectures; Jack Uldrich, futurist, scholar, and author; Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist.com; David Weinberger, technologist and co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto; Howard Schmidt, former White House cybersecurity adviser; and Norman J. Ornstein, political scientist and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) -- all of whom are addressing today's critical socio-economic issues within its ThinkerNet blogosphere. Internet Evolution also offers broadcast-quality broadband video documentaries and interviews; investigative reports; and user-generated content facilitated via the latest Web 2.0 technology.

About TechWeb (formerly CMP)

TechWeb, the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 10 million business technology professionals actively engage with and rely on our global face-to- face events, including Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market-leading, award-winning InformationWeek, Wall Street & Technology, TechNet, and MSDN magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation performance marketing, custom media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

  Contact
  Amy Averbook
  TechWeb's Internet Evolution
  (212) 925-0020 x112
  averbook@lightreading.com

SOURCE: TechWeb

CONTACT: Amy Averbook for TechWeb's Internet Evolution, +1-212-925-0020
x112 or averbook@lightreading.com

Web site: http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/
http://www.internetevolution.com/document.asp?doc_id=148803