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.

by Michael Prince Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Bit Torrent”

• BBC and P2P Next Test HD BitTorrent Streaming

  
  NewTeeVee — Authority: 710
  The EU-funded P2P Next project has started to stream BBC content in true 1080p HD via BitTorrent. The project posted an episode of the BBC’s R&D TV on its technical trial web site this week, with the option to stream it either in regular 480p or full HD-quality 1080p. Users have to first install a plug-in, ...
  19 hours ago

• Gettin’ cashflow positive

  
  Bassist Wanted: Comics and music and musicians — Authority: 122
  DAN: This band needs to be gettin’ cashflow positive. QUICK. RONI: Why don’t we sell our demo on our web? CHRISTINA: Well… JOHN: No no NO… DANGEROUS… That demo’ll BitTorrent in MINUTES! RONI: I don’t think you understand BitTorrent. JOHN: And we’ll be SUED for infringement! And PIRATES ...
  1 day ago

• Weekly Tech Wrap-up

  
  Pixelated Geek — Authority: 148
  Another week in Tech has flown by as we head into December and the inevitable Christmas rush. This week we’ve had the good, the bad and the down-right ugly rear their heads in the world of consumer technology. In a break from tradition we’ll start with the bad. Virgin Media announced this week that it would ...
  1 day ago

• Halite 0.3.2.1

  
  ajua Online — Authority: 133
  Halite is a lightweight BitTorrent client. It is free and open source.It has a little less features than most clients, but it consumes very little resources and can be controlled remotely via web. It is second to uTorrent, but is very good nonetheless.There is a x64 (64-bit) version. You can download a portable ...
  1 day ago

• Targeted by Hollywood, OpenBitTorrent lives to fight another day

  
  CrunchGear — Authority: 786
  Not a day goes by without coming across one or more stories related to The Pirate Bay . Today is no different, with OpenBitTorrent (a tracker that Hollywood has accused of being The Pirate Bay’s spiritual successor, serving some 550,000 “works”) being given a new lease on life by a Swedish court. The gist is, ...
  2 days ago

• HTTP Torrents: Download Torrents Directly from your Browser

  
  Orangeinks — Authority: 129
  HTTPTorrents is an alternative to using Torrent clients when downloading files that are shared through bit torrent. If you feel that your torrent download is slow when using your resident torrent client, you can try using httpTorrents and download those torrents directly on your browser. The service functions pretty ...
  2 days ago

• Court Refuses to Shutter Tracker Linked to Pirate Bay

  
  Threat Level — Authority: 751
  A Stockholm court is refusing to order a Swedish internet provider to cut off a site the studios claim is The Pirate Bay’s new torrent tracker. The Pirate Bay, the world’s most notorious filesharing website, announced two weeks ago it was abandoning its tracker , which had been the world’s largest — and a ...
  3 days ago

• Court Rejects Studios Demand to Shutter OpenBitTorrent

  
  Digital Media Wire - connecting people & knowledge — Authority: 584
  Stockholm, Sweden - A Swedish court has denied a motionfrom Hollywood movie studios demanding an ISPcease providing bandwidth to file-sharing tracker site OpenBitTorrent, statingthat the company must do more than provide Internet access to be guilty ofcopyright infringement, TorrentFreak reported. "We are happy with ...
  3 days ago

• Album Sales Week of 11/24 + Industry News

  
  iHipHop — Authority: 152
  ............Album Sales Week of 11/24Lady Gaga “Fame Monster” - 181,279Rihanna “Rated R” - 180,198Birdman “Priceless” 35,788 (16% digital)Jay Sean “All Or Nothing” - 31,855Wiz Khalifa “Deal Or No Deal” - 5,865 (85% digital)O.C. & A.G. “Oasis” - 171 (100% digital)..Industry News• Another ...
  3 days ago

• TVTrigger Integrates Television and BitTorrent into One Lovable Package [Downloads]

  
  Lifehacker — Authority: 812
  Windows only: TVTrigger is like TV Guide for your desktop—if, in addition to keeping you up to date on your favorite shows, TV Guide also automatically found and downloaded the latest torrent of said show as soon as its released. (Click the image above for a closer look.) This weekend we highlighted an ...
  4 days ago

• Rumour: The Saboteur Leaked

  
  BeefJack - The Gamer's Sauce. — Authority: 496
  Who’d have thought that after Pandemic’s closure and the defilement of one of their most cherished creations by EA they’d even be haunted beyond the grave? A forum poster on Giant Bomb recently revealed he got his hands on The Sabetour weeks before its launch via a torrent site, by the sounds of things he [...]
  4 days ago

• Another One Draws the Curtain: SceneTorrents Shuts Down

  
  P2P News! — Authority: 137
  Scenetorrents closes down, to the regret of many Recently we referred to a rather unfortunate p2p climate which now seems to have extended its duration as one of the fastest and most selective private trackers in the world, SceneTorrents, has closed its doors for good. In its four-year existence SceneTorrents has ...
  4 days ago

• Nokia got in trouble with Nintendo for showing off SNES on the N900 [Maemo]

  
  PhoneArea.net — Authority: 159
  Earlier this year, in September, Urho Konttori, Project Manager at Nokia ( NYSE: NOK ), showed off a Super Nintendo emulator called DrNokSnes on his Nokia N900. The first sentence of my…
  4 days ago

• Top 10 Most Downloaded Movies via BitTorrent

  
  P2P News! — Authority: 137
  TorrentFreak has published the data they collected with the top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent for the week ended November 29th. All the films included in this chart are DVDrips (unless mentioned otherwise). The New York bestseller turned a major picture, ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’, is a hit on ...
  5 days ago

• Ten Alternatives to Mininova [BitTorrent]

  
  Lifehacker — Authority: 812
  Ed. note: Last week, popular BitTorrent tracker Mininova started limiting torrents to only approved partners. If youre hunting for a new torrent-tracking home, all-things-BitTorrent weblog TorrentFreak is here to offer some worthwhile alternatives. After nearly five years of loyal service, Mininova disabled ...
  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

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

  
  OnlyDedicatedServers.com — Authority: 148
  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 ...
  5 days ago

• U.K. Pub Fined For Copyright Infringement Over Free Wi-Fi

  
  Tech-Ex — Authority: 504
  Its a grey area, but something that small shops and providers of free wi-fi might want to begin thinking about. What happens if someone comes into your business, and uses your free wi-fi to download copyrighted material? For a pub in the U.K., its an expensive question, to the tune of $13,000 (£8k). Hotspot ...
  6 days ago

• Neat sites

  
  Interesting Pile — Authority: 144
  How to mask yourself online and use a fake IP address Download and search for torrents with TorrentZip (via Delicious )
  1 week ago

• Mininova Gutted — and Another Chance to Monetize BitTorrent Blown

  
  NewTeeVee — Authority: 710
  The popular torrent-indexing site Mininova.org late yesterday took the drastic step of removing all but a few torrents in response to a copyright infringement lawsuit. Dutch rights group BREIN went to court against Mininova in June, and later that summer, the site was ordered to remove any links to infringing ...
  1 week ago

Comments about Bit Torrent