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Popcorn Time is back: version 0.3 coming soon

Popcorn Time is back: version 0.3 coming soon
Jonathan Riggall

Jonathan Riggall

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Popcorn Time, the torrenting-made-easy app, is back. The app made headlines when it was originally released, as it arguably made watching pirated torrent files of movies even easier than legal streaming apps like Netflix.

The original developers walked away from the project in March, stating that they didn’t want to spend time constantly debating whether or not the application was legal. It worked as a proof of concept for streaming media via BitTorrent, as it was very easy to use and effective. However, in some countries using an app to view pirated torrent files is indeed illegal.

Another group of developers took over the project and relaunched Popcorn Time. In an official blog post, they explain that now the project is up and running again, with a team of 20 developers. They claim not to be interested in the legal questions surrounding the project, and just want to complete Popcorn Time as it was originally imagined.

The current available version is the beta 2.9. The next version will be 0.3, and the Popcorn Time team will announce its release date in the next few days. The major addition to the next version is TV shows – you will now be able to browser Popcorn Time for torrents of TV shows as well as movies.

Popcorn Time is a good example of technology being ahead of industry. BitTorrent is a great way to distribute files efficiently, and the internet means that national borders are less important to people than they used to be. Even if it is illegal, Popcorn Time has shown people that if the entertainment industry can keep up, technology could make watching movies and TV shows much easier than it is today. This is especially true outside the US, where licensing agreements can mean streaming or new shows is disabled until they have been shown on terrestrial TV channels. This is a very old model of distribution now, and Popcorn exposes just how antiquated it is.

Popcorn Time is available for OS X, Windows and Linux. Make sure you are aware of your local laws before using an app like this.

Source: Get Popcorn Time blog

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