BitTorrent already has struck deals with video game publishers to distribute games with its technology.Cohen's bid to commercialize BitTorrent is a measure of how far the entertainment industry has come since the late 1990s, when Napster introduced millions of people to the power of peer-to-peer technology for downloading songs -- and mobilized scores of lawyers to shut it down.

The recording industry continues its legal campaign to crush the once-wildly popular Australian-based Kazaa file-sharing service. But the studios are now moving to embrace BitTorrent technology -- which gracefully and cheaply distributes giant files -- even as they sue those who use it to trade bootlegged movies, TV shows or video games. ``We have no aversion to peer-to-peer technology. For us, it is in some respects kind of a promising delivery method,'' said Darcy Antonellis, senior vice president of worldwide anti-piracy for Warner Bros. Studios. ``We obviously have issues with its illegal uses, but to the extent that the use of the technology can be legitimized, we're all for it.''

Any examination of BitTorrent's potential needs to start with an understanding of how it differs from other file-swapping technologies. BitTorrent breaks giant files into tiny bits and spreads the distribution load among dozens or hundreds of computer users. It's built on the notion of cooperative distribution -- to get pieces of the file you lack, you must offer up chunks in exchange.

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