Looks like the incredible potential of peer-to-peer networks is finally starting to see the light of day.

Here’s a Washington Post article by Leslie Walker: Uncle Sam Wants Napster! (washingtonpost.com).

Some analysts think the peer-to-peer concept could lead to a more powerful Internet if large corporations, fearing the loss of control over intellectual property, don’t squash them first. Last month, 28 record and movie companies sued new file-sharing networks with names like MusicCity, Grokster and Kazaa. And last week the big three television networks filed suit against SonicBlue, which is preparing to launch avideo recorder that allows people to swap their recorded TV programs online.

Other entrepreneurs are fashioning similar tools for legitimate use in the workplace. Their makers report a spike in interest from corporate customers in the past month, as well as a revival of interest from venture capitalists, who largely withdrew funding for peer-to-peer systems in the wake of February’s court decision shutting down Napster.

Now the military is sending a message that it, too, is shopping for cutting-edge software with some of the $40 billion in emergency spending Congress authorized to beef up national defense.

The U.S. Joint Forces Command last week began testing new commercial software called Groove, developed by the creator of Lotus Notes. About 20 large corporations also are using the program, which allows people to create ad hoc computing groups, send instant messages, mark up files and do other collaborative work online without help from system administrators.