You can always opt out my friend. The problem we're trying to solve is a real consumer issue - there is no shortage of stories in the press about how poorly the streaming services perform, especially during the largest events (Superbowl, new eps of Game of Thrones, etc). And this is only the beginning of the streaming revolution.
At Peer5, our customers are the broadcasters who operate streaming services throughout the world. The users are theirs, not ours, and it is up to the broadcasters to decide how they want to message / roll-out p2p services. Some choose to opt people in by default and allow them to opt out. Others choose the opposite approach. Our job is to give our customers the tools they need to create and enforce whatever business rules they feel are appropriate. This includes looking at ASN numbers to identify ISPs that operate metered services and turning off upstream sharing for such users. No one is forced to participate in a Peer5 mesh network. And the value proposition is most definitely better streaming, especially for the biggest / most popular streams as these benefit the most from a p2p solution. We have plenty of data from users all over the world to support this.
Let's take a step back and consider the problem that Peer5 is trying to solve: poor stream quality, especially as audience size grows. If you don't believe that this problem is real, then why do we see stories like these in the press:
Peer5's goal in life is not to give content providers / broadcasters a way to somehow cheat on their CDN bills at the expense of their paying subscribers. Rather, it is to improve the user experience (and value proposition) for everyone who is paying to stream video. I doubt anyone would find that "disgusting".
Yes, we agree with you that users should know that p2p is happening and that they can opt out. We work with our customers to notify users and to give them the appropriate opt-in or opt-our mechanisms.
Please note that Peer5's p2p is not involuntary. Peer5 is not the broadcaster at the end of the day, our customers are. We work with our customers to notify users that their use of streaming services on a particular site may entail participation in p2p and to give them the appropriate opt-in or opt-our mechanisms. Anyone who doesn't want to participate is not forced to.