Wouldn't it be cool if PBS torrented out their content? I see no reason that they shouldn't. Presumably they have some sort of tax exempt status, they don't show advertisements during their programs anyway, and it would only serve to further the exposure that people get to their content. Sounds like a win-win to me.

I think that local affiliates have to pay PBS to play PBS content. You know, the money that comes from all of those pledge drives... So issuing torrents would undercut their affiliates programming and PBS funding.

The BBC is paid for by the British TV tax. So, their are no pledge drives. Hence, they are looking at posting a huge archive of old shows.

If shows are posted as torrents, the BBC, like PBS, may lose potential revenue from selling shows to syndication in other countries and direct video sales.

I think the crux of my opinion is based on my belief that making content more available and more free in the long run increases your audience. Though, it could hurt direct video sales as you say, which would serve as a deterrent. I guess it would take a lot of courage to move from worrying about conventional video sales to rely on the extra donations which would come from your increased audience.

erm... the BBC's Creative Archive is, as far as I know, only looking to post up portions of shows to which it alone has copyright, and ones that don't require repeat fees, permission, copyright clearance etc.

To put up whole shows, while it would be mega-cool to the max, also invites far more problems than putting up portions. And that's not even getting into the minefield of "popular" programming that's already available commercially.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/speeches/stories/highfield_ft.shtml for more info on the BBC's stance...

Actually, I was thinking the same thing about CSPAN.

Of course, they also have some built-in disincentives just like PBS does. However, the biggest disincentive, the fact that they're run by a group of cable companies, is also a potential incentive because it might give them the chance to deal with the potential harm that the must carry law might cause them.

This issue has been vexing me for some time. I would be happy to continue to contribute to pbs's funding, and I am sure other viewers would too. I doubt that anyone who torrents pbs will forget what pays the bills. BT is just another broadcast medium, and a much cheaper one than television.

To that end, I am in the process of setting up an all-pbs torrent tracker. Stay tuned for more news.

This may be why:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saud/etc/tapes.html

They sell the tapes for $20 and use the money to finance your local station, as well as more productions.

Uknova.com -torrents captures and uploaded by those that watch it. Maybe we shoult start our own tracker for pbs torrents. Have the website be psbtorrents.com or something to that point, we could do it. It would take a few months to start out. I would much rather download torrents from pbs shows than bbc shows.

I moved overseas three months ago and I severely miss PBS, I have spent many hours fruitlessly searching for torrents of current PBS shows. I miss it greatly.