BitTorrent gets $8.75M from venture-capital firm
"BitTorrent, developer of one of the most popular software programs for acquiring free video and other large files on the Internet, has raised $8.75 million from a venture-capital firm.
BitTorrent says it will use the funds from DCM-Doll Capital Management to improve its infrastructure and make it more appealing to Hollywood.
The investment comes as file-sharing companies — most of them tiny start-ups — are scrambling to legitimize. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that file-sharing service Grokster and StreamCast Networks, which operates the Morpheus service, could be held liable for their users' actions.
"The piracy business is not something anyone can make money on," says Ashwin Navin, who co-founded BitTorrent with Bram Cohen. "We want to distribute paid and ad-supported content, using this technology."
BitTorrent is the second-most-popular file-sharing program, with 33% market share, according to research firm CacheLogic, after eDonkey's 50% share. BitTorrent specializes in helping users nab huge files quickly.
Navin concedes that some users download movies without paying for them but says BitTorrent isn't the only technology that can be used illegitimately. "You can also use a browser to view child porn and Microsoft Word to cut and paste and plagiarize," he says.
He says the company is meeting with movie studios and other copyright holders to negotiate use of BitTorrent to distribute content."
Read more here.
BitTorrent says it will use the funds from DCM-Doll Capital Management to improve its infrastructure and make it more appealing to Hollywood.
The investment comes as file-sharing companies — most of them tiny start-ups — are scrambling to legitimize. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that file-sharing service Grokster and StreamCast Networks, which operates the Morpheus service, could be held liable for their users' actions.
"The piracy business is not something anyone can make money on," says Ashwin Navin, who co-founded BitTorrent with Bram Cohen. "We want to distribute paid and ad-supported content, using this technology."
BitTorrent is the second-most-popular file-sharing program, with 33% market share, according to research firm CacheLogic, after eDonkey's 50% share. BitTorrent specializes in helping users nab huge files quickly.
Navin concedes that some users download movies without paying for them but says BitTorrent isn't the only technology that can be used illegitimately. "You can also use a browser to view child porn and Microsoft Word to cut and paste and plagiarize," he says.
He says the company is meeting with movie studios and other copyright holders to negotiate use of BitTorrent to distribute content."
Read more here.
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