BitTorrent has shaken up the CRTC network management hearing with a late submission [no online link yet] that seeks to set the record straight on BitTorrent and its impact on ISP networks. The company begins by noting:
Our company, more specifically our BitTorrent application, has been referred to repeatedly in various submissions in this proceeding. From these submissions, there appears to be some misconceptions as to the effect of BitTorrent, as well as in general peer-to-peer (“P2P”) applications, on the Internet and in fact there has been an overstatement of the effect of such
applications on network congestion.
After describing BitTorrent (the company and the application), the submission addresses several misconceptions:
- Shaw argued that the high number of connections with P2P subverts the fairness of TCP. BitTorrent says this is incorrect, since very few connections (4 – 5) are used at any one time.
- Rogers argued that users do not care about upload performances. BitTorrent says this is inaccurate given the correlation between download and upload for BitTorrent users.
- Cogeco argues that P2P is not a real-time or interactive application. BitTorrent says this too is false since some apps like Skype are clearly interactive and some BitTorrent clients supports streaming.
- Rogers argued that P2P can create 24/7 always on usage. BitTorrent says this is exxagerated with the average client only active around 4 days per month.
BitTorrent then focuses on the effect of Canadian traffic management practices on the application's performance. The two main paragraphs are worth quoting in full since they have major implications beyond just the CRTC as BitTorrent states that movie executives report that Canadian P2P usage has declined dramatically over the past year. The comment:
