Opera Software yesterday announced plans to include the BitTorrent protocol in the upcoming version of its Opera web browser.

The pair have signed an agreement allowing Opera to use the BitTorrent trademark and access the BitTorrent search engine from the browser's user interface.

Opera claimed that integrating the technology will mean faster and more efficient downloads of large files. A technical preview of the Opera 9 browser will be made available soon.

BitTorrent's technology will be offered to Opera users in two ways. Users can search for torrent files in the browser's integrated search field, or, when a file has been selected, Opera's Transfer Manager feature will handle the download.

Users no longer need separate software for the searching and downloading of torrent content.

BitTorrent is an open source, peer-to-peer protocol for distributing files. It makes use of the upstream bandwidth of every downloader to increase the speed and effectiveness of the distribution as a whole.

On average, the faster a user uploads to a peer, the faster they will be able to download.

But some see Opera's move as controversial, given that many software pirates now favour torrent files to distribute and download their wares.