Taming the corporate beast with the mere threat of regulation is indeed preferable to regulation itself, but still less than optimal in many cases. Threats work quite well, though. Verizon Wireless and AT&T; have changed a lot of policies lately to pre-empt Congressional action. From open-access to pro-rated termination fees to allowing users to unlock phones, the wireless companies are gradually evolving both in response to competitive forces and government pressures. And I'm not sure about proclaiming "Problem Solved" just yet. Comcast may be negotiating with Bittorrent, Inc, but that company is a tiny part of the phenomenon that is the Bittorrent protocol. It remains to be seen whether one company's development of a protocol that has since been unleashed into the wild will have much effect on users.
What if the "friendlier" version of Bittorrent makes for slower download speeds despite smoother network operation from the ISP's standpoint? Legit P2P firms may adopt the next Bittorrent, but unless huge numbers of people stop using regular old torrent files to pirate massive amounts of media, the capacity strain isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
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And I'm not sure about proclaiming "Problem Solved" just yet. Comcast may be negotiating with Bittorrent, Inc, but that company is a tiny part of the phenomenon that is the Bittorrent protocol. It remains to be seen whether one company's development of a protocol that has since been unleashed into the wild will have much effect on users.
What if the "friendlier" version of Bittorrent makes for slower download speeds despite smoother network operation from the ISP's standpoint? Legit P2P firms may adopt the next Bittorrent, but unless huge numbers of people stop using regular old torrent files to pirate massive amounts of media, the capacity strain isn't going anywhere anytime soon.