Forecast: Legal P2P uses growing 10x faster than illegal ones

Peer-to-peer networking (P2P) is "starting to see a lot more legitimate uses," says Frank Dickson of MultiMedia Intelligence. He's talking about his company's new report on P2P growth that projects a 400 percent increase in such Internet traffic over the next five years. But more surprising than the growth rate, which has been in decline now for some time, is the fact that it's P2P's lawful uses that are seeing the biggest growth. For small content providers, especially companies involved in video, paying for a content delivery network can eat up a significant chunk of revenue. Done right, P2P distribution can save valuable cash for these providers, which is why Dickson sees P2P's lawful uses growing 10 times faster than its illicit uses.