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BitTorrent Inc. earns $15-20 mn; makes uTorrent Ad-supported to "keep lights on"

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nosh:
Forum Announcement
http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=123040

“You are all very familiar with how we have paid the bills so far. These new changes mark our next step towards finding that difficult balance between keeping our lights on and providing a positive user experience,” they explain.

The sponsored torrents will appear in a highly visible spot on top of the list of downloads and will be used to promote content from advertisers. They can’t be “turned off,” but users have the option to click away individual ads.

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uTorrent Becomes Ad-Supported to Rake in Millions | TorrentFreak
https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-becomes-ad-supported-to-rake-in-millions-120810/

However, a person close to the company told TorrentFreak that even without the uTorrent ads the company is doing very well. Current annual revenue is estimated at somewhere between $15 and $20 million and the company is backed by millions in venture capital.
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I expect the company will benefit financially from the move, even though their savvier users will boycott the later versions or switch clients.

Renegade:
You have to respect transparency. It is sorely lacking in many companies. *coughGooglefined$22.5millionforlyingcough*

40hz:
Of course now that BitTorrent will be making serious money, they've just painted a great big target on their backs. Especially since anybody that has a grudge with torrents in general (i.e. RIA, MPAA, et al) now has a nice juicy bone to toss to their attorneys and bounty hunters.

Wonder too if this shifts the grounds for a legal argument about them 'aiding and abetting for financial gain.' Not that any real laws actually need be broken - or even apply. Look at what happened to Dotcom.  :sick:

Should be interesting...

I expect them to first get sued - and then work out one of those cozy Nook/Microsoft deals within a year.

 8)

superboyac:
Of course now that BitTorrent will be making serious money, they've just painted a great big target on their backs. Especially since anybody that has a grudge with torrents in general (i.e. RIA, MPAA, et al) now has a nice juicy bone to toss to their attorneys and bounty hunters.

Wonder too if this shifts the grounds for a legal argument about them 'aiding and abetting for financial gain.' Not that any real laws actually need be broken - or even apply. Look at what happened to Dotcom.  :sick:

Should be interesting...

I expect them to first get sued - and then work out one of those cozy Nook/Microsoft deals within a year.

 8)
-40hz (August 13, 2012, 08:04 AM)
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Sounds about right.  Hey!  Why don't we get a head start and create the next p2p protocol?  A DC special.  let's call it...dc++...oh wait...

torrent is good stuff, but it can be improved.  my suggestions:
--ability to add/remove files and folders from an existing torrent that is being shared live already.
--ability to add/block users on a per torrent basis

You add those abilities to the torrent thing and you'll have one badass file sharing system.  We've already seen private torrent sites, so it is possible to have public and private torrents.  But you can't modify torrent files once they are shared.  It would be cool to be able to share a whole folder, or add files to a torrent as you go along.  Like, let's say there's a torrent for all the Wikipedia data and you download it.  But then next month there is more wikipedia data...instead having to download the whole thing again, it would be cool if the old torrent added the new stuff in it and everyone got updated.

wraith808:
Of course now that BitTorrent will be making serious money, they've just painted a great big target on their backs. Especially since anybody that has a grudge with torrents in general (i.e. RIA, MPAA, et al) now has a nice juicy bone to toss to their attorneys and bounty hunters.
-40hz (August 13, 2012, 08:04 AM)
--- End quote ---

Weren't they already making serious money in legitimate uses of the product, i.e. World of Warcraft?  Or did none of that include them?  And considering how high profile some of the users of the technology are, and because of the fact that it is a transport, I don't think it will be as easy to do to them what was done to Dotcom.

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