Nocturnal P2P transmissions account for 95 percent traffic

P2P apps are popular around the globe, even in regions where Internet access speeds are low. New research from German deep packet inspection gear maker ipoque shows that in places like Eastern Europe, P2P apps can account for an astonishing 95 percent of all nighttime traffic. The survey also found that one particular peer-to-peer app, Skype, is also single-handedly responsible for 95 percent of all Internet telephony.

Ipoque gathered its data with the permission of ISPs and universities in Europe, the Middle East, and Australia between August and September of this year (we covered the preliminary numbers back in September). In all, the three petabytes of information collected show that P2P sucks up anywhere between 49 and 83 percent of all Internet traffic during the day, and can spike much higher at night.

But everyone knows that P2P use is high. One of the study's most interesting findings didn't concern the volume of traffic, but the fact the 20 percent of it is now encrypted as the "arms race" between P2P users and ISPs, content owners, and law enforcement heats up. Increased network filteringâ€”such as that being proposed in the US by AT&T and supported by content ownersâ€”would no doubt lead to the deployment of far more potent encryption. Such a move could leave ISPs with a choice of blocking certain P2P protocols altogether, risking the wrath of those who use them legitimately, or abandoning the attempt at filtering out specific files.

P2P use spikes at night in Europe (Chart courtesy ipoque)

As far as what's being traded, ipoque used a variety of techniques (such as looking at file extensions or parts of filenames like "XXX") to identify the sort of content being swapped on P2P networks, and it shows some fascinating regional variations.

In Southern Europe, for instance, game downloads account for 25.5 percent of P2P traffic. Movies make up 38.8 percent, while pornography is a mere 1.8 percent. In the Middle East, by contrast, games are downloaded far less (6.3 percent), but movies much more (48 percent). Porn also makes up 5 percent of the traffic.

BitTorrent is, not surprisingly, the number one protocol, but eDonkey continues to hold its own. And the number one tracker in the world? The Pirate Bay, of course.