James Delahunty
26 Jun 2013 6:25
BitTorrent has attempted to clarify the position of the company and the BitTorrent protocol with regard to Internet piracy.
Responding to media reports about the piracy figures for the previous season of Game of Thrones, BitTorrent took to its blog to clarify something important; there is no "BitTorrrent Piracy Record," because that happens outside the BitTorrent ecosystem.
"We don't host infringing content. We don't point to it. It's literally impossible to illegally download something on BitTorrent," wrote BitTorrent's Matt Mason.
"To pirate stuff, you need more than a protocol. You need search, a pirate content site, and a content manager. We offer none of those things. If you're using BitTorrent for piracy, you're doing it wrong."
It's understandable that the company would react this way, given that it is a legitimate business providing legal content. Over two million pieces of licensed, legal content are available to download over the BitTorrent protocol.
While "Game of Thrones" has been touted as something of a champion in the Internet piracy scene, BitTorrent insists that the real Kind is a show called Epic Meal Time, which is legally available and boasts 8,626,987 downloads.
"That's nearly double the claimed downloads of the Game of Thrones finale," Mason wrote.