So this bozo wrote a column for the Midwest Tech Journal attacking P2P, & in it he made this brilliant statement:

<begin bozo>

Here is the bottom line...there is no use for P2P networks that passes the "straight face" test other than to illegally distribute bootleg songs, movies, and software, along with distributing obscene materials or pornographic materials - including child pornography.

<end bozo>

My good friend Robert was bothered by this crap & responded in a much saner, nicer way than I would have:

<begin Robert>

I too strongly oppose the illigal distribution of copyrighted material. However, I must disagree strongly with this statement:

[See quote above]

The above comment paints peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and those that use them with an extremely broad brush. While it is probably true that illegal material is being exchanged over P2P networks, that does not mean that P2P networks can only be used to exchange illegal material and that P2P networks do not have legitimate uses.

P2P is merely a technology that allows people to exchange information more efficiently than other technologies, much like the interstate highway system allowed people to exchange physical goods more efficiently than previous methods (e.g. the loosely connected state highways). Like the interstate highway system, yes, people do exchange illegal material. And like the interstate highway system, no, we shouldn't abolish P2P networks just because they can be used to exchange such illegal material. Both the interstate highway system and P2P networks have legitimate uses.

For example, much of the Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) community distributes its software via P2P networking, in particular using the P2P software know as BitTorrent [www.bittorrent.com]. Because of the efficiency by which data can be exchanged, a number of companies and groups have begun to offer BitTorrent as a means to download and exchange their software, including Xandros,Fedora, TheOpenCD Project, FreeBSD, OpenOffice.org, Libranet, Knoppix, among many other. Please visit the Central West End Linux Users Group's download [www.cwelug.org] page for a more complete yet still miniscule listing.

If you and anyone else would like to witness ligitimate uses of P2P networks for exchanging software and other data, I welcome you to join me at the Central West End Linux Users Group [www.cwelug.org] meeting on any third Sunday of the month. ... I will be happy to demonstrate how to download, install, and use BitTorrent for the legitimate exchange of software, all with a very straight face.

<end Robert>

Thank you, Robert. As usual, you are completely correct, & very nice about pressing your point.

(Check out all of our posts on BitTorrent.)