The more you read, the more it seems like P2P networks are the scourge of the Internet. Record companies file lawsuits because of the swapping of copyrighted files via P2P sites, and ISPs jack up service prices using P2P traffic as an excuse. So with P2P networks being the "bad guys" on the Internet, recent Internet traffic statistics reported by PlusNet offer some good news by showing that usage trends are shifting away from potentially illegal P2P traffic and toward legal, licensed streaming content.
Streaming content is on the rise over last year by a whopping 168.9 percent, according to PlusNet. While it's important to factor in the fact that users have many more options for streaming content than a year ago, the numbers also show that streaming content is on the rise monthly, with June's usage up 9.38 percent over May. And while streaming content is on the rise, P2P traffic is decreasing, although not as quickly. P2P traffic is down 8.75 percent from last year, accounting for 25.93 percent of Internet traffic compared to its footprint of 35.95 percent of Internet traffic last year, PlusNet reports.
The numbers, as Ars Technica points out, can only mean good news all around. ISPs use the fact that most P2P traffic is illegal content as an excuse to block high traffic or charge more for it. But if people are getting their content from legal means, then the ISPs have less leverage to charge more for people using more bandwidth.
The main component, though, is that people just want easy-to-access content. Most major networks now offer their shows streaming for free, as well as other services like Hulu and Veoh, and it's just easier to get the streaming content than to go through the hassle of a P2P network like BitTorrent. And NBC and CNN and the rest don't want you to have to pay more to stream their video--so opposition to extra fees from ISPs may come from content providers, not just P2P sites and fans.
