"There is no better example of how theft dims the magic of the movies for everyone than this report today regarding BitTorrent providing users with illegal copies of Revenge of the Sith." These bold words from MPAA President/CEO Dan Glickman in a report released on May 19, 2005.

According to Glickman's report, BitTorrent is responsible for facilitating illegal file swapping of the new Star Wars flick. As is typical with any CEO commenting on lost revenue because of file trading, I do not think the film studios are hit as hard as they would have us believe. Particularly in the case of George Lucas who with all due respect, and for lack of a better metaphor, literaly sh*ts money. And when he's done sh*ting money, he wipes with more money.

I am not saying that justifies downloading Episode VI or any other Lucas effort, but for once I would like to hear an opinion from the horses mouth. I would speculate Lucas is more concerned about how the movie leaked in the first place rather than the fact it is accessible on file sharing networks. The last time I heard, Lucas was not a starving artist.

One slashdot reader puts it perfectly. He/she says that blaming BitTorrent is the same as "blaming Boeing for destroying the World Trade Center".  It is also the same as blaming the car when someone has an accident, blaming the POS system for low revenue, or blaming the compact disc for the crappy songs on the new Ashlee Simpson album.

You see, BitTorrent is just the distribution method. I doubt even Glickman believes BitTorrent could sneak a video camera into a cinema, record a movie, convert it to DivX, and finally distribute it online. All that is accomplished by an individual.

This is precisely why Bram Bohen is not concerned. His product (BitTorrent) has legitimate uses, and it is well documented that BitTorrent was originally designed specifically for distributing Linux distros over the web in an optimised manner. The fact BitTorrent is now accountable for nearly one third of all Internet traffic is not his fault nor his problem, as he does not profit from his product except for the occasional donation he receives.

The fact is, BitTorrent is not the only way of obtaining the latest movie releases. Other distribution methods include FTP and HTTP. It would be quite amusing to see the MPAA try and outlaw HTTP. "Hey, why isn't our web site working any more?"

Seriously, good luck with that.