Does BitTorrent equal piracy?

This is the question being asked today by Bit Torrent inc. in a new initiative to help detractors of the file sharing medium understand the true benefits, beyond those that use it to get free copies of the latest and greatest movies.

With a new site called, doesbittorrentequalpiracy.com – try typing that quickly, it's not easy – Bit Torrent Inc. shows a multitude of legal and positive ways that the P2P service is used around the world. Some of these methods include Wikipedia using it for videos, the promotion of independent bands like Animal Collective, the fact that it has many millions of legal music downloads in 2012 alone and many more examples of individuals making a living thanks to Bit Torrent.

All of this is presented in a simple click through system, where a fact is read and then the large blue button beneath that says something along the lines of, “I'm not convinced…” is clicked and off you go to the next one.

All of this was backed up by a blog post on the company's official site. It suggested that the team behind Bit Torrent was made up of scientists, engineers and developers, not the criminals the media lobby often paints them out to be. It also made its stance on piracy clear:

“We do not endorse piracy. We do not encourage it. We don’t point to piracy sites. We don’t host any infringing content. We have, and we will continue to, work tirelessly with industries, artists, and fans to create a sustainable digital future for content. And we’ve been recognized by major media institutions for our contribution towards this shared goal.”

It ends succinctly by saying “BitTorrent is for fans.”

KitGuru Says: Quite an interesting approach, but I wonder if it will have much impact. Organisations like the BPI which have gone after The Pirate Bay and Pirate Party UK won't listen for sure. Maybe a few individuals will though. What do you guys think?

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