BitTorrent Goes Anti-Piracy in Agreement with MPAA
By David Walker |
November 28th, 2005
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BitTorrent founder and CEO Bram Cohen and Motion Picture Association of America CEO Dan Glickman announced an agreement between BitTorrent and the MPAA to attempt to curb online piracy by preventing the discovery of illegal movie files through the popular Peer to Peer protocol (via Digital Lifestyles). After the legal struggles and downfalls of distribution networks like Kazaa and eDonkey, BitTorrent technology came to the forefront as the tool of choice for delivering nefarious content online while maintaining anonymity. The technology has the distinct characteristic of being server-less, making it much harder to track down the publisher of the files and even harder to find someone to sue. The technology has been a bane for the Music and Movie industry.
This deal, while mostly symbolic, will probably not be very effective in curbing online piracy. Recent history has proven that as soon as one avenue has been shut down, piracy will find 20 others to replace it. What it does do, however, is give BitTorrent legitimization as an emerging technology that major studios will not only have to contend with, but now, have to work with.
Filed in: Industry Buzz