There was news this week that BitTorrent, the developer of software that allows large files to be quickly and easily shared via the internet, has plans to go “legit.” Up until now, despite earlier efforts to compete with iTunes, BitTorrent has been a popular technology among online pirates. Will this new plan change that?
Officials at BitTorrent seem to think so. Matt Mason, the executive director of marketing told the New York Times, “We’re trying to groom the entertainment industry to think about BitTorrent as a partner.” He went on to say:
“The way to solve the content delivery problem is to get out of the way of the content. No one wants to just be the pipes,” he said. “We’re already the pipes and we’re good at it, so it’s a huge opportunity for us to make this transition work.”
Legit online streaming and delivery via services like Netflix and Hulu has become big business. As others have noted, those who consume pirated content are often motivated by convenience and desire. Content distributors have finally caught up, and can often match, or beat, pirate competitors when it comes to easily finding and viewing most popular content. Thus it would seem only natural that a technology such as BitTorrent could be utilized to expand and enhance consumers’ access to legal offerings. The question remains as to whether distributors will choose to partner with BitTorrent and, if so, how exactly will they leverage the technology to enhance their delivery systems and integrate it into current business models?
In addition, if BitTorrent is going to be used to drive legitimate consumption, there’s still the issue of demand. Until content creators and distributors can offer simultaneous, worldwide release of their content, the threat remains that pirated copies will trump the market for legitimate sales.
One has to ask, if a technology like BitTorrent can be utilized in a positive, legitimate and lucrative way, what about piracy’s other big delivery system, cyberlockers? Before the big-daddy Megaupload was shutdown by U.S. authorities, there were rumblings that the site was planning to launch a music site called Megabox that would supposedly enable artists to sell (and earn income) via direct sales/downloads to consumers. Supposedly musicians would earn money even for “free” downloads of their music. Of course the details of how exactly this would be accomplished were vague and the site never got off the ground. Megaupload’s founder Kim Dotcom is supposedly prepared to re-launch a reincarnated Megaupload as Mega in January but there has been no mention of monetization options for artists, only assurances that the new site would not be subject to takedown by U.S. authorities and files would protected by sophisticated, user-control, encryption.
The overall cyberlocker landscape has undergone some major changes in the wake of Megaupload’s demise. Fearful of suffering a similar fate, a number of other major operators like Filesonic, Fileserve, and Wupload, known primarily as pirate havens, shut down. Into this vacuum have come a number of new sites. Though smaller in scale, none seem to have developed anything resembling a legitimate business model, and instead rely on the tried and true, insidious, pyramid-style business model, to acquire (mostly illegal) content and attract downloads (and profits). Most operate outside the reach of U.S. and European authorities and all seem to be hanging on to a business model that, while potentially lucrative, seems headed for a gradual demise in the face of better competition.
Have we reached a tipping point where legitimate models can overtake illicit ones? Not quite, but it appears that the trend is moving gradually in the right direction. As I’ve said before, this evolution will be enhanced through a coalescence of legal efforts (i.e. the Megaupload takedown) and new distribution models and delivery systems that, for the world’s consumers, are both easy and affordable.