Unlike traditional streaming (Netflix or BBC iPlayer) where you download data from a single server, Acestream downloads pieces of the video from hundreds of other users simultaneously. The more people watch, the smoother the stream becomes.

Generally, no. Unless the content is explicitly in the public domain or the stream is an official, paid P2P test (which the BBC does not currently offer for consumers), streaming a BBC channel via Acestream violates copyright law. You are effectively torrenting the live broadcast. In the UK, this could technically be pursued under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, though enforcement against individual viewers is rare (they usually target uploaders).

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Here is the dirty secret of the "exclusive" scene: You are downloading from strangers.