If memory serves me right, A dot L dot M dot Buxey at lboro dot ac dot uk wrote:

[Multicast distribution of files.]

> okay. after posting, I realised that its an obvious solution...but so
> ideal that noone is doing it. however, for those folk who are interested
> in such stuff

No, it was done so long ago that people forgot about it.  Google for
"IMM" and "multicast".  One might even find a paper characterizing the
traffic of this and other IP multicast applications, written by a random
grad student at Berkeley about ten years ago.  :-p

In a realistic sense, a larger impediment to multicast distribution of
files is that a lot of Internet users don't have IP multicast
connectivity.

Bruce.