There’s been a lot of talk that bittorrent site The Pirate Bay’s new streaming video site, The Video Bay (not live yet), could be one of the biggest in the ever-growing lineup of “YouTube Killers”. Thinking along those lines, you’d think Google (owner of YouTube) would hate such a service. But I’m going to go the other way; I think Google may be ecstatic for the coming of this site.

The reason? If it’s anything like The Pirate Bay, The Video Bay is going to have the legal hounds hot on its trail – regardless of if it’s in Sweden or China or The Bermuda Triangle. While such a service may be hard to prosecute (as evident by The Pirate Bay still being online), when and if The Video Bay starts streaming copyrighted content such as Hollywood movies in their entirety, the entertainment industry is going to have no choice but to go after them with a force probably not seen before. This is very likely likely to ease the pressure on YouTube, which by comparison will look like Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.

YouTube is clearly trying very hard to put the emphasis of the site on the user-driven content. They’ve promoted top users to “partners” who get revenue sharing, and they’re rolling out contests for the best amateur content. The Video Bay is likely going to be all about what its Pirate Bay audience wants, pirated content.

I for one don’t foresee myself visiting The Video Bay too much even if it does offer the goods. As a movie lover I simply can’t bring myself to watch an awful quality stream of a movie that is 200 pixels wide when for a few dollars I can rent one in high definition, or for a few dollars more go and see it on a 50-foot screen at a movie theater.