It usually takes a while for some industries to warm up to new distribution methods. It comes as no surprise that Hollywood has finally realized that “if you can’t beat them, join them” holds true.
Warner Brothers sat on the negotiating table - opposite of Bram Cohen, who created BitTorrent. It’s certainly ironic that that bittorent was credited as being the single most important vehicle for pirated movies to go around the globe in hours, if not minutes. BW says:
Under the deal, announced May 9, Warner Brothers will distribute and sell over 200 Warner Brothers movies and TV programs through the file-sharing program BitTorrent. Titles range from new movie releases Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to hoary TV chestnuts like Dukes of Hazzard and Babylon 5. While final pricing and timing is yet to be decided, the programs are expected to go on sale this summer, and TV shows could cost as little as $1 per download. BitTorrent “has such a huge audience that we frankly need to convert over to legitimate buyers of our products. We felt we have to do things like this…so that consumers [have] the ability to buy and use our products the way they want to,” says Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.
The genie is out of the bottle, if you ask me. With so many alternative torrent clients and a myriad of trackers, I doubt a lot of people will choose the paid version of a program. It will all come down to ease of use, quality, and naturally, price (DRM could be a big part of the equation too).
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