BitTorrent in Catch-22 situation after MPAA agreement

BitTorrent in Catch-22 situation after MPAA agreement
LOS ANGELES - BitTorrent Inc, the Internet technology provider and some of Hollywood's top movie studios have inked an agreement to stop the piracy of movies on the Internet. However, this agreement is at best a decorative one as BitTorrent has acquired the iconic reputation of being the mediator in unauthorized film and music file-swapping on the Internet.

The Motion Picture Association of America and BitTorrent pioneer, Bram Cohen have reached an agreement whereby Cohen will stop his website from linking up with copyright protected movies. It was also agreed in principle that BitTorrent.com's search engine would not link up with unlicensed Hollywood movies. Of course, all this will take some time, but analysts and Web watchers say that the agreement is a bit too little too late.

Since its creation, BitTorrent has grown by leaps and bounds into one of the most downloaded programs ever. This unfettered activity has cost millions of dollars to the film industry. Reason this, why would someone go to the crowded theater to watch the latest Angelina Jolie flick or even Harry Potter, when they can enjoy the same at their homes, that too without shelling out a single penny? Last month, a Hong Kong court held a man guilty for distributing movies illegally through BitTorrent's software.

It is this very scenario that Cohen has promised to remedy in his Tuesday agreement with the MPAA. It remains to be seen how successful he is in enforcing his promise because according to the latest report from CacheLogic, the network-monitoring agency, BitTorrent commands a lion's share of the peer-to-peer traffic with 53 percent of all such activity over the Web directed through its software.

The agreement with the MPAA also promises that BitTorrent would not be allowed to go on to become a major piracy portal. Commenting on the agreement, Dan Glickman, the chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America said, "We are glad that Bram Cohen and his company are working with us to limit access to infringing files on the BitTorrent.com Web site. They are leading the way for other companies by their example."