P2P's Significance for eBusiness: Towards a Research Agenda

Applications running over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks have exploded since the late 1990s. Research is needed into many aspects of P2P. These include architecture, application functionality, and the categories of digital works that are shared using P2P facilities. A range of significant strategic, consumer and policy issues also arise, such as challenges to the operation of copyright, defamation and other censorship laws. Organisations affected by P2P are devising and deploying countermeasures, such as technological protections for digital works and attempts to identify devices and users. These too require study. This paper presents the landscape of research opportunities, indicating methods that might be appropriately applied to the various kinds of questions.