History: Ever since Napster was launched, the P2P concept has been regarded as being barely legal.

Idea
But once Microsoft will embrace it, under the name Avalanche(where are they getting the names from?),
the P2P concept has all the chances of entering a new era.

A fast network able to provide (in a legal environment [bla bla...]) software and movies is a very good idea which will gain many followers. But the new P2P concept will not be BitTorrent’s executioner, it will only represent a legal alternative to it.

With Avalanche, Microsoft might gain a strategic position on the market, and it might end up having on its hands a service much more interesting than iTunes or any other similar applications. (finally)

It remains to be seen what accessing and using conditions will be imposed and what fees will Avalanche require to allow users to harness its P2P power. In a world which is more and more dependent on the Internet, Microsoft is finally gambling on the right card.

Alot of people are accusing Avalanche of beeing nothing more than vapour-ware to kill off bit torrent.

It has it's benefits, the more they can understand something like this and use it for their own purposes, the more they can fight against it and I don't think this will do anything to stop illegal downloading from bittorrent websites and piracy in general, but at least they're trying.....

avalanche could never be a bittorrent killer, that statement based solely on the fact that avalanche will be legal stuff (itunes for products basically) and BT will be...for what's left over.

Unless avalanceh is released as free and unrestrained by ms, it'll never kill any other p2p network that is not tied down to any legal company.

MS could be sued for developing avalanche and allowing p2p connections involving any illegal items.

BT on the other hand can't, because no one is holding the bag =P

Exactly. Especially when most of these networks are not even based in the US anymore, but in Switzerland and such where the us copyright laws don't apply.

are you sure they are hosted in switzerland, i thought they were hosted in China and so because of the cheap rates. The rates here in switzerland are very high. The swiss goverment also has its own section dedicated on tracing down major companies in switzerland that are allowing illegal downloads of movies and stuff...

some more updated news:

Aside from being a legal alternative, Microsoft also promises that Avalanche will be much faster than BitTorrent. So it would seem that illegal downloads won’t stand a chance.

On the other hand, unlike Avalanche, BitTorrent has already proven its capabilities, not to mention the users’ attraction towards illegal downloads. And what can be easier than to use P2P for illegal downloads?

If Microsoft really wants to push Avalanche on the market it should focus more on costs and less on technicalities. And if you have to choose between being targeted by RIAA and paying a small amount of money, it’s obvious you will go with the second option.

The main question is not how will the service work, but how much the access and the right to download a certain file will cost? I’m afraid that Avalanche will confirm the famous statement of General Motors’s director who said that if cars had developed in the same way as Windows did, we would have required special roadways. The same goes for Avalanche, who knows what hides behind a P2P concept signed by Microsoft.

Heh. This is just a way for M$ to use their customers to pay for their own bandwidth and distribution costs.

Hmmm... I have to say this for Trekkie 101 , it must be a bad thing if it means Microsoft getting a bigger share of the p2p market. If you can get illegal downloads via existing p2p clients for free, it will be interesting to see how much of an impact a paid, legal service like Avalanche will make.