While recent figures have been produced [
pdf, 110KB] that point to a decrease in peer-to-peer music traffic, an article in Forbes points to a dramatic increase in video piracy using p2p.
Traffic may be shifting from music to video, perhaps because broadband speeds enable pretty fast conventional file transfers of the much smaller audio files and perhaps because of the ready availability of most content from authorized download sites. It is the growth in video piracy that caught my eye.
As an indication, the Forbes article comments about last year’s top downloaded film, The Dark Knight.
More significant may be the enormous growth in peer-to-peer downloads. The Dark Knight’s 7 million downloads wouldn’t even place the film in this year’s top 10 pirated films. Even marginally successful films like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Transporter 3 were pirated close to 8 million times so far this year.
The Music Ally study [ pdf, 110KB] about the softening in music file transfers provides an indicator of file sharing trends: “the percentage of music fans who have ever file-shared has, unsurprisingly, increased, rising from 28% in December 2007 to 31% in January 2009.”
Video traffic on the internet helps drive broadband adoption and demand for higher speed services, but presents a challenge for effective network management to ensure a satisfactory consumer experience.
As traffic patterns continue to evolve, will network operators have sufficient tools and flexibility to respond?