BitTorrent Based DNS To Counter US Domain Seizures
The domain seizures by the United States authorities in recent days and upcoming legislation that could make similar takeovers even easier in the future, have inspired a group of enthusiasts to come up with a new, decentralized and BitTorrent-powered DNS system. This system will exchange DNS information through peer-to-peer transfers and will work with a new .p2p domain extension. In a direct response to the domain seizures by US authorities during the last few days, a group of established enthusiasts have started working on a DNS system that can’t be touched by any governmental institution. Ironically, considering the seizure of the Torrent-Finder meta-search engine domain, the new DNS system will be partly powered by BitTorrent. In recent months, global anti-piracy efforts have increasingly focused on seizing domains of allegedly infringing sites. The Dot-P2P project was literally started a few days ago, but already the developers are making great progress.
Truly Decentralized BitTorrent Downloading Has Finally Arrived
BitTorrent is branded as a peer-to-peer technology, but despite this label the downloading process still relies heavily on central servers. In the first place there are the BitTorrent search engines and indexes such as The Pirate Bay and isoHunt. These are needed to search for content and to grab the .torrent file one needs to download a file. Besides these torrent sites, most BitTorrent downloads are still managed by so-called trackers. Finally central servers are used by moderators to help hunt spam and malware. In the last years these ‘central server’ vulnerabilities have caused a number of minor inconveniences for torrent users. To address these issues, ideally BitTorrent downloads should no longer require a central server. The latest version of the Tribler BitTorrent client (Win, Mac and Linux), released only a few minutes ago, is capable of all the above and many more things that could be described as quite revolutionary. Triber: search, download and play (large). Tribler Channels
OneSwarm: The Privacy Aware BitTorrent Client
Developed at the University of Washington, OneSwarm is a BitTorrent client that allows users to share files "anonymously" or with a specific group of friends. These features give users more control over their privacy, while maintaining a decent download speed. The client operates from within an Internet browser and is available for Mac, Windows and Linux. Those who’ve been reading TorrentFreak for long enough may remember how the MPAA and RIAA accused a printer at the University of Washington of copyright infringement a few years ago. With their research, the researchers pointed out that gathering evidence on BitTorrent downloaders is full of pitfalls. Perhaps not coincidentally the same research group is also behind the “privacy preserving” BitTorrent client OneSwarm, currently developed by Tomas Isdal and Michael Piatek, two PhD students at the University of Washington. Unlike other regular BitTorrent clients, OneSwarm allows users to share files only with a selected group of friends.
Researchers Improve BitTorrent Download Speeds
Researchers from the Tribler project at Delft University of Technology are proposing a new set of rules that should significantly improve the download speeds of many BitTorrent users. The new "Superior Seeding Standard" implemented in the latest release of the Tribler BitTorrent client is inspired by the ratio-enforcement policies at private tracker communities, but doesn't discriminate against people with low bandwidth connections. Some scientists devote their lives to finding a cure for terminal illnesses, others hope to discover new planets in galaxies far away, but there’s also a group of scientists mostly concerned with improving BitTorrent. The Tribler team at Delft University of Technology are such a group, and they have found a way to improve download speeds for BitTorrent users who are committed to sharing. Tribler’s BitTorrent client has been in development for more than 5 years and continues to deliver experimental improvements and innovative ideas. The Paper
BitTorrent Pirates Go Nuts After TV Release Groups Dump Xvid
Some Internet piracy groups decided to implement some new regulations and standards last week. Instead of releasing TV shows in the Xvid/avi format, groups responsible for putting major TV shows online switched to MP4/x264. Outraged by the lack of democracy, some BitTorrent users are directing their anger at bewildered torrent sites and even threatening to boycott releases. Every now and again, the world’s most famous piracy release groups get together and have a big old meeting to decide how they’ll carry out their future activities. Ok, so the last sentence isn’t true, but nevertheless that appears to be the current assessment of events according to some BitTorrent users. The problem stems back to a new document which details a set of standards TV show release groups such as LOL and MOMENTUM will have to live up to in order to comply with so-called ‘Scene rules’. “x264 has become the most advanced video codec over the past few years. “LOL, why are all your new uploads MP4 format?
New Data Exposes BitTorrent Throttling ISPs
New data published by the Google-backed Measurement Lab gives a unique insight into the BitTorrent throttling practices of ISPs all over the world. In the U.S. and Australia most large ISPs limit less than 10 percent of BitTorrent transfers. In the UK and Canada on the other hand, some providers interfere with up to three-quarters of all BitTorrent traffic. New data collected by Measurement Lab (M-Lab) shows how frequently Internet providers limit torrent traffic. Previously the researchers published data up until 2010, and now the results have been updated to include the first quarter of 2012. United States BitTorrent throttling in the US is not as prevalent as it used to be. As a result of this ruling, the throttling percentage took a dive from nearly 50 percent to only 3 percent in 2010. Throttling was also greatly reduced at Charter over the last year, from 11 percent down to 4 percent. Worst: Cox (6%) Best: Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and others (3%) Worst: BT (65%) Best: O2 (2%) Canada
Certified BitTorrent Box Brings uTorrent to Your TV
The first ever certified BitTorrent Android box goes on sale today, allowing users to stream files downloaded with uTorrent wirelessly to their television. The new set-top box supports playback of all popular video formats and can also download torrents by itself, fully anonymously if needed. With a quarter billion active users a month BitTorrent is without a doubt the most used file-sharing platform. The vast majority of these BitTorrent users download video files, but despite these staggering statistics it can still be quite cumbersome to play downloaded files on the old-fashioned TV. The first ever certified Android-powered BitTorrent box aims to change this. After the initial December launch was delayed, the BBK BitTorrent box officially goes up for sale today. While we have seen devices that support BitTorrent downloads before, this is the first one that can can also stream content downloaded through uTorrent and BitTorrent clients on the local network.
