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  Torrent
Synonyms: BitTorrent
Terminology | Dictionary | Explanation

BitTorrent is a special kind of p2p (peer to peer). It uses a central location which coordinates the downloads, but it doesn't host any. The download itself consists of several pieces offered by various users. Such a coordinated group is called a torrent. It's easy to get access. BitTorrent websites are easy to find on the world wide web. Often just an open registration is required to get access to the torrents. Because of this, BitTorrent is widely used, although it's rather insecure. In 2006 CableLabs, the research organization of the North American cable industry, estimated that BitTorrent represents 18% of all broadband traffic.

The central distribution point is called the tracker. The tracker knows which users already have the file, and which users want to download it. The users who already have the download are called seeders, and the users who are downloading are called leechers. Every user who downloads a certain file, downloads a different part of the file. When the seeder goes offline, they can still download from eachother and all users can complete the file.


In this animation, the coloured bars beneath all of the clients represent individual pieces of the file. After the initial pieces transfer from the seed, the pieces are individually transferred from client to client. The original seeder only needs to send out one copy of the file for all the clients to receive a copy. Picture is copyrighted by Wikipedia under the GNU License.

The scene is ofcourse against BitTorrent, since scene releases are meant for a limited amount of people only. Leaking releases out of the scene is not tolerated. With more people getting into the scene, more people started leaking. A growing amount of sceners appeared to be involved in illegal activities. A big number of scene notices were released which busted insecure sceners. Examples are UNSECURE.RACER.GoKu.TorrentSiteAdmin.PROOF-ScK, Beatbox.aka.Koosh.Torrent.Uploader.Exposed-SCENERiSK and The_-MP3_Group-We_Love_Boys_and_Torrents-2007-eXXXposed. Most of these notices contain IP's so they could be scenebanned.

As said before, BitTorrent is rather insecure. BitTorrent does not offer its users any anonymity. All IP addresses of all current, and possibly previous, participants in a swarm from the tracker are visible. Another drawback is that BitTorrent file sharers, compared to users of client/server technology, often have little incentive to become seeders after they finish downloading. The result of this is that torrent swarms gradually die out, meaning a lower possibility of obtaining older torrents. Some BitTorrent websites have attempted to address this setting up a ratio system. Also, some websites have a system which downgrades the download speed of users who haven't uploaded much. When the users uploaders, his download speed will improve againl. This prevents (statistical) leeching, since after a while they become unable to download much faster than 1-10 kB/s on a high-speed connection.

BitTorrent trackers, users and websites have been subjected to raids and shutdowns due to claims of copyright infringement. Various jurisdictions have pursued legal action against websites that host BitTorrent trackers. Examples are the closures of Suprnova.org, LokiTorrent and EliteTorrents.org. Also, many users have reported receiving letters from ISPs, record labels or filmstudios, which threatened to cut off their internet service or to sue them if the alleged infringement continues. 		 
     





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