Discussing IP issues, Street Performer Protocol, etc.

RFC 2775, Internet Transparency, gives a great overview of most of the network problems inhibiting p2p and shows that prospects are not good.

The Register's take on the French telecom's buy into Jabber suggests that presence is more important than chat.

UPNP is essentially plug-and-play discovery of network devices using XML over HTTP over UDP. It is relevant because it will be able to automatically open up incoming ports in NAT's soon, which is relevant to the P2P community.

Napster takes a wise step in it's quest for legitamacy, while incorporating a key component for their July 1st subscription service launch.

Just as Napster users jump ship to alternative file-sharing networks, a new tool becomes available aimed to help music fans ignore bogus files by letting them rate and review downloads.

Damien Stolarz of the P2P Working Group reports that Universal Plug and Play Forum is finalizing work on a means for applications to traverse NATs.

Webnoize reports that Napster downloads fell 36% in April; a mere 1.6 billion MP3s changed hands. That number was 2.8 billion in February.

The Cult of the Dead Cow -- the folks that brought you Back Orifice -- plan to unleash a P2P-oriented program called Peekabooty at Defcon in July. Peekabooty is intended to allow users in repressive countries to access content that might otherwise be blocked by authorities. Content could be transferred between Peekabooty clients in an encrypted form. But it seems like systems like Freenet, Publius and Free Haven are already tackling the same space, so what does Peekaboot do that existing systems don't? CDC members, drop us a line.

Lawyers for SDMI are taking aim at researchers who plan to publish their findings with cracking the anti-piracy format.