The news comes days after BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen announced he was eliminating the need for centralised hosting of servers known as 'trackers' in the latest beta version of the software. The servers coordinate the BitTorrent download process and have been a key resource for anti-piracy units in identifying copyright infringement.
The search tool -- which will be based on Web crawling technology owned by Cohen's company -- could be a boon to downloaders who previously have had little in the way of navigation for BitTorrent files.
Unlike peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa, eDonkey or the original Napster, no central search technology exists for BitTorrent. Instead, links to specific files are posted on Web sites. Sites that specialize in copyrighted files such as movies or music are often taken offline by legal action.
A few tools have existed to get around this process. Exeem, an application distributed by the former operators of SuprNova, a big BitTorrent Web site, integrates Cohen's downloading technology with a more traditional searchable file-swapping network.
An older Web search tool called Bitoogle also has provided some search capabilities. Cohen said his BitTorrent search will be more powerful than Bitoogle, however.
Cohen said his tool won't aim to screen out the myriad copyrighted files likely to come up in a Web search. But like other search engines, he will comply with federal copyright law and remove any links that copyright holders point to as leading to infringing material.
Plans for the new search tool were first reported by Wired News.
Cohen said his new company, eponymously named BitTorrent, will also host file downloads in torrent form and consult with companies wanting to use the technology to distribute their own products.
The search tool will be supported by advertising revenue.
ZDNet Australia's Renai LeMay contributed to this report.
