BitTorrent Tells Sony It’s Happy To Release ‘The Interview’

Many have called for Sony to release ‘The Interview’ online. However, Sony CEO Michael Lynton stated earlier that there has not been a major video on demand service, “that has stepped forward and said they are willing to distribute this movie for us.”

Several major movie chains pulled out of the scheduled Christmas Day release of the film after hacker group Guardians of Peace threatened to attack any theater that decided to show the film. The studio said it was forced to then cancel the release, blaming theaters. “We do not own movie theaters. We cannot control what is shown,” Lynton said.

Sony has confirmed it was looking for alternatives to release the film. Some have suggested Netflix as an alternative. Sony’s lawyer David Boies later confirmed Sony was looking into an alternative way to present the film when he called the theater cancellation a “delay” on Meet the Press.

BitTorrent took this as a challenge and has offered Sony a way to release the controversial movie involving the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on its own servers. The peer-to-peer file distribution network believes BitTorrent Bundle is the best way to satisfy both those asking for an online distribution and Sony’s desire to release the film.

BitTorrent Bundles is different from pirating sites such as the Pirate Bay. Instead of files getting shared and downloaded illegally, bundles are a collection of files that can be shared and downloaded legally, either for free or for profit by the controlling site. Thom Yorke distributed his new album in a unique deal with BitTorrent in this very fashion in September.

BitTorrent says it has reached out to Sony with the offer to use its servers, but that Sony execs have so far not responded. Sony has not responded to our inquiry on the matter, either.

Source : TechCrunch