Riding the Download Wave on YouTorrent

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Still, Jon says he's amazed by the rapid growth of YouTorrent, which has rapidly blossomed into an Internet movement. There are even rumors in the blogosphere that the site is a front for the FBI, which supposedly is using it to catch illegal downloaders in the act. Jon dismisses the idea as absurd.

The popularity of YouTorrent proves torrents are moving from being a niche product used by tech-savvy surfers to the mainstream of Net downloads. According to market watcher JupiterResearch, roughly 20% of Web surfers now use file-sharing sites, although senior analyst Ian Fogg reckons that's a conservative estimate because many users don't want to admit to their often illegal downloading activity. "The likelihood is that the number of consumers using file-sharing is much higher," he says.

Subtle Legal Distinctions

By tapping into this trend, YouTorrent has put a user-friendly face on technology most commonly associated with Internet piracy. Jon is adamant that YouTorrent doesn't condone the downloading of illegal material. It's easy, for instance, to restrict searches to 100% legal torrents. Jon also notes that some torrents mix legal and illegal material—making it impossible to tell whether users of those sites are breaking the law.

Such subtleties might be lost on Hollywood companies looking to stop illegal file downloads by any means. That's why Jon is staying underground, at least until some of the legal issues get sorted out.

In the meantime, he's looking for ways to improve the site, including creating custom feeds to other torrent sites that would make searching for files even faster. If everything goes according to plan, Jon also wants to expand into other media—particularly gaming—to make YouTorrent a one-stop shop for downloading torrent-based content. "My goal is to be in the top 100 most-visited sites on the Internet in two years," he says.

High Hopes for High Profits

Whether that happens depends on how music labels and movie studios react to the growth of downloads. Some industry observers see signs of warming, pointing in particular to the free, ad-supported Hulu online-video site launched last year by NBC Universal (GE) and News Corp. (NWS), which currently is in U.S. trials. Although Hulu has gotten off to a slow start, analysts say it's a sign major content providers are starting to embrace the Net.

Predictably, Jon's aspirations for YouTorrent are sky high. "If I can corner the torrent market," he says, "everyone would rely on the site for profits, just as people look to Google for search-based advertising revenue." Immodest, perhaps, but if he can steer clear of prosecutors, this young British entrepreneur may just be onto something.

Scott is a reporter in BusinessWeek's London bureau .