Founder Bram Cohen initially lured beta testers to his peer-to-peer software by baiting them with free porn, according to Wired Magazine. BitTorrent went into beta testing in 2001.
BitTorrent enables users to download content from a variety of sources by breaking down a file into smaller fragments, typically a quarter of a megabyte in size. Peers download missing fragments from each other and upload those that they already have to peers that request them.
Warner Bros. told the New York Times that the immediate content delivery of pirated films is not going away, so why not provide a legal means to download the material and stay ahead of the curve?
“We’ve been struggling with peer-to-peer technology and trying to figure out a way to harness the good in all that the technology allows us to do,” Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group, told the Times. “If we can convert 5, 10 or 15 percent of the illegal downloaders into consumers of our product, that is significant.”
Access to Warner Bros. content will be password protected on BitTorrent. Users will only be able to view the material on the computer it was downloaded on. The service, set to begin this summer, will cost users $1 for some TV shows and increase to the cost of a DVD rental for full-length movies.
The adult industry has set the pace for convenient content delivery with Hollywood playing catch-up.
Just last month adult industry giant Vivid Entertainment launched its download-to-burn service through CinemaNow. Vivid currently offers 30 movies to burn onto disc for $19.95 each, that includes the cover art, scene navigation and bonus materials —everything you would find on the disc in a retail store.
“Three years ago, DVDs were responsible for 90 percent of our income,” Vivid President and CEO Steven Hirsch, told the Times announcing the partnership with CinemaNow. “This year, it will account for 30 percent of our sales. With the Internet there is no distributor between you and the consumer, so you can keep a larger part of the revenue stream.”
