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Why BitTorrent Causes Latency and How To Fix It
Sivar recommends an article by George Ou examining why BitTorrent affects performance so much more than other types of file transfer and a recommendation on how to fix it. The suggestion is to modify P2P clients so that, at least on upload, they space their traffic evenly in time so that other applications have a chance to fit into the interstices. "[Any] VoIP [user] or online gamer who has a roommate or a family member who uses BitTorrent (or any P2P application) knows what a nightmare it is when BitTorrent is in use. The ping (round trip latency) goes through the roof and it stays there making VoIP packets drop out and game play impossible."
I read the article. He's absolutely correct, and this would also solve the problems ISP's have with bittorrent. Instead of throttling bandwidth to all their customers and screwing them over, manage the traffic properly. It might slow down bittorrent downloads slightly, but not enough to seriously affect it. In the end however it doesn't make business sense for a monopolistic company like Bell to cater to it's customer's needs. They would rather force their customers to dump bittorrent and use their new video download service instead.
Why not just configure your p2p app to cap its own upload rate? Pretty much every single p2p app w/o exception has this option. Some dynamically cap their upload rate for you by periodically using ping (or measuring some other round trip time) to determine latency and continuously vary the cap until the ping stabilizes.
More trouble than it's worth, you've got to hide the body, and answer a bunch of questions from the police, and it's all a pain in the ass. Much easier just to throttle his bandwidth.
I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.