Former scourge of the motion picture industry BitTorrent is slowly turning its ship toward acceptance by Hollywood’s establishment. The latest evidence that P2P distribution is becoming legit: BitTorrent has signed a deal with Warner Brothers to distribute movies and TV shows via the web using the file-sharing company’s technology.
Starting this summer, BitTorrent will make 200 Warner Brother films, plus various TV shows, available on the web for downloading to PCs, with the film content available on the same day and date as DVD retail releases. But Warner Brothers is obviously not completely comfortable with the technology, despite its stated embrace of BitTorrent’s DRM technology.
The films, which include “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “The Matrix,” and “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride,” will only be available for viewing on PCs — no DVD burning allowed. Still, in a statement Warner Brothers executive Darcy Antonellis, EVP of Distribution Technology and Operations, indicates that the studio “gets” the notion that web-based distribution of entertainment is here to stay.
Warner Bros. is in the business of making its movies and TV shows available to as wide an audience as possible. The launch of a legal BitTorrent online video service allows us to extend our reach to places our content would not ordinarily be found legally and opens up new opportunities. Entering into agreements such as this to distribute our content is not only a better way to reach existing and new customers but a reflection of the critical role distribution technologies play in the future of the entertainment industry.
Warner Brothers has some experience with P2P distribution of content — the company has tested the technology in Germany via a venture there called In2Movies.
Update: The New York Times’ Julie Bosman and Tom Zeller have a closer look at this announcement. Clearly, Hollywood is hoping that this pact stems the tide of illegal file-sharing, even if only to a small degree. The article quotes Kevin Tsujihara, the president of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group:
“If we can convert 5, 10 or 15 percent of the illegal downloaders into consumers of our product, that is significant.”
Cynthia Brumfield at 7:23 AM|Comments(0)
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