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Overcoming the Network Effects?
paul_harrison asks: "I am trying to introduce a new
P2P protocol. It's technically superior in several respects to existing protocols, but there's one big problem: too few people using it. Now this is not a new problem, there's even a name for it, "Network Effect". It crops up all over the place: which websites become popular, which formats and protocols people use, which operating systems people use, even which side of the road people drive on...
So my question is this: how do things like these overcome network effects and become popular?"
It seems like you're merely making minor improvements to something that's already out there. That rarely works, and I highly doubt it will work in this case. Your network is not anonymous, and you threaten to report IP addresses to the police. So basically your network is only for legal files. That's a fine niche, but what advantage do you offer over http and ftp? Probably not very much.
You're probably going to have to offer some form of compatibility layer with the other networks. That's how Limewire got it's improved Gnutella protocol out there.
That is assuming that your protocol really does offer tangible benefits and people will want to continue using it when the other networks are available to them as well.
You could popularize your app by going to a specific music community like ambient or idm at hyperreal.org and offering your application for file sharing among the list subscribers. Soulseek is a file sharing app which became popular for idm listeners (see soulseek.org). The great concentration of interesting files for like minded users will make your app competitive for these users. This user base should help you develop your app. Eventually the apps popularity should add more and more users from outside these smaller communities.