BBC Really Is Looking At File Sharing Networks To Distribute Programs

from the good-for-them dept

The BBC made a ton of news back in August for saying they were going to open their archive of TV programs for free, and then made even more news by suggesting they might use file sharing networks to distribute that content. However, there had been some skepticism since then whether or not they would really do it, and some management shuffles (and questions about the BBC's very existence) had put the whole thing into question. However, folks at the BBC say they're still actively exploring P2P file sharing as a method for distribution and want to create an online PVR of sorts that would let people download or stream any content they wanted. Realizing that the bandwidth costs would be immense, they (unlike so many others) have realized the power that P2P distribution allows them: distributing a massive amount of content without having to deal with the bandwidth costs by using everyone else's excess bandwidth. Assuming this ever really does get going, it will be exhibit number one of a "legitimate use" in the next lawsuit trying to make file sharing networks illegal.

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