Hear, hear, Lampbane. I'd absolutely put up with ads if I could Torrent stuff straight from the network - it'd be nice to stop worrying about finding bad torrents, mislabeled torrents, arguments about NO YOU MORONS IT IZ SEASON 4/5 OF FAMILY GUY!...

Ah, but we can dream, right?

Companies should really be offering episodes to torrent. Maybe they could stick a commercial in there. Maybe they could have their own client that displays advertising. But either way, I think being able to DL stuff directly from the companies would be better for us and them.

MarkF, I agree completely. I see where HBO has a problem with people using BitTorrent to get around paying subscription fees. However, I would have no qualms about downloading an HBO show because I do pay. Same thing with other shows - I pay for my cable, so it's not even like I'm getting around paying for anything there. I simply download because I don't have a DVR right now and am too lazy to build/buy one.

Consider this - if I get a TV tuner for my PC, set it to record a show when I'm not around, use various apps to skip commercials and batch convert it to DIVX or whatever, I wind up with, essentially, the same exact file I would have downloaded. Where's the issue? What's illegal? You can't tell me the act of downloading makes this situation any different than digitally recording something. Ironically, with my crappy broadband, it typically takes longer to download a show than it would to actually watch it.

Trying to ask people to not use the technology available to them is a loosing game. I do however agree with them that since they rely on paid subscriptions that someone downloading their content without a subscription is violating the law. The sooner they update their business model and actually take advantage of technology rather then trying to defeat it the better off we will all be. iTunes, while not the perfect model, has shown that there is a market for legally downloadable content. I am constantly disappointed in media companies inability to walk toward the money tree and embrace this opportunity.
On a related note, I use bitTornado frequently to get shows that I either forget to record, or that slip their schedule by a few minutes. I feel comfortable with this under "Fair Use" since I am addressing shows that I already have the legal right to record.

They're just going to shoot themselves in the foot like the music companies have. Plus, isn't TV public domain? TV companies are going to kill themselves by doing this. The comsumer is always right. These big companies have forgotten this. They did it with music, where consumers weren't willing to pay so much for CD's so they decided to download music instead, and they haven't been able to stop that. I think this will be the same way. TV companies are alienating the very people that keep them in business. Not too long ago the TV companies tried to get a law passed that would make it illegal to record a show on a VCR, that's the kind of crap people wont put up with. Screw'em all until the idiots learn how to embrace technology.