Bit Torrent

BitTorrent (proper spelling) is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol original designed by Bram Cohen in April 2001. Those who share files using BitTorrent can choose one of many clients and seed the file which is distributed in small parts. Any user with a BitTorrent client can locate a torrent file and choose to download the file. As they finish downloading parts they in turn share those parts with others in a distributed fashion.

BitTorrent receives a great deal of negative press as it is commonly associated with the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted material. This has resulted in Internet Service Providers using traffic shaping to slow down BitTorrent traffic.

While there is a great deal of illicit BitTorrent use, BitTorrent is also a preferred method for legitimately distributing large files. Development communities like Fedora, studios like Paramount and Fox as well as publishers like Electronic Arts use the BitTorrent protocol.  The distributed nature of the protocol eases network load of the main seeder and opens the door to more robust file sharing/distribution.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Bit Torrent”

• More Friday lists

  
  Interesting Pile — Authority: 441
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  1 hour ago

• Gifts For Pervs Who Like Like Gadgets [Gift Guide]

  
  F-Default — Authority: 542
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  4 hours ago

• BitTorrent Tracker MiniNova Goes Legal-Only [BitTorrent]

  
  Lifehacker — Authority: 815
  MiniNova, one of the webs go-to aggregators for BitTorrent trackers, has deleted nearly every torrent on its site in response to a court order. Only torrents uploaded by approved partners in its legal distribution network survived the cull and will continue to be allowed. There are, of course, plenty of ...
  11 hours ago

• BitTorrent Site Mininova Goes Totally Legit

  
  Tech-Ex — Authority: 481
  All it takes is a little loss in the legal arena, and boom! Mininova, the worlds largest BitTorrent site, has removed all torrents except those that were uploaded through its Content Distribution service. That service allows producers and artists to easily publish and distribute their content through Mininova for ...
  21 hours ago

• More Thursday lists

  
  Interesting Pile — Authority: 441
  61 free apps were most thankful for 12 more insanely titled books 7 Mininova and Pirate Bay alternatives to find torrents 10 best gift books of 2009 (via LISNews ) Top 4 sites to share private home movies with family and friends
  1 day ago

• Mininova Goes Legit, Saddens Everyone [BitTorrent]

  
  Gizmodo — Authority: 892
  Mininova, the other popular BitTorrent tracker, just went legal-only. No more downloading episodes of Dexter or Mad Men off of it, but there plenty of other trackers out there still. [ Mininova Blog ]
  1 day ago

• BitTorrent’s Future: DHT, PEX, and Magnet Links Explained [BitTorrent]

  
  Lifehacker — Authority: 815
  Last week The Pirate Bay confirmed it would shut down its tracker permanently, instead encouraging the use of DHT, PEX, and magnet links. This move confounded many BitTorrent enthusiasts, who were confronted with confusing new terminology and technology. Time for some explaining. The Pirate Bays recent confirmation ...
  3 days ago

• BitTorrent s Future? DHT, PEX and Magnet Links Explained – TorrentFreak

  
  OnlyDedicatedServers.com — Authority: 146
  BitTorrent s Future? DHT, PEX and Magnet Links Explained – TorrentFreak This week The Pirate Bay confirmed it would shut down its tracker for good, instead encouraging the use of DHT, PEX and magnet links. This move confounded many BitTorrent enthusiasts, who although wishing to adapt, were confronted with hard ...
  3 days ago

• Top 10 Most Downloaded Movies via BitTorrent

  
  P2P News! — Authority: 137
  2012 - the most pirated film on BitTorrent TorrentFreak has published the data they collected with the top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent for the week ended November 22th. All the films included in this chart are DVDrips (unless mentioned otherwise). We just love movies in which mankind is ineluctably ...
  4 days ago

• An Interview with TorrentLeech - A Living BT Legend

  
  FileShareFreak — Authority: 120
  Demonoid aside, few will contest that TorrentLeech.org is the most successful & popular English private tracker of all time. Coveted by millions and enjoyed by 180,000 - TL’s enormous fame is widespread - here’s a tracker that lives up to the hype. FileShareFreak caught up with w00t, the owner/SysOp of ...
  4 days ago

• Office Starter 2010 Beta Leaks

  
  Tech Mania — Authority: 138
  As with all of the Microsoft products like Windows 7, Office 2010 Professional Beta, Office starter 2010 Beta the crunched up Beta version of Office has been leaked into the wild.The Starter edition doesn’t include all the features as in Office 2010 Professional Beta and only comes with Word and Excel.So this ...
  4 days ago

• Neat sites

  
  Interesting Pile — Authority: 441
  Create your own email signature images with NeedASig (via MakeUseOf ) Buy a a framed single share of stock at OneShare for a cool gift idea Compare the cost of living between two cities with Numbeo (via MakeUseOf ) Find dog-friendly places near you with Fido Factor (via MakeUseOf ) BitSnoop is a ...
  5 days ago

• Torrent Sites Welcome Googles Chrome OS

  
  P2P News! — Authority: 137
  You can download the compiled source code and disk images that can be run in a virtual machine from a number of p2p file-sharing sites Google has recently released its Chrome OS to open source and now you can find it available for free download on multiple p2p file-sharing sites like Mininova or ...
  5 days ago

• Top Ten Most Downloaded P2P File Sharing Clients

  
  P2P News! — Authority: 137
  To get a better view on how the peer-to-peer scene is evolving with respect to what file sharing software people prefer to download, we keep you posted weekly with the latest numbers. So here’s a list with last weeks top ten most downloaded p2p file sharing programs – the chart is based on figures published by ...
  5 days ago

• The Dominating Trackers - Part 3: Best General / 0Day

  
  FileShareFreak — Authority: 120
  In our Part I on scene trackers, we conclude that most torrenters can easily attain the majority of scene releases provided by the Top Three. Each being somewhat different in what they provide, but collectively they’re invaluable assets for an overall portrayal of scene content. While scene is the standard, ...
  1 week ago

• Weekly Tech Wrap Up

  
  Pixelated Geek — Authority: 147
  It’s that time again, time to review some of my cherry picked smaller stories of the week for those that might have missed them. This time round we’ve got an Adobe Flash update that doesn’t suck. OK, sucks a little less. Flash 10.1 beta was unleashed to the willing public with GPU video acceleration for ...
  1 week ago

• TorrentFetcher Searches for Torrents from Your Desktop [Downloads]

  
  Lifehacker — Authority: 815
  Windows only: Most people use torrent sites like Mininova or The Pirate Bay to search for torrents online, but free program TorrentFetcher lets you search straight from a desktop program and quickly start the transfer in your BitTorrent client of your choice. Torrent sites offer a lot of information about the ...
  1 week ago

• Get Google Chrome OS, Now [Chrome Os]

  
  Gizmodo — Authority: 892
  Wow, that was fast. Google Chrome OS was only unveiled today, and its already compiled as a VMWare image, ready for download via torrents and gdgt. Techcrunch also has a tutorial for setting it up....
  1 week ago

• BitTorrent After The Pirate Bay: Do You Still Need Trackers?

  
  NewTeeVee — Authority: 722
  The Pirate Bay made headlines earlier this week with yet another dramatic announcement, this time that the notorious BitTorrent site’s tracker has been officially shut down. But the move won’t impact downloading, site admins explained on a blog . Trackers are no longer needed to facilitate BitTorrent transfers, ...
  1 week ago

• Google Chrome OS Pops Up on Bittorrent, Compiled and Ready [Chrome Os]

  
  RSS fabriek — Authority: 167
  Wow, that was fast. Google Chrome OS was only unveiled today, and it’s already compiled as a VMWare image, ready for downloading on our preferred Swedish swashbuckling site. Check it out, and let us know how it works! [ Pirate Bay ]
  1 week ago

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