Alert: minefield. The situation with Popcorn Time and the kind of material we can find there needs no further explanation. What started as a simple project found continuation through multiple channels, and now it seems someone has decided to turn Popcorn Time into a web service. We don't know how it got there, or how long it will last…
The Cat and Mouse Game Continues
Recent developments involving the BitTorrent network, content distribution and file exchange in general reveal a considerable increase in activity on both sides. The new Grooveshark has already been taken down, the EZTV portal and its domains ended up being virtually hijacked by scammers, and authorities have tried once more to block The Pirate Bay, generating six new domains in response. This is nothing more than the cat and mouse game on steroids. Blockages happen faster, but services return almost as quickly. The Pirate Bay proved to be a true Highlander on the net, even with several of its creators in jail, but the other bad boy of the neighborhood is Popcorn Time.
Popcorn in Your Browser
Downloading the client is becoming more and more complicated in some countries, but now Popcorn In Your Browser appears. As the name suggests, well... it does what it says: it puts Popcorn Time in your preferred browser. A simple search box and a partial list of available titles adorn the initial page. Apparently, this new service is a mix between the YTS portal and Coinado, a remote BitTorrent tool. The creator of the service has a particular sense of humor, as he admits that the progress bar while the buffer loads is a lie. Streaming via BitTorrent is not an exact science, and performance between users can vary greatly.
Personally, the only thing I can add is that the dose of popularity that Popcorn In Your Browser has received had a negative impact on performance. In other words, the experience was horrible. Waiting almost two minutes for a buffer that lasts 15 seconds is simply unacceptable. Even so, whoever wants to try it can still do so. I hope this article does not offend the higher powers that see everything...
