Here my 2 pennies opinion on P2P applications. First a small correction: As far as I remember Napster was not a P2P program. Many illegal P2P implementations surfaced as a consequence due to the ban on Napster though. One of them was Kazaa which P2P engine later was re-used within the Skype product.

Obviously P2P technology is extremely interesting and potentially very powerful. I don’t want the discuss the fact that Skype and other Instant Message products are very popular and useful also for professional use. Many very nice other applications can be build using the P2P concepts.

The problem lies exactly in its almost unlimited powers. Building a virtual community without very adequate control of its usage is pretty dangerous. I myself advice against P2P usage for professional purposes, unless the total control of the application including ALL participants can be warranted at all times.
Skype is a very good example that lacks all. A few facts about Skype:
. The community is not controlled by users in any way
• Traffic is encrypted with keys from an unknown source and can be influenced or validated
• Resources of member PC’s are being exploited without any handles or controls
• When you install you are are asked to accept the conditions for use. Amongst other the makers reserve the right to “add code dynamically”.

Bottom Line : Any compromised P2P network is extremely dangerous and can be turned into a very nasty Botnet fairly easily or being abused for spreading Malware of various natures.

Click to read the article this is in response to.