Bit Torrent – a community of pirates?

Bit Torrent is a protocol developed by a man called Bram Cohen as a way of distributing files of large sizes across the internet to several people at once. Its not surprise then that this was quickly adopted by the file sharing community as a way of sharing large files, such as videos. It also allows for downloading entire folders of data, so entire TV series can be shared with a single download.



I’ve used this service for years as a way of getting hold of TV shows only shown in America, or even catching up with my favourite shows I’ve missed for whatever reason. I’m even slightly ashamed to admit I once used this service for Eastenders… ;)

I’ve never really bought into other file sharing communities, such as Kazaa or Edonkey, partly because of the spyware risks associated with many of them, but this method seemed different. Rather than using the software in an anonymous self contained way such as Kazaa does, whereby the client software does the searching, compiling of search results and downloading in a way that means you never need to know who you got it from, ‘torrent’ files used to initiate the download can be made by anyone and are distributed mainly via message boards or search engines, such as http://www.isohunt.com or http://www.uknova.com . The bonus of this is that you can request a file/program/song you want, and someone else can create a tracking file for you to download it straight from them. This allows for a level of interaction between users, but also allows for downloads to be public or private, depending on who you give the torrent file to or if you publicise it.

Obviously, there are legal implications with using these types of file sharing methods – many organizations, such as the MPAA (motion picture association of America) have got involved and taken individuals to court over persistent ‘sharing’, but has thus far been able to affect the overall ‘community’, or dissuade them from using the software.

Organisations such as the MPAA will always have difficulty putting an end to things this. Unlike Kazaa users that rely on the central Kazaa-run ‘Fast Track network’, Bit Torrent is more decentralized and so difficult to attribute the blame to any one person or company. The community has been developed and thrives on support from each other, which it receives. And it’s hard to imagine that while DVDs still retail at £16.99 each, and people are restricted to watching TV broadcast on local TV channels, anyone will ever manage to convince users that Bit Torrent is a bad idea.