philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Editorial: Legal torrent sites are innovators of media consumption

To whatever extent BitTorrent can build a reputation as a legitimate media distribution platform, it doesn't help that its premium brand is The Pirate Bay, a file-search portal that declines to identify or filter out content that is shared without rights-holder permission. The site ranks in the top 100 websites worldwide, in some estimates, and has undergone lawsuits, server raids, andmultiple impermanent shutdowns. The Pirate Bay is regarded by movie and music companies as a blistering internet inflammation that infectiously poisons proper media consumption.

But legit players in the file-sharing biz quietly use Bittorrent for its network efficiency, while introducing new distribution and revenue opportunities for creators, and offering new media discovery sites for consumers.

In this article, the word "legitimate" means "in agreement with rights-holders." There is no philosophical stand here for or against The Pirate Bay or its users. The opinion here is that media companies adjust to technology disruption slowly, defiantly, and that they often intensify their own problems in a copy-share world.

See the full editorial here: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/28/legal-torrent-sites-are-innovators-of-media-consumpti/