File-swapping on Internet2
Supercharged campus P2P network is trying to find a profit tool.
The i2hub project that I wrote about last spring is expanding. This is a file-swapping network similar to Kazaa or Gnutella, but running on the Internet2 campus network. That means students can download whole movies in half an hour or so, instead of a day or longer.
I'm a little surprised the network has lasted as long as it has, but it shows universities are genuinely conflicted on this issue. They aren't happy about copyright infringement, but they do support innovation by their students and free expression of ideas. I suspect schools will crack down on it this fall, putting some bandwidth-shaping tools onto Internet2 like they have on their ordinary networks.
But for now, the students doing it are trying to get into other areas like textbooks exchanges and Friendster-style social networking, trying to turn it into a business.