BitTorrent

BitTorrent 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 “BitTorrent”

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

  
  OnlyDedicatedServers.com — Authority: 145
  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 ...
  1 day 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 ...
  1 day 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 ...
  1 day ago

• Office Starter 2010 Beta Leaks

  
  Tech Mania — Authority: 137
  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 ...
  2 days ago

• Neat sites

  
  Interesting Pile — Authority: 440
  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 ...
  2 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 ...
  3 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 ...
  3 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, ...
  4 days 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 ...
  4 days 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 ...
  4 days 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....
  5 days ago

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

  
  NewTeeVee — Authority: 718
  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, ...
  5 days 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 ]
  5 days ago

• It’s Alive! Hollywood Claims Pirate Bay Tracker Lives

  
  Threat Level — Authority: 773
  Did The Pirate Bay really shutter its tracker, as claimed on Tuesday? The Motion Picture Association doesn’t think so. Hollywood’s overseas lobbying organization claims OpenBitTorrent, billed as an independent “open tracker project,” was actually established by one of The Pirate Bay’s founders. ...
  6 days ago

• Studios Sue Swedish ISP, Demand Closure of OpenBitTorrent

  
  Digital Media Wire - connecting people & knowledge — Authority: 599
  Los Angeles - Several Hollywood movie studios have filed suit against a SwedishISP that is hosting OpenBitTorrent, an independent BitTorrent file-sharingtracker site that was launched in the wake of the The Pirate Bays announcedsale to Global Gaming Factory, TorrentFreak reported. The studios sued hostingprovider ...
  6 days ago

• Retailer Relents on Logo Use After Pirate Bay Cries Foul

  
  Wired Mods — Authority: 745
  From the "Now you know how it feels" department: The Swedish online retailer that had trademarked a near replica of The Pirate Bay’s iconic logo has agreed to withdraw registration of what has become an enduring symbol of online piracy after a Pirate Bay co-founder cried foul.
  1 week ago

• The Pirate Bay Tracker Closes Its Doors as DHT Takes Over

  
  P2P News! — Authority: 137
  TPBs new logo suggesting magnetic links are the future in downloading files After six years of turbulent existence, time in which P2P and file sharing have become everyday words, the Pirate Bay crew shuts down the site’s BitTorrent tracker permanently as they hail the beginning of a new era where a distributed, ...
  1 week ago

• Pirate Bay Tracker Offline for Good – Though the site will continue pushing files via DHT+PEX

  
  remove the labels | Gadgets and Life — Authority: 436
  The Pirate Bay crew had already essentially been disbanded, the site dissected, and its remnants sold to a somewhat dubious company that simply wants to turn the site’s visitors into little P2P cash cows . So an announcement today over at the official Pirate Bay blog that they’re officially shutting down the ...
  1 week ago

• The Pirate Bay Tracker Shuts Down for Good

  
  Delusions of Grandeur — Authority: 121
  Its a sad day today, after a drawn out courtbattle and years of supplying the world with warez, movies and more the Pirate Bay has officially shut off the tracker. Although the site will remain operational for now, millions of BitTorrent users will lose the use of its tracker and will instead have to rely on DHT and ...
  1 week ago

• The Pirate Bay kills its tracker, tries to usher in the DHT age

  
  CrunchGear — Authority: 796
  Pretty big news to share with y’all today: The Pirate Bay is no more . Well, “no more” in the sense that the site’s admins have decided to kill the tracker once and for all. The site will continue to serve the BitTorrent community, but will instead rely upon trackerless technology, such as DHT and PEX . ...
  1 week ago

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