Studio executives have finally realized that if you can’t beat ‘em… you should join ‘em, and are now allowing their movies, TV shows, music videos and other content to be sold on a variety of ‘digital media’ stores, seemingly a new one every day!

Besides BitTorrent’s entry, existing stores include those from Apple, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Microsoft through both Windows XP and Vista Media Center and the Xbox 360, and soon Sony through the PS3.

Other legal stores include MovieLink, CinemaNow and Netflix among others – and all of that is just in the US, with similar stores operating overseas, with more legal video stores to come from companies like Google and others, just as a host of Youtube clones have sprung up, all helping to legitimize other devices and Internet broadcasting methods besides the ‘old’ free-to-air and pay TV broadcast distribution models – and let’s not forget Joost, Babelgum and the coming ‘high quality and even interactive TV through your web browser’ services.

So, now that video content is effectively readily available in most modern markets to download and purchase or rent by another with the right device and a fast broadband connection, why does piracy remains sky high? Will all those people who swear they’d legally pay for content if only it was easily available for a couple of dollars per show now start paying up in large numbers? Over 135 million have downloaded bittorrent software – and growing, ater all.

That’s the $64 gazillion dollar question. So far, people have indeed been happy to purchase legal content, in spite of the DRM encumbrances, but at numbers far lower than those getting the same content illegally. That said, legal movie and TV downloads are still relatively new, despite their being available through pirate channels for years.

But then that’s the point – the $64 dollar question has not yet have enough time elapse for movie and TV stores to make a real mark on piracy, although surely the impressive sales by Apple’s iTunes store, while dwarf by pirate downloads, give content owners hope they can be properly remunerated while allowing people to download using p2p software.

Indeed, we can see how young this market really is when you consider that the only way for most people to legally download HD movies and TV shows in the US is through Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video download service – and then only at 720p HD, not the higher 1080p standard that the Xbox 360 and PS3 are capable of.

BitTorrent will offer HD content, but only from cable TV service Voom, not the Hollyowood studios – or at least, not yet.

There’s also the issue of DRM, which Bram Cohen, BitTorrent’s co-founder, inventor and CEO said that he wishes he didn’t have to deal with. This is because DRM content it’s not easy to use in any way that you desire, on any device you own, it’s actually not as useful as the same content that you can get for free.

Choosing to illegally download content through p2p networks and sharing programs presents the dangers of downloading a virus or wasting bandwidth on a misnamed file, along with user interfaces that are more complicated than they should be for everyday users.

Paid stores alleviate this problem, by offering a colorful catalog of TV shows, movies and music to download, at consistent fast speeds and theoretically safe from viruses of spyware – with their interfaces for browsing video content getting smoother and slicker with every new version.

Why not a flat fee or a subscription service to download all the video content you could desire? And on that note, what TV shows, movies and games is BitTorrent offering, and at what price? Please read on to page 2 to find out...