LOS ANGELES — This might be the latest twist on crowdfunding — or the web equivalent of seeking a ransom.
BitTorrent, a purveyor of file-sharing technology that is widely used to gain free access to music and films, has come up with a bold proposition for its tens of millions of daily users: Spend $9.95 to help finance a planned new science fiction series and gain viewing rights to its eight episodes. Or fail to pay up, and the shows will never be made.
Net neutrality rules unnecessary because ISPs will do the right thing, Pai says.
The Pirate Bay has been offline for 24 hours, causing concern among many BitTorrent users. The TPB team is aware of the situation and says the problems are being caused by technical issues, so the site is likely to rebounce soon.
Apple is not known for being friendly towards BitTorrent software in its App Store but it appears the technology giant isn't averse to using the technology itself. In fact, according to data provided by "Internet of things" search engine Shodan, Apple is running BitTorrent trackers from dozens of IP addresses in Cupertino.
