Warner Bros to Use Bittorrent for Films and Tv

Warner Bros is to become the first US studio to distribute television programmes and films via BitTorrent, a file-sharing technology that has been associated with online piracy.

The Hollywood studio, which makes programmes such as ER, The OC and The West Wing, will make its content available for rent or sale using BitTorrent's peer-to-peer technology.

Warner Bros' BitTorrent service is set to launch in the summer with Babylon 5 and The Dukes of Hazzard among the TV content available. Films are to include Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and North Country.

Other studios are likely to join Warner Bros, attracted in part by the lower costs of distributing content on a peer-to-peer service.

The deal also underlines the determination of content owners to seek out a potentially lucrative new online market for shows, despite lingering fears about online piracy and a concern that BitTorrent users may be so used to getting content for free that they will not want to pay for anything.

It contrasts with the cold shoulder given to file-sharing business Napster by music companies until the service was relaunched as an online retailer.

Separately, Rupert Murdoch's Fox network said today it would become the last of the big four US networks to sell episodes of shows via Apple's iTunes online retail service.

Fox joins the three other major networks - ABC, NBC and CBS - in offering downloads of its hit shows, which include 24 and Prison Break.