IP Democracy: BitTorrent Entertainment Network Debuts Monday

Former entertainment industry enemy and P2P renegade BitTorrent is now officially and definitively inside the Hollywood fold. The company, well-known for the technology that fuels much of the so-called darknet, will launch on Monday the BitTorrent Entertainment Network, a distributed online service that will sell access to top Hollywood films and TV shows from Century Fox, Paramount and Warner Brothers, plus new partner MGM.

BitTorrent’s digital media store will offer 3,000 new and classic movies plus “thousands more” TV shows via its speedy P2P-based network. Although BitTorrent is entering an already crowded field — and it remains to be seen just how much consumer appetite exists for online films and TV shows — the company is banking on its faster service delivery as a selling point.

Moreover, BitTorrent has all those darknet users; presumably some substantial portion of the folks who use BitTorrent’s technology today for unauthorized video sharing could be converted into paying customers when offered a better delivery experience. BitTorrent’s research suggest that 34% of current BitTorrent users can be swayed to pay.

The big hitch, as is true with virtually every online movie service launched to date: customers that purchase movies via BitTorrent’s network won’t be able to own the films, athough TV shows can be downloaded for permanent ownership. [Update: as a commenter points out, most online movie sites permit ownership, but for the most part restrict that ownership to PC-based viewing only, a big drawback to mass market acceptance of online movie distribution.] Movies will be “rented” for $3.99 for recent releases or $2.99 for older films.

And DRM is just as much a hassle for the online video market as it has been for the online audio business. Bram Cohen, CEO of BitTorrent and developer of the company’s famed technology thinks DRM stinks too, but had to concede to the studios’ demands that the films be sold with embedded encryption.

“We are not happy with the user interface implications” of digital rights management, or D.R.M., Mr. Cohen said. “It’s an unfortunate thing. We would really like to strip it all away.”

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on February 24, 2007 10:13 PM to IP Democracy