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WB Partners with BT
May. 10th, 2006 04:07 amThis is interesting. I think I'll have a little trouble wrapping my mind around the concept of paying for BitTorrent, since the power of BT is in distributing the download amongst several people, but I am immensely encouraged by the fact that the film/television industry is taking steps to learn from the audio recording industry's mistakes (and video's own past mistakes - Beta/VHS/VCR/Fair Use, anyone?) and embrace new technology rather than trying to kill it.
I do have a quibble with the idea that BT has only been used for illegal purposes to date, though. There is a lot of content, even in audiovisual media, that is legitimate to share, and while I won't argue that there isn't a lot of illegal (theatrical movies, audio CDs) or gray area (television shows) content being shared, it is unfair to claim that it is only being used for illegitimate purposes.
The really interesting thing about digital services like these is, anyone can use it. You don't have to be a big name director or producer to send files with BitTorrent, and I have strong doubts that BT would agree to any contract that forbade them to welcome any new content creator they wanted. The internet is equalizing distribution for everyone. If you write, you can publish a book: ebooks or POD (Print On Demand) hardcopy, whichever you prefer. If you produce audio recordings, you can distribute MP3 files or POD CDs. If you make films, you can distribute video files in any number of formats, or even POD DVDs. If you make designs for T-shirts, mugs, cards, or other miscellaneous stuff, you can use POD websites for those, too. The hard part is finding the audience and getting them to come buy it.
I do have a quibble with the idea that BT has only been used for illegal purposes to date, though. There is a lot of content, even in audiovisual media, that is legitimate to share, and while I won't argue that there isn't a lot of illegal (theatrical movies, audio CDs) or gray area (television shows) content being shared, it is unfair to claim that it is only being used for illegitimate purposes.
The really interesting thing about digital services like these is, anyone can use it. You don't have to be a big name director or producer to send files with BitTorrent, and I have strong doubts that BT would agree to any contract that forbade them to welcome any new content creator they wanted. The internet is equalizing distribution for everyone. If you write, you can publish a book: ebooks or POD (Print On Demand) hardcopy, whichever you prefer. If you produce audio recordings, you can distribute MP3 files or POD CDs. If you make films, you can distribute video files in any number of formats, or even POD DVDs. If you make designs for T-shirts, mugs, cards, or other miscellaneous stuff, you can use POD websites for those, too. The hard part is finding the audience and getting them to come buy it.