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Wil Wheaton: BitTorrent Isn't Only For Piracy

Posted by samzenpus on from the not-just-for-evil-anymore dept.

itwbennett writes "Geek advocate Wil Wheaton has written a blog post on the (legal) usefulness of BitTorrent, saying that the speed of his recent download of Ubuntu 12.04 should serve as a reminder that BitTorrent fills an important niche. Wheaton compares blocking BitTorrent to closing freeways because bank robbers could get away."

4 of 354 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not quite by xstonedogx · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Legal uses are 100% of my bittorrent traffic. I can't speak for anyone else.

  2. Re:Not quite by DnaK · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A single user here, Using bittorrent since the beginning to download dead shows. But the majority of my usage is piracy.

    Whether or not you want to believe me, thats all you, but my use is almost all illegal.

  3. Re:Not quite by cluedweasel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Another nitpick. I record a show from my cable provider using my home brew DVR.. I remove the ads from it automagically before watching. Still illegal? Is it any less moral than downloading a copy via bit torrent or Usenet with the ads already removed?

  4. Re:Not quite by Fluffeh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ummm, that depends on who you ask. When Jamie Kellner (TV Exec, at the time was CEO of Turner Broadcasting, looking after a bunch of channels including the Cartoon Network) answered that very question his reply was this: "Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming."

    Seriously, you just can't make up quality like that.

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