Though about a year and a half old, this is a very good article (and presentation; scroll down) about the positive effect that piracy can have. Written by Mark Pesce, this is a case study of how Battlestar Galactica's distribution via BitTorrent changed the viewership of that show; bringing it to Americans before the scheduled release and to Australia where it wasn't set to be available at all. Further, he goes on to explore the ways that advertisers can still profit from this model that cuts out television networks who normally marry shows with advertisements.
We now live in a time where many people (myself included) don't know or care when the shows they want to watch are broadcast or what channel they are one. If you simply get your TV from the internet, the channel and time simply don't matter. Nor do the advertisements, which are normally snipped from interweb-released shows. Are we soon to see TV funded by product placement, layover placards and bugs?
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