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What is bit torrent and how does it work?

eVolcre

eVolcre

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 7, 2003
1,979
587
NOTE TO MODS: I am NOT asking about downloading anything illegal. In fact, don't even post names of programs, I just want to talk about the technology.

OK, So I keep hearing my pC using friends talk about bit torrents. They make it seem like a advanced version of Peer to Peer. Is that about right? You download pieces of a program from other users and others download them from you?

How does it actually work? The only thing similar to this that I have used was KAZAA about 3 years ago. You used a program and then typed in a song or whatever and then clicked on it to download. But, from what I get, there are multiple 'torrent' clients. So how do you find something to download? You log onto some kind of a server? Does everyone who uses a bit torrent a member of some huge Kazaa like network?

Just curious.
 
eVolcre

eVolcre

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 7, 2003
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I *kinda* get it. So , I download, for example, AZUREUS. But then where do I find the torrent files? The 'index' or whatever. Are they posted on a website?
 
edesignuk

edesignuk

Moderator emeritus
Mar 25, 2002
19,232
2
London, England
eVolcre said:
But then where do I find the torrent files? The 'index' or whatever. Are they posted on a website?
Click to expand...
MOD NOTE: Anyone who might try to help, DO NOT post links to illegal BitTorrent trackers.

You can explain the workings, but do not specify sources.

Thank you.
 
killuminati

killuminati

macrumors 68020
Dec 6, 2004
2,404
0
eVolcre said:
I *kinda* get it. So , I download, for example, AZUREUS. But then where do I find the torrent files? The 'index' or whatever. Are they posted on a website?
Click to expand...

Google is your friend ;)
 
eVolcre

eVolcre

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 7, 2003
1,979
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edesignuk said:
MOD NOTE: Anyone who might try to help, DO NOT post links to illegal BitTorrent trackers.

You can explain the workings, but do not specify sources.

Thank you.
Click to expand...


No Probs. I don't even plan on doing this. Just wanted to know how it works since it seems like it's the big thing.

Thanks for those who helped. I understand the mechanics now. :)
 
eVolcre

eVolcre

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 7, 2003
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edesignuk said:
That's the most horrific looking tracker I've ever seen :eek: :eek:
Click to expand...


You know, I have a question though. OK, that was a legal torrent site. I'm sure you can google and find stuff that isn't supposed to be shared. Now, if I can find it via google so can the authorities, right? So why wouldnt they just shut down the illegal sites? Are there just too many to monitor?
 
Diatribe

Diatribe

macrumors 601
Jan 8, 2004
4,256
44
Back in the motherland
eVolcre said:
You know, I have a question though. OK, that was a legal torrent site. I'm sure you can google and find stuff that isn't supposed to be shared. Now, if I can find it via google so can the authorities, right? So why wouldnt they just shut down the illegal sites? Are there just too many to monitor?
Click to expand...

They are in countries where the legalities are different. Sweden for example. ;)
 
eVolcre

eVolcre

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 7, 2003
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Diatribe said:
They are in countries where the legalities are different. Sweden for example. ;)
Click to expand...


AAAAAH. And unlike P2P there isn't a way to catch the person whos uploading, because EVERYONE has a 'bit' of the file and there's no way you can catch everyone using the system.

Pretty smart, whoever invented this. A copyright nightmare.
 
Eidorian

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
eVolcre said:
AAAAAH. And unlike P2P there isn't a way to catch the person whos uploading, because EVERYONE has a 'bit' of the file and there's no way you can catch everyone using the system.

Pretty smart, whoever invented this. A copyright nightmare.
Click to expand...
Your IP is still out in the open when you connect to your peers. It's just that the data isn't centralized to one person's connection (bandwidth nightmare) or even a server. If you have DHT that is.
 
eVolcre

eVolcre

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 7, 2003
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It's still a nightmare to track right? So even if the authorities see your IP they don't know what you're sharing? Well, I suppose they could also go to the illegal torrent site, try downloading and then nail the people who give them the 'bits'.

Not quite sure how effectvie that would be to stop the problem aside of making an example of a few shmucks!
 
skubish

skubish

macrumors 68030
Feb 2, 2005
2,663
0
Ann Arbor, Michigan
eVolcre said:
It's still a nightmare to track right? So even if the authorities see your IP they don't know what you're sharing? Well, I suppose they could also go to the illegal torrent site, try downloading and then nail the people who give them the 'bits'.

Not quite sure how effectvie that would be to stop the problem aside of making an example of a few shmucks!
Click to expand...

You are way to interested in this to just be casual.
But the way the authorities track you down and sue your butt is thus:
The RIAA or MPAA post files and the torrent sites and then track the IP addresses that download the illegal files. Then they go to court and the judge grants a search warrant or subpoena. This subpoena forces your ISP to give up the name on the accounts associated with the IP addresses downloading illegal files. The next step is the RIAA or MPAA sue you for copyright infringement. Thats it in a nutshell.
 
eVolcre

eVolcre

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 7, 2003
1,979
587
skubish said:
You are way to interested in this to just be casual.
Click to expand...

Thanks for assuming things about me. Not that I need to explain myself but I'm an MBA student and interested in things that change the way we view our world. I'm also 30 years old and have a) no interest in downloading and b)enough money to buy **** legally.

With that being said, thanks for the info. It's genuinely interesting and sometimes people are interested in ideas and how they work and the psychology behind them without a desire to download the latest South APrk (roll eyes) episode illegally

eV
 
janey

janey

macrumors 603
Dec 20, 2002
5,316
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sunny los angeles
keep in mind the RIAA/MPAA have been upping modified torrents designed to report false statistics and never finish the torrent. it's beyond connecting to the swarm and grabbing as many IPs as you can.
 
T

tonyreedo

macrumors newbie
Jun 4, 2009
6
0
why don't torrents work on my intel mac leopard?

I've installed BitTorrent, downloaded some torrent files, added them....and nothing dowloads or goes VERY slow, too slow, like 2k max.
I have a highspeed connection that works- 2mb down, 330 upload.
My firewall is set to allow all connections.
I have tried Tomato- that also does nothing. Only searches for files.

Can someone tell me what's wrong?

Is is something you have to pay for? What the heck is going on and why is this just one more thing a mac can't do!? (I sound frustrated, huh)

.....like I can't believe Quicktime STILL can't open an avi file without some outside help!

...HELP.
 
miles01110

miles01110

macrumors Core
Jul 24, 2006
19,260
36
The Ivory Tower (I'm not coming down)
eVolcre said:
... A copyright nightmare.
Click to expand...

Yes, but when you consider that there's very little loss of business due to copyright infringement and that sales generally improve despite copyright infringement, sympathy goes down.

eVolcre said:
Thanks for assuming things about me. Not that I need to explain myself but I'm an MBA student and interested in things that change the way we view our world. I'm also 30 years old and have a) no interest in downloading and b)enough money to buy **** legally.
Click to expand...

Proof that you're a liar ;-)
 
BlueRevolution

BlueRevolution

macrumors 603
Jul 26, 2004
6,054
2
Montreal, QC
tonyreedo said:
I've installed BitTorrent, downloaded some torrent files, added them....and nothing dowloads or goes VERY slow, too slow, like 2k max.
I have a highspeed connection that works- 2mb down, 330 upload.
My firewall is set to allow all connections.
I have tried Tomato- that also does nothing. Only searches for files.

Can someone tell me what's wrong?

Is is something you have to pay for? What the heck is going on and why is this just one more thing a mac can't do!? (I sound frustrated, huh)

.....like I can't believe Quicktime STILL can't open an avi file without some outside help!

...HELP.
Click to expand...

A torrent is only so fast as its swarm. Linux distros typically have some of the largest, fastest swarms out there, so try one of those. They should easily saturate your connection.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors#bt

"ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso.torrent" is probably the most popular link, so give that one a try. There's no need to finish the download, just grab a few megabytes and see how fast things go.

miles01110 said:
Yes, but when you consider that there's very little loss of business due to copyright infringement and that sales generally improve despite copyright infringement, sympathy goes down.



Proof that you're a liar ;-)
Click to expand...

You realize you're responding to a post made over 3 years ago, right?
 
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