Speed dragons

China Taking P2P to the Next Level?

With a relaxed regulatory environment unlike the US, Chinese developers have created file-sharing protocols that offer downloads 50 times faster than BitTorrent and real-time streaming of DVD quality video.

It's no secret that China is emerging as an economic powerhouse in its own right, developing a burgeoning manufacturing industry that produces everything from cars to iPods, but it's also rapidly developing a P2P and file-sharing services industry that people of other countries like here in the US could only dream of.

In a recent interview with Kaiser Kuo, Ogilvy China's digital guru and web 2.0 expert, discussed the rapid growth of P2P and file-sharing services in China in contrast to the United States where its growth has long been hampered by copyright concerns and the lack of effective DRM restrictions.

China's relaxed regulatory environment in regards to copyright infringement and enforcement and has made it possible for P2P services to be where Kuo says some of the "finest minds have gone" and developed "incredibly fast protocols on their own."

...in the US and pretty much anywhere else the MPAA and RIAA are allowed to have their way, content seems to take precedence over its distribution, thus hindering the development of new P2P and file-sharing services for consumers. The effect is that digital distribution is stifled to a snails pace, and that we have one of those rare cases where laws impede technological advancement and progress.