-----------------------------------

hbgator

Tue 09 May, 2006


Warner Bros. to sell movies via BitTorrent

-----------------------------------

Warner Bros.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>'s video unit on Tuesday unveiled plans to sell movies and television shows to BitTorrent Inc.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> for legal downloads from the Web site that was once blamed for aiding the swapping of illegally copied films and programs.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
The pact marks a big step for Hollywood as it increasingly makes digital files of movies and TV shows available on the Web because until last year,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> BitTorrent's software and Web site were considered to be aiding piracy of major studio films.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
But in November,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> BitTorrent agreed with the Motion Picture Association of America,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> which represents Hollywood's major studios,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> to help stem illegal swapping of digital movies and TV shows by removing links to pirated copies.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
Executives from Warner Bros.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> and BitTorrent said the MPAA pact and new digital rights management <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>(DRM)<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> software from BitTorrent were key elements in bringing the parties together.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"We've come to a point where you have sufficient consumer demand and we have the technology that is now mature enough,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> said Jim Wuthrich,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> senior vice president,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Warner Bros.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Home Entertainment.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
Starting this summer,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Warner Bros.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> a unit of No.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> 1 media company Time Warner Inc.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> will make more than 200 films including blockbusters such as <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> and TV shows like <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"Babylon 5"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> available at BitTorrent.com.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
The content will be available on the same day and date they are put on sale in retail stores,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> but cannot be copied and burned onto a DVD.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> They must reside on a computer drive.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
BitTorrent will charge customers,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> and while final prices have not been set,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> the company expects TV shows to be priced comparably to the current rate of <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>$1 per episode on other Web sites and movies to be around the price of a new DVD.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"We have just been embraced by the largest movie studio that is owned by largest media company,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> said Ashwin Navin,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> co-founder of BitTorrent.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"We expect to see more deals and to push the envelope"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> for getting people video on the Web.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
He said the site was in talks with other studios for similar deals but did not name them.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Nor,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> did he say when BitTorrent expected to sign other agreements.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
For years,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> the studios have been worried that offering digital movies online would lead to illegal copies being traded and sold.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Overall,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> the studios figure piracy costs them <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>$6.1 billion in lost revenue.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
But in recent months,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> the studios have begun to enter the nascent market for legal digital downloads.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Last month,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> they said they would make movies available for legal downloads that users could own indefinitely.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Until then,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> movies were available for download to be stored for a brief time,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> then erased.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
Consumers continue to want to download movies and burn copies on blank DVDs,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> but executives in Hollywood believe that type of service is still months and perhaps even years away.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>