Pirates To Hulu: Thanks For The TV Shows!
Web video site Hulu is a big hit with viewers -- people watched some 227 million videos on the site in November, according to comScore. But it's also a hit with TV show pirates: They're using the site as a source for TV episodes, which they strip the ads from and re-distribute via tools like BitTorrent.
The Pirate Bay, for example, has about 25 search hits matching "Hulu," including episodes of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" and an old "Colbert Report."
Why Hulu episodes? From what we've read in Pirate Bay episode descriptions, they're high quality and often don't include the same TV watermarks that broadcast and cable stations use. (And, based on our experience legitimately using Hulu, have fewer commercials than broadcast or cable TV.) They're also relatively easy to rip -- no TV equipment required.
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