BitTorrent Accounts for 35% Of All Internet Traffic?

KingFish

A file-sharing program called BitTorrent has become a behemoth, devouring more than a third of the Internet's bandwidth, and Hollywood's copyright cops are taking notice.

For those who know where to look, there's a wealth of content, both legal -- such as hip-hop from the Beastie Boys and video game promos -- and illicit, including a wide range of TV shows, computer games and movies. Average users are taking advantage of the software's ability to cheaply spread files around the Internet. For example, when comedian Jon Stewart made an incendiary appearance on CNN's political talk show "Crossfire," thousands used BitTorrent to share the much-discussed video segment. Even as lawsuits from music companies have driven people away from peer-to-peer programs like KaZaa, BitTorrent has thus far avoided the ire of groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America. But as BitTorrent's popularity grows, the service could become a target for copyright lawsuits. According to British Web analysis firm CacheLogic, BitTorrent accounts for an astounding 35 percent of all the traffic on the Internet -- more than all other peer-to-peer programs combined -- and dwarfs mainstream traffic like Web pages.

wow -KF

Source: Yahoo

entropy

...BitTorrent has thus far avoided the ire of groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America.

HA! I have a friend who got a letter from his ISP saying the MPAA had traced him for downloading a movie (it was Paycheck, so you know ). They nailed him on BitTorrent, which freely gives our your IP (kinda dumb), so that's not true, lol

Thrax

And porn is 50% of the internet according to a statistic I read last month.

mmonnin

It takes more bandwidth at our apartment than that. I found it going at 70+ up today when I got back which is well over our 512 up.:)

Garg

entropy wrote:

HA! I have a friend who got a letter from his ISP saying the MPAA had traced him for downloading a movie (it was Paycheck, so you know ). They nailed him on BitTorrent, which freely gives our your IP (kinda dumb), so that's not true, lol

So, what happened to your friend?

EMT

"BitTorrent" doesn't freely give your IP... there are different clients and some choose to tell you the IPs, but the program must know these IPs in order to communicate with them. Besides which: they IPs are useful on sites where they ban you for a bad share ratio.

Now the MPAA's problem is this: "the service could become a target for copyright lawsuits" means very little. BitTorrent is literally a protocol and you can't sue a protocol. You can sue the distributors of torrents and those who participate in them and the makers of each individual client, but there is absolutely nothing central - no network whatsoever - to take down. It will be interesting to see what these anti-piracy groups try to do about BitTorrent since there really is no quick fix.

Thrax

That's precisely what I was thinking. The mere fact that BitTorrent is so massively decentralized pretty much forces the RIAA to play one-sided Russian roulette with an automatic.

Crimguy

They can always try to sue the creator, but that probably won't get them anywhere, especiallyi since there are offshoots of it and it's essentially gpl'd (MIT License is very similar). Also, as BT only dl's and ul's one file per instance, the damage model the RIAA has been using no longer applies. They only seem to be capable of suing people who are sharing massive libraries of mp3's. The plaintiff would essentially have to argue that every person who is sharing a given file is joint and severally liable for the damages for sharing with each other, thereby bringing the dollar figure up. Doesn't wash in my analysis. It could cost the RIAA thousands of dollars to collect $20.

gibbonsl

Thrax wrote:

That's precisely what I was thinking. The mere fact that BitTorrent is so massively decentralized pretty much forces the RIAA to play one-sided Russian roulette with an automatic.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO

i could not stop laughing at this one

Armo

Thrax wrote:

And porn is 50% of the internet according to a statistic I read last month.

ok lets see 50% porn, 35% torrents, probly 13% games 1% aol stock tickers, thats leaves 1% for everything school related, like doing projects and book reports, kids still have to do book reports right?

Ghaleon4

ok lets see 50% porn, 35% torrents, probly 13% games 1% aol stock tickers, thats leaves 1% for everything school related, like doing projects and book reports, kids still have to do book reports right?

Shyeah...and didn't Al Gore invent the internet primarily for educations purposes in the first place? lol

entropy

Gargoyle wrote:

So, what happened to your friend?

Not much... yet . He got a letter from his ISP (rather, his mom did, since he goes to a local college but stays at home) that told him what was up. They said that if you don't stop, at least turn off your uploads so they can't catch you. No lie, lol. They also included a copy of the letter from the MPAA. If you (or anyone) wants, I can see if he'll send me them (since I'm sure he kept them as bragging rights )

Shivian

They can take down the servers that host the trackers...

Thrax

Most of them have a dozen mirrors or more. Heh.

danball1976

The RIAA and MPAA would probably have to sue half of the people in the US, since probably that many people are using Bittorrent (like me), but I don't download movies, just anime fansubs, and then I buy the series when it gets licensed. I support the industry so that they can make more series in Japan, and the American licensors (ADV, Geneon, FUNimation, ect) can license more series.

ADV will send out letters to people who happen to be hosting links to downloads of ADV's series as well as the fansub groups that are fansubbing ADV series that are located in the US or wherever ADV happens to have a license requesting to take down the downloads as well as the links. Guess what... people listen, and they do what they are told.

Micks 109

danball1976 there no point buying the series when it gets licensed as the company who brings it to other countryes pays the bill.
Bittorrents are safe from being sued un less u can sue an idear

Micks 109

also it is really like a peer to peer program without a groub of severs to sue

Shivian

Thrax wrote:

Most of them have a dozen mirrors or more. Heh.

Still... without the pages pointing out the trackers, or the sites containing the trackers, bittorrent can't work, so there is a centralised portion to it. Just in this case, the centralised part is only responsible for a much smaller list of files (I use the term 'list' pretty freely here - can't think of a more appropriate term at the minute), as opposed to open slather file sharing like Napster or eMule.

It's a much smaller target than suing all the seeders in any case.

Micks 109

if they did sue every one who used Bittorrents, it will be in the record books

jimmybe

Notice Of Copyright Complaint - Pxxxxx, xxxxE - xxxx@telus.net - 207.81.51.12 - 00:30:84:0d:9f:cf

Notice Of Copyright Complaint - Pxxxxx, xxxxxE - xxxx@telus.net - xxx.xx.xx.xx - xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

We are writing to inform you that TELUS has received a complaint that alleges that your TELUS Internet Service account has been involved in copyright infringement. This complaint was traced back to your account based on the IP address used at the time of this activity.

Please note that TELUS has not provided any of your personal account information to the complainant. It is TELUS' policy to disclose such information to a complainant only if ordered to do so by a court of law, which has not happened to date.

We do, however, want you to be aware that this complaint was received by us and offer you the following information that may be of help to you:
If you are unaware of this type of activity originating from your account, you may wish to inquire with others who have access to your account.

If you are using a dial-up account, change the account password to ensure that only authorized users have access to it.

You may also want to check your system for viruses, which may explain why this sort of activity is originating from your account.

If you are not aware of our Acceptable Use Policy, which strictly prohibits use of our Service to infringe the copyrights of others, you may review at http://www.mytelus.com/internet/nv/aup.do. Please be aware that violation of this policy could result in disconnection of your Service.

Below is an excerpt from the complaint that we received regarding your account. We include it in this notice in an effort to help you identify the activity that is in question.

Internet Abuse Team
National Services Support
TELUS Communications
AUP: http://www.mytelus.com/internet/nv/aup.do

* Please include the original email in any reply.


~~~

Excerpt from complaint:
---

Title: Wicker Park
Infringement Source: BitTorrent
Initial Infringement Timestamp: 17 Sep 2004 03:25:36 GMT
Recent Infringment Timestamp: 17 Sep 2004 06:17:41 GMT
Infringer Username:
Infringing Filename: Wicker Park kvcd - Hockney(A TUS Release)
Infringing Filesize: 826954341
Infringers IP Address: xxx.xx.xx.xx
Infringers DNS Name: d207-81-51-12.bchsia.telus.net
Infringing URL: xxx.xx.xx.xx:48629/Wicker Park kvcd - Hockney(A TUS Release)

Good thing canada is still a free contry

jimmybe

It scared me at first but Canada laws art the same as the US. after 9-11 the us government made new laws to stop tersest witch is good. And will they were passing them. they made more laws so us people lost more rights and didn’t even now about it. I hope Canada doesn’t get the same bill. Freedom is a privilege past on by are ancestors. So keep Canada free are veterans did.

letmesee

okay good one

GrayFox

jimmybe (Guest) wrote:

It scared me at first but Canada laws art the same as the US. after 9-11 the us government made new laws to stop tersest witch is good. And will they were passing them. they made more laws so us people lost more rights and didn’t even now about it. I hope Canada doesn’t get the same bill. Freedom is a privilege past on by are ancestors. So keep Canada free are veterans did.

dont worrie we wont have that stuped law :P

and btw i only use bt when getting the latest mandrake and debian distros