BitTorrent has a few new feathers in its cap, it seems. First of all, everyone's favourite P2P network has just been the recipient of a bit of green, just in time for the holidays. $20 million in green, to be specific.The infusion was the second large buy-in by venture capitalists, this time by the company Accel Partners.
Along with the large chunk of cashola, the network had another chunk of news. The site has now signed distribution deals with Twentieth Century Fox, G4, Lionsgate and the entire line of MTV networks (including Comedy Central), just to name a few. Keep in mind, this is in addition to previous contracts with Warner Brothers and a few other smaller studios. The deals put BitTorrent in the running to be one of the largest legal video distributors online.
Bram Cohen, co-founder of the service, made a statement on the news:
"When I created BitTorrent in 2001, my mission was to solve the problem every website has when distributing large, popular files. This mission is still what drives BitTorrent today and couldn't be more relevant as the Web grows into a channel for consuming large, high-value entertainment and information content. This financing is a clear testament to the strength of our technology and potential growth, and I look forward to spearheading the continued development of BitTorrent."
You'll be able to purchase the content right on BitTorrent's website, with options varying depending on type. Movies will be able to be purchased per-view or on a DTO (download-to-own) basis. Television shows like "24" will also be available, but only on a DTO basis - no per-view option will be available. Prices have so far not yet been released, but one could expect them to be within the market's going rates.
And therein lies the rub for many - it is doubtful that the service will provide any price break for consumers, despite the fact that the content will undoubtedly contain stringent DRM (unlike distributor iTunes, BitTorrent doesn't carry much weight in the industry yet and so can't control this feature). On top of that, it will still be the P2P philosophy, which means content will take longer depending on availability and those who bought it will foot the bandwidth bill rather than the movie companies.
All of this adds up to one crucial question - will BitTorrent survive as a legitimate media distribution model?
Let us know your thoughts in our forums.
Along with the large chunk of cashola, the network had another chunk of news. The site has now signed distribution deals with Twentieth Century Fox, G4, Lionsgate and the entire line of MTV networks (including Comedy Central), just to name a few. Keep in mind, this is in addition to previous contracts with Warner Brothers and a few other smaller studios. The deals put BitTorrent in the running to be one of the largest legal video distributors online.
Bram Cohen, co-founder of the service, made a statement on the news:
"When I created BitTorrent in 2001, my mission was to solve the problem every website has when distributing large, popular files. This mission is still what drives BitTorrent today and couldn't be more relevant as the Web grows into a channel for consuming large, high-value entertainment and information content. This financing is a clear testament to the strength of our technology and potential growth, and I look forward to spearheading the continued development of BitTorrent."
You'll be able to purchase the content right on BitTorrent's website, with options varying depending on type. Movies will be able to be purchased per-view or on a DTO (download-to-own) basis. Television shows like "24" will also be available, but only on a DTO basis - no per-view option will be available. Prices have so far not yet been released, but one could expect them to be within the market's going rates.
And therein lies the rub for many - it is doubtful that the service will provide any price break for consumers, despite the fact that the content will undoubtedly contain stringent DRM (unlike distributor iTunes, BitTorrent doesn't carry much weight in the industry yet and so can't control this feature). On top of that, it will still be the P2P philosophy, which means content will take longer depending on availability and those who bought it will foot the bandwidth bill rather than the movie companies.
All of this adds up to one crucial question - will BitTorrent survive as a legitimate media distribution model?
Let us know your thoughts in our forums.
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