View topic - µTorrent plans to launch a paid platform - Windows, Apple, Application, Abandonware and Game Beta Downloads/Repository

Andrew Tapferke

Quote:

BitTorrent Inc. has announced today that they are planning to launch a paid version of the popular µTorrent client. There is yet to be a complete list of features, however, so far they have revealed that µTorrentPlus will have the ability to convert videos and transfer files to portable devices such as iPods etc.
At present, the µTorrent team is working on finalising an invite-only beta version of the client according to TorrentFreak, with the expectation that more details about the program will be published in the coming weeks. Those wishing to put their name down to qualify for early access must do so through their webpage. No price has yet been set for µTorrentPlus according to Jordy Berson who is Director of Product Management for the brand.
There has however so far, been pessimism expressed from some users who feel that the fundamental cause of a file-sharing client is being undermined as BitTorrent Inc. pursues charging users for an advanced version of torrenting software. Mr Berson said that:

“We think of it more as diversifying revenue sources. Some of the features will involve us paying licensing fees so it’s not like this is a pure profit business for us, although given our scale we’ll be able to negotiate good terms and pass on to customers a great value”.

Since µTorrent is used by almost 100 million users worldwide, making it the most popular file sharing client on the Internet, this represents a potential shift in the way that people use the software. If it is successful, it may mean than other developers will follow suit in duplicating the business model for their own software; only time will tell as to whether the idea will take off with users.

src…

lXxSkyfirexXl

uTorrent is the best BitTorrent client out there, with a paid version its going to be better. But I dont think they should make a paid version as uTorrent 3.0 has great features.

kinikibu

It's understandable, μtorrent has long since been on the small end of things for the longest time. But, for those of us who use μtorrent, we've probably come to notice the expansions they have been making so μtorrent can expand, the most outward being all the new extensions. BitTorrent, the company behind μtorrent, doas have a great many customers who wouldn't mind, oh who knows, a download of up to maybe 2MB. Computers nowadays can handle that, my black and white 3" laptop running windows 95 can handle that...but to make it revenue just makes sense. Commercialize a yet-to-be commercialized market while you have the upper hand and, truthfully, you'll end up making money that could be used towards enhancing the free version as well.

linuxlove

lXxSkyfirexXl wrote:

uTorrent is the best BitTorrent client out there, with a paid version its going to be better. But I dont think they should make a paid version as uTorrent 3.0 has great features.

Which is it, should they make a paid version or not?

zamadatix

A program that will pirate itself, genius!

Barabba

still on good old 1.7

TomKTW

I'm quitting that thing if they do one small ad about it in program.

FoobyZeeky

Meh, I'll just use uTorrent to pirate uTorrentPlus.

spunker88

Isn't this what got Limewire shut down. The fact that they were not only allowing people to pirate, but also making money from it. I also think some people thought that since they were paying for the software, they weren't pirating.

angelwolf71885

they just shot them selves in the foot
the video conversion tool is basically screaming this is a pirate tool

the rules are as long as you dont advertise if for piracy then its legal
hell the appstore they came out with was a red flag also

Leichtensteiner

angelwolf71885 wrote:

they just shot them selves in the foot
the video conversion tool is basically screaming this is a pirate tool

the rules are as long as you dont advertise if for piracy then its legal
hell the appstore they came out with was a red flag also

Not necessarily. They could try to defend themselves by saying that many users rely on µTorrent to transfer personal files such as photos and home movies. This defense is actually very popular.

STeeLhawk

Just like the many people that paid for LimeWire Pro?

Terrible marketing, making your target audience a group of people who are bound to want to pirate your wares anyway.

DeFacto

spunker88 wrote:

Isn't this what got Limewire shut down.

The company behind Limewire was responsible for the content that was available, while BitTorrent isn't, as they've only developed the platform, it's up to users to determine what's it usefull for....

FoobyZeeky

Well, in my mind, very few uTorrent users are going to bother paying for an extended version anyway. Also, are there any similar alternatives to uTorrent around? We might need 'em if uTorrent gets itself shut down. 8-)

XenoGalaxy

@FoobyZeeky There are plenty of other Torrent clients you can use.. Just not as stable as BitTorrent

pizzaboy192

From the sound of it, All that Plus would do is add bloat to a very thin client. I don't need a video converter. I don't even need half the options currently available in uTorrent. the only features that I Feel would make it worth a few $ would be if they added in support to allow the client to move files when they're finished automatically to more than just a singular folder depending on what file type is the dominant one.
Example:
I download a torrent conatining a bunch of "personal" video files. uTorrent would detect video files (Even if there's a text document or two, and even if there's subtitles or case images\whatnot) and as soon as it's finished (even while it's still seeding) it moves it to my "Personal" video files folder on my NAS.
The same would apply to "personal" music that I would download, or personal images. It would search for the file types and sort accordingly (And for those that it can't detect, it could give you the option at the time of adding said torrent of the directory to move to when completed.

Other than that, it's not a big deal. they're not dumb enough to just start charging for a good product and limit the old one, they're gonna add new features that some people will claim they cannot live without and charge to use those, but the base "free" client will remain the same.

Spider-Vice

This is good to pirate the pirate (who downloads the stuff). I didn't expect this to be honest.

Nekronata

DeFacto wrote:

spunker88 wrote:

Isn't this what got Limewire shut down.

The company behind Limewire was responsible for the content that was available, while BitTorrent isn't, as they've only developed the platform, it's up to users to determine what's it usefull for....

Yep, there are also quit a few legal company sites, that use torrents for downloads as well (legal once). With an argument that stuff like torrents are in general illegal, you can also forbid:

- Servers
- Internet Providers (they kinda make actual money out of illegal files, since many "pirates" also like to have flatrates, they wouldn't need other way)
- Politics, since some are corrupt
- Life itself since we all did one day something not legal

.

OG

Vuze (Azureus) has had this stuff implimented for eons, nobody cares. Although they too have a "Plus" version I've yet to see a pirated copy of it simply because it's not worth pirating. It does nothing most people don't already have an application for. And no, they've not been sued for adding a transcoding function. BitTorrent Inc is just trying to cash in and give an air of legitimacy to what is otherwise seen as a grey area.

DeFacto wrote:

spunker88 wrote:

Isn't this what got Limewire shut down.

The company behind Limewire was responsible for the content that was available, while BitTorrent isn't, as they've only developed the platform, it's up to users to determine what's it usefull for....

This may be what the court decided but all things being relative Limewire is no different to Vuze or BitTorrent. Limewire was just the middleman as are torrent clients. Limewire offered a search function as do the two leading torrent clients. The logic that determined that Limewire had some responsability should, in theory, come to the same conclusion in respect of bittorrent clients as they do exactly the same thing albeit in a different fashion.

lXxSkyfirexXl

Well if μtorrent+ comes out, the free version might have ads and thats why some dont want a paid version. Who would download a program that spams your computer with ads or that has ads?

pizzaboy192

lXxSkyfirexXl wrote:

Well if μtorrent+ comes out, the free version might have ads and thats why some dont want a paid version. Who would download a program that spams your computer with ads or that has ads?

Why would they add ads if they're charging for the + version?

P4R4D0X

Many people say that µTorrent is a bloatware and they refuse to update to the latest and greatest version. I don't see the point of why they want to make a paid version. If they want to make some money of piracy then I don't know, it's fine. One possible reason can be Ads. It can be that they will put some Advertisements in the free version, the version we love. If that will happen I'm pretty much sure that there will be workaround to hide them. It can be simple as blocking the Ad server in the hosts files, or as hard as patching the executable file.

A lot of people will download the paid version too, without paying for it. The app will pirate itself! We will use the free version to download the paid version.

If they would limit the download speed of the free version then I think I'm going to switch to another client and all the problems will be gone for a while.

timmy112

Well Bittorrent and utorrent are basically the same thing, so wouldn't it be smart / easier to make bit torrent the paid version of utorrent?

FoobyZeeky

timmy112 wrote:

Well Bittorrent and utorrent are basically the same thing, so wouldn't it be smart / easier to make bit torrent the paid version of utorrent?

Maybe, I guess. Well, then again, maybe not. Many use BitTorrent already for free, as their main client...

Ryu

I can see a lot of people dropping uTorrent when this comes to fruition, myself included. It's become progressively more bloated and seems to have lost its original minimalistic nature. Back when I switched from utorrent from azureus, I did so to drop all of the bloat and features I didn't use, and to acquire a tinier footprint. From what I gather, the utorrent 3.0 reception wasn't stellar, and I can't see this going over much better, especially if they bloat the free version and further or incorporate ads.

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