Peer to Peer decline?

'The Man' is clamping down on peer-to-peer it seems. My favourite service for watching sports on the internet has been shut down, and this is making viewing very difficult.

Naturally the major broadcasters want to protect their investment, but before the organisers started exploiting their monopolies, all sports used to be available on TV for everyone to watch.

Some years back it would have been assumed that for instance, any England football match would be broadcast on a free TV channel for all. The modern reality is that more and more matches are limited to pay-per-view services leaving the majority turning to Radio 5 live... or searching for a peer-to-peer broadcaster.

I am inclined to think that eventually broadcasters like Sky Sports will be forced to accommodate the peer-to-peer model as it feeds a considerable market which cannot be ignored. The 'market' is those people that don't want to pay to watch a game, but will tolerate watching adverts and sketchy quality broadcasting. I don't think it will be too long before broadcasters could be considering a low-quality alternative to pay-per-view HD broadcasts during which viewers must endure a couple of adverts. Offering a viable alternative is a much better solution rather than bullying free service providers operating outside the confines of the broadcasters franchise.

Instead of trying to close the peer-to-peer sites down, I think the Rupert Murdoch's of this world should adopt the maxim: 'If you can't beat them, join them' and just provide a better service.