BitTorrent

David Stevens
March 5, 2007
MCS 760

BitTorrent

BitTorrent was developed as means of widely distributing large amounts of data, specifically it enables the transferring of large files or a large group of files. Users use a BitTorrent client to request a certain file or prepare a file for transmission. The corporate use of BitTorrent clients has remained limited while the general public has associated BitTorrent use with software and media file piracy. However, there have been some new developments that are forcing companies to look at how they could use BitTorrent. A base of BitTorrent client users exists which gives companies a low barrier of entry into the selling of downloaded content. Small companies that would be unable to deliver content over the Internet if they were required to provide their own hardware and bandwidth.

BitTorrent Inc. is selling their own licensed content and material that Hollywood studios have licensed them to distribute over their website. BitTorrent Inc. is attempting to deliver digital rights managed multimedia content to customers that want to rent a movie. Their service is set up like the other online movie rental services (Cinemanow.com and Movielink.com), however they rely on their customers using a BitTorrent client to download the material instead of proprietary software.

Additionally, BitTorrent is being used by open source software providers to distribute disc images. This is an example of an organization with a low overhead finding ways to cheaply and efficiently distribute their product. The manner that the open source community is using BitTorrent to freely distribute their software shows how a business opportunity exists for companies wanting to distribute or sell multimedia content. Video game developers and movie studios could use BitTorrent to sell disk images of their content to increase their sales and expand their product's market influence.

The viability of using BitTorrent for a non-multimedia situation is not a realistic option. BitTorrent is designed to move large files or a large group of files easily, but it is not the most efficient choice when trying to move small files. The BitTorrent Protocol is an affective option for companies that are looking at ways to deliver on-demand multimedia. An business application that will most likely develop in the near future will consist of movies being downloaded using a protocol like BitTorrent for people to watch on their home theaters instead of going to a movie theater. The process of delivering the content in a fashion that is secure from having the content pirated is making this business prospect not viable at present.

The manner that digital rights are enforced and respected will affect BitTorrent's future. It is possible for the BitTorrent protocol to be successfully used when distributing and receiving legal content, but it is important that the standardization of digital rights occurs and becomes widely accepted. As long as the piracy image of the BitTorrent protocol is allowed to exist the delivery of multimedia content over the Internet will be tainted. However, it is also necessary that consumers and suppliers come to an understanding of what each digital license allows the users to do with their content and how much they should be charged for said license. The existence of the piracy market shows that consumers feel that the cost of a legal digital license is too great to offset the risks (legality issues, computer viruses, poor content quality) of downloading pirated material.