NBC Universal patents a new way to chase BitTorrent pirates

While everyone else is busy chasing Pokemon in the streets, NBC Universal is hunting BitTorent pirates, now in real-time.

A patent has been granted to NBC Universal for a new technology to track down pirates in BitTorrent swarms.

At this stage, it is unclear whether NBC will put this technology to use, or license it to third parties. It could be used in controversial ways, such as throttling P2P traffic to save Comcast and other ISPs money.