File swapping on steroids: new service could spell trouble.

Although a study by the Pew Internet & American Life project (www.pewinternet.org) indicates that the threat of legal action from the recording industry has led to a decline in illegal file sharing, a new service could give higher ed administrators something to worry about--and this one packs a punch. The new service, called i2hub, takes advantage of Internet2, the super-fast broadband network favored by researchers.

Although the i2hub Web site (www.i2hub.com) promotes the legitimate uses of the service (such as research collaboration), it's hard to ignore that its speed could be abused by file traders. How fast is it? About two years ago, a team of researchers sent almost seven gigabytes of data (equivalent to two full-length, DVD-quality movies) across 6,821 miles of fiber-optic network in less than a minute.

Internet2 (www.internet2.edu) was developed by a consortium of universities to transmit extremely large data files and high-definition video, unhindered by the traffic that normally affects heavily used broadband networks. It is currently in use at 207 colleges and universities. Unchecked, some fear that i2hub may lead to new legal challenges that could hamper Internet2's legitimate use. A recent i2hub usage report showed about 2,000 people from 100 schools logged onto the service in one afternoon.