What Does the Election Mean for P2P File Sharing?

Excerpted from Zeropaid Report

From BitTorrent throttling to net neutrality, it’s important to see where our President-Elect stands so that we know what to expect in the future.

“Because most Americans only have a choice of only one or two broadband carriers, carriers are tempted to impose a toll charge on content and services, discriminating against websites that are unwilling to pay for equal treatment,” read his position as initially outlined in Barack Obama on Technology and Innovation.

“Barack Obama supports the basic principle that network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some websites and Internet applications over others,” the paper continues. “This principle will ensure that the new competitors, especially small or non-profit speakers, have the same opportunity as incumbents to innovate on the Internet and to reach large audiences.”

It appeared that Obama was firmly on the side of an Internet that wouldn’t single out certain sites or applications simply because they may use more bandwidth than others. This was good news for BitTorrent and other P2P file-sharing application users.

From Senator Obama’s website: “Protect the Openness of the Internet - A key reason the Internet has been such a success is because it is the most open network in history. It needs to stay that way. Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet. Users must be free to access content, to use applications, and to attach personal devices. They have a right to receive accurate and honest information about service plans. But these guarantees are not enough to prevent network providers from discriminating in ways that limit the freedom of expression on the Internet.”

This past September, however, the Obama campaign somewhat revised its technology positions after announcing that Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) would be his running mate. In response to concerns raised about this change, an Obama campaign representative responded, “There is absolutely no substantive change to our policy - folks who want more information can click here to get our full plan.”

Joe Biden has been a longtime supporter of entertainment industry interests, most notably in 2002, when he asked the Justice Department to take a tougher stance on copyright infringers. His other more noteworthy efforts included the PROTECT Act of 2003. Another bill sponsored by Biden last year would limit how consumers would be able to record and play back digital content. Most telling is that he co-founded and co-chairs the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus, which includes over 70 members from both houses of Congress, including former Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton.

The next indication of where our country’s technology policies are headed and to what extant Obama will fulfill his campaign pledges will be exemplified through the cabinet appointments he makes after taking his oath of office. With the new President also appointing a Piracy Czar, thanks to the recently enacted Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (PRO-IP Act), we can only hope that Obama chooses the best minds in their respective fields.