@pols1337 Oh! That explains it, makes so much more sense than I thought it meant.
I logged in exclusively on the mission to pay my dues, if you will*, and I saw the message the I had seen before but I thought it meant I had peered with 1.7 million other peers. Looking at my stats, >23TB uploaded, seemed plausible.
"I'll just finish up quickly and ask in the forum" I said to myself. It took two days, nearly all of the 5K I had collected, and mayor willpower to go through the list without getting distracted by its contents, but finally at least I got to know what it means.
Thanks!
*: go through the finished transfers listed in my profile to give them bonus.