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BitTorrent News becomes official with hiring of former CNN producer as news director

Kris Wouk
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bittorrent hires harrison bohrman to head news live main
In June, a job posting hinted that BitTorrent was looking to launch a live-streaming TV news network running on the company’s recently launched BitTorrent Live platform. Now, the company has officially announced the network, as well as its first hire.

On Thursday, BitTorrent announced that it has hired Harrison Bohrman to run the network, which will be called BitTorrent News. Bohrman will build the rest of the news team and lead the production and planning of the new network.

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Bohrman holds three Peabody Awards and an Emmy Award for his previous work at CNN, where he worked as a writer and producer. Following his time at CNN, he worked as a senior development producer at Viceland, the television network that Vice launched last year. Bohrman has also previously helped with the relaunch of In Session — formerly Court TV — and co-created “What the Week with Pete Dominick.”

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“I was sold on BitTorrent News the moment I heard ‘blank slate.’ This is an unbelievable opportunity,” Bohrman told Digital Trends. “We are building a network from the ground up. If CNN launched today what would it look like? If Vice News could stream 24/7 what would they do?”

Announced in May, the BitTorrent Live platform uses peer-to-peer technology similar to the file-sharing service that gave the company its name in order to stream video to large audiences without the need for massive groups of servers. This both reduces operating costs for networks — allowing for smaller budgets and leaner teams creating content — and aims to avoid the streaming issues viewers experience during high-traffic events like the Super Bowl.

“The BitTorrent Live platform has the potential to be a game changer,” Bohrman said. “Beyond cutting costs associated with streaming, BitTorrent Live dramatically reduces lag time. And when it comes to breaking news, time is of the essence.”

Many of the details around the new network are still unknown. While the job posting last month hinted that the company aimed to launch BitTorrent News in the fall in time for the election, no date or launch window has been announced. It’s also unclear whether the channel will be part of the free tier available as part of BitTorrent live, or if it will require a subscription. The latter seems more likely, as this could help draw more users to the platform.

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"With Project Maelstrom, we aim to deliver technology that can sustain an open Internet; one that doesn’t require servers, that allows anyone to publish to a truly open Web, and that uses the power of distributed technology to scale efficiently," explains BitTorrent's Rob Velasquez on the company blog.

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Do not torrent Louis C.K.’s ‘Live at the Beacon Theater’
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Comedian Louis C.K. did an amazing thing today: He released his newest stand-up comedy special, Live at the Beacon Theater, exclusively through his website, for the fair price of $5. There's no limit to the number of times you can watch it. It's DRM-free, so you can even burn it to a DVD, if you like. Most importantly, there's no middle man — Louis C.K. paid for the entire thing himself, and all the proceeds go straight to him.
The only problem with this plan is that, because the video is made to be as easy to watch as possible, it's also extremely easy to upload to a torrent site, and give it away for free. In fact, a quick Google search shows it's already on The Pirate Bay and a number of other torrent sites. But you should not download Live at the Beacon Theater via torrent.
First and foremost, doing so is, quite literally, stealing directly from the man himself. Second, by supporting this kind of direct distribution model, helping to make it a viable option for artists and entertainers, we can play a part in changing the current ecosystem that makes artists and entertainers beholden to corporations, and results in higher prices or bombardments of advertising. In short: Supporting Louis C.K.'s experiment could change how — and for how much — we get our entertainment.
If you don't want to listen to me, here's what Louis C.K. has to say on the matter:

To those who might wish to 'torrent' this video: look, I don't really get the whole 'torrent' thing. I don't know enough about it to judge either way. But I'd just like you to consider this: I made this video extremely easy to use against well-informed advice. I was told that it would be easier to torrent the way I made it, but I chose to do it this way anyway, because I want it to be easy for people to watch and enjoy this video in any way they want without "corporate" restrictions.
Please bear in mind that I am not a company or a corporation. I'm just some guy. I paid for the production and posting of this video with my own money. I would like to be able to post more material to the fans in this way, which makes it cheaper for the buyer and more pleasant for me. So, please help me keep this being a good idea. I can't stop you from torrenting; all I can do is politely ask you to pay your five little dollars, enjoy the video, and let other people find it in the same way.

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