The New York Times reports that over 100 classic Warner Brothers TV shows will be made available for free download with a 1-2 minutes of commercials per episode shortly. To use the technology, viewers will have to agree to participate in a special file-sharing network. This approach helps AOL reduce the cost of distributing-high quality video files by passing portions of the video files from one user's computer to another.

A launch for the service, dubbed In2TV, is being targeted for January. Advertisers are expected to foot the bill, through four commercial breaks of 15 or 30 seconds during each half-hour show. Viewers will be able to choose shows from six channels, then watch episodes streamed to their computers.

Amongst the shows to be available will be such classics as "Welcome Back Kotter", "Sisters", "Beetlejuice", "Lois & Clark", "La Femme Nikita" and "Growing Pains". Newer shows which sell well on DVD are not likely to be included on the service.

Thanks to 'Ant'