BitTorrent plans to launch an ad-supported search engine for Torrent files. The ads and sponsored links displayed on
the results page will be served by Ask Jeeves. Already in beta, the website will link to any BT files, legal or not.
Wired News saw a demo where the results for a search
on "The Interpreter" (film with Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman) returned a link to a illegal torrent file located on
Pirate Bay.
We anticipate a lot of complains—perhaps legal actions—coming from the entertainment industry. Last week the MPAA
accused BitTorrent of "providing users with illegal
copies of Revenge of the Sith." According to the Wired article, Stanford law professor Mark Lemley sees
potential legal issues related to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.
1. The MPAA and RIAA can keep trying to shut down these sites, but there will always be another cleaver sole making some other program.
:)
Posted at 4:29AM on Dec 19th 2005 by mopa