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The Disappearing Future of P2P Tech in the US

Peer-to-peer file-sharing companies in the U.S. will cease to exist in their current forms over the next few months, the president of MetaMachine, the company responsible for the eDonkey software, predicts.

Speaking at a Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Sam Yagan said that in order to avoid expensive litigation, file-sharing companies will have to change their models to become similar to iTunes or the new Napster or face expensive legal battles.

Of course, becoming like iTunes would be an excellent solution. It's the other side that doesn't appear to want to learn how to innovate.

Yagan further predicts the necessity for these companies to move overseas.

Another file-sharing company, WinMX, appears to have recently shut down its operations as its Web page is no longer accessible. However, rumors online have WinMX leaders relocating outside of the U.S., thus fulfilling another of Yagan's expectations.

He suggests that a wide variety of technology companies will choose to locate outside of the U.S. to avoid such potential lawsuits. "It's hard to imagine future 'open decentralized' P-to-P companies opening shop as American corporations," he said. "Where are the Skypes of tomorrow being founded? Your best bet is to look offshore."

Which is pretty much my expectation at this point as well. Bad for America though that the new innovative technology is being forced off of US shores, so that the dinosaurs can keep control of their universe and refuse to evolve.

posted by Alcibiades @ 9:11 AM