Om, writing at GigaOM, is less than optimistic about the new BitTorrent Entertainment Network (not yet live as of this writing — when it actually launches Monday we’ll do a full review). Om thinks the company hasn’t settled the outstanding doubts about ISP demands, ease-of-use issues, limited access to popular content, competing P2P clients, and of course, competing with free (if illegal).

Besides the BitTorrent technology’s popularity and its accompanying name recognition, the startup does have other sizeable assets. Right before I went on vacation last week I got ahold of a recent SEC filing that showed BitTorrent had raised $25 million in second-round funding, a tick up from the $20 million officially announced in December (just after we’d heard it rumored). That brings BitTorrent’s total funding to nearly $35 million.