BitTorrent sues for trademarks

Like Richard, after yesterday's lecture, I too have been inspired to make a post on ethics. This one is concerning BitTorrent. BitTorrent is widely used as a faster way of downloading documents.

BitTorrent is more than another pesky P2P network - it divides large files into sections so they can be downloaded from different computers before being reassembled. Once you have received a section it can also be uploaded by other users so very large files can be distributed much faster than from one dedicated server

I regulary use BitTorrent, at the moment I am using it to downloade SuSE for my friend. A lot of people perceive BitTorrent as unethical as it is used for downloading films and music (which technically is stealing). However, I feel this is an issue of ethics with the user and their 'immoral' use of it, rather than the product.

However, what is unethical is using the BitTorrent name to enforce spyware or adware (or both) on my computer. Spyware and adware is the most annoying thing ever, I do not want it on my computer (like many other people). Just because it is synonymous with 'bad things' doesn't make it justifiable to use the name for *what I regard as) malicious intent. So good on BitTorrent for charging a licensing fee for anyone wanting to use their name.