European Internet service providers take a risk with PeerCache

Last week, three major European service providers licensed Joltids' PeerCache technology. The software works with P2P networks using FastTrack such as Kazaa and iMesh. According to this C|Net article, Joltid stated that FastTrack protocols can account for a staggering 70 percent of a networks traffic. PeerCache can step in and temporarily cache the P2P traffic to help lessen the burden on the network. However, it will create a sticky situation for the ISP, as it also changes thier role in filesharing.

But the technology could prove controversial, by putting ISPs in the hot seat in the Internet piracy debate. One indicator of this potential is that Joltid's European partners have not publicly disclosed their association with the company. In the United States, copyright laws protect ISPs from liability for their users' activities. With PeerCache software, ISPs would cache, or temporarily hold, digital copies of pirated files on their servers so they're more easily accessible to traders on Kazaa and other FastTrack systems. But holding copies of copyrighted material could make ISPs accomplices in illegal file trading, at least according to an early survey by one recording-industry trade association

Joltid founder Niklas Zennstrom (co-founder of Kazaa), states that European Union laws allow for the temporary caching of traffic and it doesn't matter if the files are legal or not. Inquiring minds at the IFPI that represent the international recording industry tend to disagree. They are looking into it and will decide on any further action.

Source: News.com