10.08.2006
A little about BitTorrent
For those who don't know BitTorrent or what it happen to be, it is a P2P protocol used to download stuff from the internet.
The good thing about BitTorrent is that users upload what they download, while downloading. That way you get to share the bandwidth load, and releasing anything on the internet can in theory be done by uploading the file just once. As a bandwidth load distribution system it is a very neat concept and works exceptionally well.
And since it works well, people happen to be using it. Since you don't connect to one user sharing one file, users going offline doesn't really affect you and the process of getting a complete download. You can in most cases start a BitTorrent download, and regardless of actual speeds you obtain, you usually end up getting the downloaded completed every single time. I like reliability and BitTorrent has the best reliability I've seen on any protocol.
The "Garrr!" part
Now... With this awesome technology, what could it be used for? One thing is bleedingly obvious: piracy, or copyright infringement as the actual term is.
I don't in general support copyright infringement. There is a reason why we have granted artistic expression copyright in the first place. But as actual copyright law progressively is getting less & less balanced for each day that passes, as the original intent of copyright is left dead and since copyright now only works to serve the interest of big, multinational businesses... Well, to be honest I don't see anything morally objectionable with copyright infringement.
So, BitTorrent enables mass piracy, and I consider this good. It increases my ability to consume culture I would otherwise have no access to. What do I mean by that?
Your honour, I present you "Battlestar Galactica"
Here is a (norwegian) article, that Aftenposten (one of Norway's biggest newpapers) published today. What does it say? It says that Battlestar Galactica airs on norwegian TV august 16th. Airs for the first time.
Now lets check some facts about Battlestar Galactica, which happen to be a kickass Science fiction series.
From the wiki: "premiered on Sky One in the UK on October 18, 2004"
So... if I was to use the archaic & legal means of getting entertainment, also referred to as watching broadcast TV, I would have to wait almost 2 years and hope that anyone in this tiny country found it worth airing. In fact I was pretty certain that Battlestar Galactica never would make norwegian TV at all. Guess I was wrong.
So what does this have to do with BitTorrent and copyright infringement? Thanks to the wonders of these things, I was able to watch this show, as it aired, while people were still talking about it, and not getting the story spoiled by random people on the net discussing a show I had not yet seen.
If norwegian TV had decided not to air it at all, these wonderful things enabled me to enjoy this kickass show anyway.
Your honour, I present you a list of numerous items
Pretty much every other show I watch these days is not aired in Norway, and if I was to be a fully law-abiding citizen, I would never get to enjoy these things at all.
I'm sure the people who make these shows are really enthusiastic about the fact that people who wish to enjoy their works are actually unable do. Of this I am really, really certain.
In conclusion
So, sarcasm aside, I like BitTorrent and I don't mind going "Garr!". Copyright law has actually been altered & perverted into preventing what it was initially designed to achieve. It has been twisted to the exact opposite of its original intent: to ensure society a rich and growing culture. Yet we cling on to this thing like it's some holy mantra. Like copyright means that corporations have the right to profit. This is utter bullshit.
In it's current form, copyright law is useless and counter-productive. If that ain't changing, and things doesn't exactly look like it these days: Fuck copyright & thank God for BitTorrent.