Infamous P2P site maps worldwide P2P traffic

Global torrent connections mapped out by The Pirate Bay [ArsTechnica]

The Pirate Bay, the Internet cesspool that links Internet users with stolen, copyrighted content, has released a Google Maps mash-up of its global traffic composition. The Pirate Bay, which is based in Sweden, tracks and publishes files available for download using BitTorrent, a popular peer-to-peer file sharing application. Yesterday, the site published a dynamic map detailing the number of BitTorrent connections by country that the site has facilitated. The map reveals some interesting and intuitive data.

Throughout the day yesterday, China was - by far - the number one source of connections according to the map. China averaged between 25% and 30% of all file sharing connections worldwide. The United States accounted for between 5% and 9% of all connections. At a glance, Southeast Asia appears to be a hotbed of P2P activity, with several countries in that region producing numerous P2P connections. The connections displayed on the map include users that are uploading as well as downloading.

One of the largest hurdles that Insight faces in keeping our users' Internet experience enjoyable are all these P2P downloaders from around the world. Insight users have some of the fastest consumer upload speeds available among broadband providers. If an Insight user chooses to make files available for sharing on a P2P network, the P2P network detects Insight's fast upload speed, which translates to a fast download speed for the downloaders. The P2P network automatically moves the Insight user's file to the top of the list because of the fast download speed, encouraging more and more downloaders to connect to the Insight user's computer to get the file. All that network activity causes congestion for other Insight users, and if we didn't responsibly manage our network, every Insight user's experience would suffer - even the users uploading with P2P software.

Though I can't say I approve of the activity that The Pirate Bay is engaged in, their map is an excellent representation of why responsible network managment is a critical tool for ISPs to keep their networks operating for all users.  This is precisely why I urge extreme caution as we debate the need for net neutrality regulations and the need to avoid causing an unintended and serious degredation of service.

Comments

[sineswiper]

Like them or hate them, I still like their stance on what is considered copyright material on their servers. In other words, a BitTorrent file is just a small file that gives you locations to trackers and IPs with the actual data. However, The Pirate Bay isn't actually moving around copyrighted material itself.

This is an important distinction in regards to the use of technology and our freedoms throughout the Internet. Web sites are not responsible for the content of a web site they linked. Google isn't responsible for the searches that come up with copyrighted material (unless it's housed on their own servers). BT trackers shouldn't be responsible for the content of their torrents.

It's a shame that Sweden realizes this distinction, while the US doesn't.