Online PiracyFrom WhatPort80Online Piracy is a web phenomena like no other, and has been so ever since the days of the good ol' floppy disc. The fact is, digital data is designed to be replicated and, despite all the attempts by the music industry, software developers and the film and television industry to prevent piracy, the sad truth is that you just can't keep a good pirate down. You don't even need to be a geek, nerd or basement dweller these days to be able to pirate your warez and, in fact, it's highly likely that your mom is better at piracy than you are. Methods of sharing files on the interwebs vary, but the two most common and popular methods of piracy are arguably BitTorrent and Peer-to-Peer / P2P file sharing.
BitTorrent BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used by internet denziens to download just about everything. It is probably the most common protocol for transferring the insanely large folders of data back and forth over the internet. It is estimated that over 35% of the internet’s traffic is found on the bittorrent protocol. Bittorent is such a good file transfer protocol, you will probably over use it to the point where your connection is bogged out and unuseable. HistoryBittorrent was created in 2001 by programmer Bram Cohen who kept this magic under wraps for two months. Finally, after realizing that he would need more people using the protocol so that he could share files faster, he uncorked this genie from it's bottle and the internet has not been the same since. How Bittorrent WorksThe initial owner of a file will make what is called a torrent. He then uses this torrent to seed his file to other bittorrent users around the world. Each person who downloads the initial seed also uploads the data at the same time, this leads to a very fast and efficient way to distribute your files to all of your friends. As each downloader completes the initial seed, they also begin seeding the files. This exponentially increases the downloading speed for the rest of the people who are looking for your file. The more seeds there are, the faster the files can be transferred. Bittorrent ClientsThere are approximately eleventy-billion Bittorrent clients available. Here is a brief list of popular clients:
Opponents of Bittorrent Anybody smart enough to get out of the http and ftp league will, with any luck, make Bittorrent his preferred way of attaining files. Luckily, it doesn't take much brain, and due to frequent copyright crackdowns Bittorrent is a drama generator like no other. If it gets shut down the world would witness a drama explosion of such epic magnitude and proportion that Chernobyl would look small in comparison. In most countries, it is highly illegal to distribute copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder. Because of the potential for people to try music albums or watch movies prior to purchasing them, copyright holders hate Bittorrent. Because of Bittorrent, users are now capable of sifting through the 99% legal jargon that copyright holders dish out on the unsuspecting public, and actually enjoy what they watch or listen to. Many opponents of the Bittorrent protocol like to use the argument that "You wouldn't download a car" as an example of why a person should not use a Bittorrent client to download illegal files. This argument is rather silly though, considering the fact that if you actually used the Bittorrent protocol to download a car, you could quite possibly end up dead or severely injured due to an automobile flying out of your router. Aaron... YOU ARE A PIRATE!!! Trackers Just what is a torrent tracker? A Bittorrent tracker is a main server which assists you in downloading all the music, applications, and movies you could ever imagine. A tracker will serve your IP to random people who want the same kind of files that you do. Be careful, Mike Sandy can get a hold of your IP. The owners of such Tracker servers feel it necessary to remind you that downloading copyright software, movies, and music, is an illegal offense, and that they do not actually have any of those files on the server. A private tracker is a tracker that only snobs can use. They are generally restricted by passwords and the users are carefully watched to ensure that they are breaking the law just as much as everybody else is by maintaining what is called a "ratio." If you use private trackers you're going to get it from ego-maniac moderators. Popular Bittorent SitesJust as there are several Bittorrent clients to download your movies, there are also several Bittorrent tracker sites from which to choose. Here is a brief (and we mean really brief) list of active tracker sites.
P2PP2P is an acronym for Origins    People the world over have enjoyed stealing from The Man. With the advent of the internets, pirates can now stick it to The Man without having to haul their gelatinous husks out of their parents' basement. DramaThe various business associations and groups mentioned earlier have been fighting piracy and losing for years. Not until Hilary Rosen got upset about Napster did piracy become a real issue. After Metallica's Lars Ulrich discovered the internets, he realized that poor people and kids were downloading his precious music. After much legal wrangling and nerd rage, Napster was shut down and the P2P networks rose from the ashes. Piracy TodayGrokster and others have fallen in the wake of continued assaults on piracy, but the internet always finds a better way to commit e-theft. BitTorrent is the de facto standard protocol of pirates everywhere now, and the old standbys IRC and Usenet soldier on as the most reliable source of mp3's, movies and warez. Some users don't even have cable TV service anymore, as they download all the TV shows and movies they watch. In early 2008 the Australian high court got pissed off at P2P websites for providing downloads for the banhammered TV show Underbelly. After much whining and threats of lolsuits they eventually realized there was nothing they could do, something that displeased Australia's most violent gangs. P2P=Communism
Other UseP2P also stands for pay-to-play, usually when involving MMORPGs. For example, EverQuest is considered P2P while Maple Story is not, but who cares? Popular P2P networks
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