BitTorrent is an open source peer-to-peer protocol for downloading files without overloading servers. Users download and upload parts of the file to each other, lightening the burden on servers. BitTorrent differs from other P2P programs and has been targeted for copyright infringement. Some BitTorrent programs contain spyware.
BitTorrent is an open source peer-to-peer protocol for downloading files over the Internet. Open source means that the code is available for anyone to modify and redistribute at will. As a result there are several free BitTorrent programs available to the public, each with different features. The original source code was written by Bram Cohen.
The idea behind BitTorrent is to allow massive distribution of popular files without penalizing the source by increasing bandwidth costs and possible crashes due to demand exceeding server capacity. This way, anyone who creates a popular program, music file, or other product can make it publicly available regardless of resources, even if the file becomes very popular.
To understand how BitTorrent works, first consider how normal downloading works. Personal computers connected to the Internet are called clients while the websites visited reside on Internet servers. Servers “feed information” to clients. If you browse to a site and click on a link to download a program, you create a one-to-one connection to that server which uses as much bandwidth as it needs to serve you the file. When you’ve received the entire file, the connection is released so the server can use that stream of bandwidth to handle other connections.
The problem arises when an unusually large number of customers visit a site at the same time. This can cause the server to run out of available bandwidth and “crash”. When this happens, clients are refused a connection. “The site is down.”
To avoid this, BitTorrent creates a different network scheme. It uses the other clients that are downloading the file to effectively act as servers for each other, simultaneously uploading parts of the file received to others requesting the file. Then, when you click on a file to download, several connections will be made to receive “sections” of the file which combine to create the entire file. Meanwhile, as you download these “slices” you’re also uploading them to anyone else who needs the parts you’re getting. Once the entire file is received, it is considered polite to keep the client logged in to act as a seed. A seed refers to a source that has the entire file available.
In this way BitTorrent lightens the burden of servers but above all makes it possible for anyone to spread a file quickly and easily without requiring expensive servers or a distribution infrastructure. If the request is there, the file will spread.
BitTorrent differs from other peer-to-peer (P2P) programs like Kazaa or Morpheus in that you don’t make a file library available for sharing. Only share the file that you are actively receiving (or have just finished receiving).
Aside from the many legitimate uses of BitTorrent, some sites hosting BitTorrent downloads were targeted by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in December 2004 for distributing digitized movies in violation of copyright. An intellectual property monitoring system called FirstSource, by BayTSP, reportedly identifies initial clients for uploading copyrighted content to BitTorrent and other P2P networks. In turn, all subsequent clients that download or share that file can be traced via the IP address.
Some types of BitTorrent contain spyware, while others simply have advanced features. For the original Bram Cohen BitTorrent, more information and a FAQ, you can visit his site.
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