NBC Universal Licenses Content to P2P

Marking the first time a major studio has agreed to work with a peer-to-peer service, NBC Universal on Friday announced a deal with Wurld Media, creator of the legal Peer Impact P2P service. The agreement would allow users to download Universal movies and NBC TV events for a fee.

Customers would be able to "rent" movies from the service and view them within a 24-hour window. NBC said that it wanted to give its viewers another way to access the studio's content in a way that protects it from illegal distribution.

Unlike other P2P networks, Peer Impact itself is the only authorized user that can upload content to the network. The company says this prevents illegal content from being transferred through its servers.

The service already offers downloadable video games, and music that is either in MP3 format or protected using Windows Media's DRM technology.

Some of the movies slated to become available through the service include "Ray," "Meet the Fockers" and "The Bourne Supremacy." TV shows will include "Jerry Springer: Uncensored" and the company's "Blind Date" franchise, among others.

Family-friendly and Hispanic programming are also slated to be offered as well.

"It has been a great honor to work with the executives at NBC Universal with whom we share a common vision for the future of this consumer marketplace," said Gregory Kerber, chairman and CEO of Wurld Media, in a statement.

Last November, Wurld Media inked deals with Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to sell songs and albums from the major labels through Peer Impact.

Unlike current online music stores that distribute songs directly from centralized servers, Peer Impact relies on the bandwidth of its users. Some pundits have wondered if Wurld Media is simply latching onto the P2P hype to save distribution costs, and whether paying customers want to receive their music downloads from other users.

"I see the 'legal' peer-to-peer sharing concept as fundamentally misunderstanding why people trade songs to begin with. If file traders are looking for free stuff, what incentive would they have to pay for it?" questioned Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox.