[ILUG] Free software for .pando files?

[paul at clubi.ie]

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007, Thomas Bridge wrote:

> Because the cost of accurately billing the difference far outweighs 
> the costs of just not bothering.

The premise here, at least in the post I was replying to, is that P2P 
is putting pressure on the traditional contention trick (of having 
some customers subsidise the greater usage of others), and that 
eventually something is going to have to change (e.g. customers 
paying more, some or all).

> Um - they are offering "native" IP network access.

Uh, no they are not. You've not read my post about topology. Do that, 
then come back.

E.g. we have the daft situation that if two physical neighbours, Joe 
and Jack, each connected to the internet with Eircom wholesale DSL, 
the physical topology looks roughly like:

        -----              -----    -----
Joe----|   |              |   |----| I2|--\
        | X |--------------| B |    -----   \
Jack---|   |              |   |\          INEX
        -----              ----- \          /
                                 -----     /
                                 | I1|----/
                                 -----

X being DSL termination equipment in an exchange near Joe and Jack, B 
a BAS at Eircom, I2 being Joe's ISP, I1 being Jack's. X and B are 
both capable of IP routing (hell, the X-B link may also be several 
hops of IP capable equipment, though not in Ireland AFAIK).

If Joe wants to share files with Jack, can X do it? No. Can B do it, 
no.

If Joe and Jack are not neighbours, do you think we could do the 
switching at B, no..

Because the IP topology has been abstracted, using layers upon layers 
of crap[1], to look like:


Joe-----I2
         |
         |
Jack----I1

> There's very little margin in supplying consumer DSL in any case. 
> The driver is typically to keep prices down - that's what the main 
> factor in the consumer market is.

Sure, and more and more of those customers want to download stuff.

1. Course, if you fix the manageability of IP so you can try cut out 
these layers of crap, then the ISPs would sort of cease to have much 
reason to exist. So everyone pretty much is happy to keep the layers 
of crap and pretend there are /good/ technical reasons for them..

regards,
-- 
Paul Jakma	paul at clubi.ie	paul at jakma.org	Key ID: 64A2FF6A
Fortune:
For adult education nothing beats children.