Ever longed for the open seas, an eye patch and a parrot in a quest to become a pirate? Well, it won’t happen with BitTorrent.
The company has been headed toward legitimacy for a while now, but
today it announced a slate of partnerships with film and television
companies, such as 20th Century Fox, G4, Kadokawa Pictures USA,
Lionsgate, MTV Networks, Palm Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Starz Media.
BitTorrent struck a similar deal with Warner Bros. earlier this
year.
The news makes one thing very clear: BitTorrent and the Man? They’re golfing buddies.
Through these new partnerships, new film releases from 20th Century
Fox, Kadokawa, Lionsgate, Palm, Paramount and Starz Media will be
available on the same day as the DVD release, according to a statement.
One exception is Palm Pictures, which plans to be the first studio to release full-length feature films before the theatrical and DVD release dates through the BitTorrent platform.
BitTorrent technology shortens download times by creating a network
between users who have downloaded or are downloading the file. It breaks the file into small pieces, so even a user who only
has only downloaded a few pieces of the file is able to immediately
offer those pieces back for upload, reducing bandwidth constraints
across the network.
Although the technology is associated with movie piracy
because of its ability to move large file downloads and distribute
software, BitTorrent the company is increasingly moving away from the
dark side of the forces that fuel digital piracy.
In fall 2005, BitTorrent struck a deal with the
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to take links of pirated
MPAA content off its own BitTorrent search engine.
In April 2005, President Bush signed a law setting criminal penalties
of up to 10 years for distributing pre-release movies and music.
Then, in May 2005, the Department of Justice raided Elite Torrents, a peer-to-peer network, for its alleged complicity in the pirating of the movie “Star Wars: Episode III.”
Legitimized by law and action, the MPAA started to sue. And win. In
one statement, it claimed that 90 percent of sites sued were
eventually shut down.
In related news, a BitTorrent spokesperson refuted blog reports that CEO
Bram Cohen is on his way out.
“No, he’s here to stay,” BitTorrent Director of Communications Lily
Lin told internetnews.com.
