NTL and BitTorrent to Test New Legal File-Sharing Service

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NTL and BitTorrent to Test New Legal File-Sharing Service

1:18 am on February 12, 2006 | Category: Web Services, Telecom Services

UK cable giant, NTL, has agreed to work with file-sharing software maker, BitTorrent, on a new service for internet users to purchase music and movie downloads.

The joint trial of this service fits into BitTorrent creator, Bram Cohen’s goal of establishing his company’s software as a legitimate content distribution vehicle.

The BitTorrent software has become incredibly popular over the last few years, but has been increasingly used to illegally distribute pirated music and video files. Cohen, who incorporated BitTorrent Inc. last year, has recently entered talks with Holywood producers and ISPs to come up with ways to better promote the software as a legal peer-to-peer file distribution network.

“We’re working with rightsholders and ISPs because we view ourselves at the centre of a lot of the activity going on here,” said BitTorrent chief operating officer, Ashwin Navin.

“Each country has a different dynamic around P2P, but I’d say Europe is slightly more progressive than the U.S.,” Navin went on to say. “There’s been a lot of banter about video over the Internet this year, but for BitTorrent it’s a few years old.”

The trial with NTL will begin sometime next month, and at first only involve about 100 homes. In addition to testing the new file distribution service, it will also involve the exploration of new ways to speed up downloads, and reduce the massive bandwidth usage associated with BitTorrent in its current form.