BEIJING, May, 11 -- If you cannot beat them, join them.

    Hollywood studio Warner Bros said on Tuesday it will start distributing movies and television shows over the BitTorrent file sharing network, one of the most popular forums for the illegal sharing of music and video content.

    The company, a unit of the world's largest media conglomerate Time Warner Inc, said it would make over 200 films available at BitTorrent.com starting in August, including blockbusters such as "Harry Potter" and the "Goblet of Fire" and TV shows like "Babylon 5."

    "Entering into agreements such as this to distribute our content is not only a better way to reach existing and new customers, but a reflection of the critical role distribution technologies play in the future of the entertainment industry," Warner Bros executive Darcy Antonellis said in a statement.

    The content will be available on the same day and date they are put on sale in retail stores, but cannot be copied and burned onto a DVD. They must reside on a computer drive.

    The cost has not yet been fixed but is likely to be in line with the current US$1-per-episode rate on other websites, while movies are to be around the price of a new DVD.

    "We have just been embraced by the largest movie studio that is owned by largest media company," said Ashwin Navin, co-founder of BitTorrent. "We expect to see more deals and to push the envelope" for getting people video on the web."

    Warner said it the groundbreaking deal became possible after BitTorrent reached an anti-piracy agreement with the Motion Picture Association of America and took other steps to stem illegal swapping of digital movies.

    Such a move has long been urged by digital media experts who point to studies showing that people who currently download pirated media would be willing to pay reasonable prices for authorized versions.Enditem

(Source: China Daily)