Octopus Overlords

Hi guys,

I managed to find my way here at last! Had to battle a registration problem (Thanks MHS!) but seeing as how none of you remember me I guess it doesn't matter

Anyhow, I was just wondering on the moderator's/admin's views on Bit Torrents? I have recently got broadband and have been using it to download some Smallville episodes for my girlfriend as we are way behind here in the UK. Anybody else use Bit Torrents? I know there is alot of illegal material on them hence I am asking if it is okay to post about them here.

Pointer

Well from what I know any talk or linking of illegal torrents is not allowed. So discussion or linking to those Smallville episodes is a no-no. However torrents to demo's, trailers, etc is quite alright.

The Smallville torrents are illegal? I didn't know that. How are they illegal? Is it not the same as videotaping them off the television? This gives me a dilemna.

Pointer

I didn't know that. How are they illegal? Is it not the same as videotaping them off the television? This gives me a dilemna.

No, they aren't (the same as video taping). I can't properly discuss the legalities involed here, unfortunatley. I think it has to do with distributing them (and in theory, you're not supposed to video tape and give it away to friends either. Or something).

Our position on illegal torrents likely won't change. However, you may see a shift for some kinds of things. And the discussion of torrent itself is fine - one can use it for perfectly legitimate purposes, and have at discussing them.

Ok, thanks for the clarification Peacedog.

So back to my original question, does anyone here use Bit Torrents and if so for what purpose?

Pointer

I use them. Primarily for downloading music, but I'll occasionaly grab an app I want to try out and (a big one) Blizzard uses BT to distribute the client and patches for WoW. Granted, they usually make us use their crappy client, but now and then someone gets the torrent file for us to load into our regular clients when the Blizz variation is running extra crappy.

My client of choice is ABC.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pingpong-abc/

I use them, for both nefarious and not-so nefarious purposes.

Peacedog hit the nail on the head. A bittorrent would be the same as videotaping if you weren't sharing the torrent at the same time. You're allowed a copy for yourself, as long as you don't give it to anyone else. But seeing how the bittorrent network is built on you sharing as well, that kinda gets rid of that.

Added to that is that even if you didn't share the file you're downloading, it could still be illegal if it was a show that was only available on a channel you couldn't receive for free. For example, if you download a Sopranos episode, and you don't get HBO without paying for it, you'd be getting something for free that you should've paid for.

I use Azureus as a client, which seems to be the easiest-to-use client that allows both minimizing to the system tray AND multiple torrents within a single client, which are my demands for a client.

Napoleon wrote:I use Azureus as a client, which seems to be the easiest-to-use client that allows both minimizing to the system tray AND multiple torrents within a single client, which are my demands for a client.

With an enhanced monopolization of system resources.

Seriously, give ABC a shot. The only thing Azureus does that it doesn't, as far as I know, is give you the ability to only download certain files in a torrent and ignore others (good for when people include the entire discography of a band in one torrent and you only need one or two albums).

woo for being in Canada!

fancydirt wrote:With an enhanced monopolization of system resources.

Seriously, give ABC a shot. The only thing Azureus does that it doesn't, as far as I know, is give you the ability to only download certain files in a torrent and ignore others (good for when people include the entire discography of a band in one torrent and you only need one or two albums).

I think it's been quite a while since Azureus has been a memory hog. It's been running a steady 2MB whether open or treyed with zero CPU usage. The only thing I don't quite like is the fact that SafePeer takes a while to load but even then I'm not sure you can blame Azureus for that since it's a third party plug-in.

fancydirt wrote:

Napoleon wrote:I use Azureus as a client, which seems to be the easiest-to-use client that allows both minimizing to the system tray AND multiple torrents within a single client, which are my demands for a client.

With an enhanced monopolization of system resources.

Seriously, give ABC a shot. The only thing Azureus does that it doesn't, as far as I know, is give you the ability to only download certain files in a torrent and ignore others (good for when people include the entire discography of a band in one torrent and you only need one or two albums).

I never have been able to find that feature.

Right now my Azures is using 42mb, but only 0-2% cpu. I wonder if it is dependent on how many files you are seeding?

Might give ABC a shot.

Ale

I'm assuming you are talking about selecting only the files you want in a torrent. It's really dependant on who packed it. Sometimes it's individual files or a single rar file. With Azureus you just need to open up the torrent and click the files tab. Deselect the ones you don't want by right clicking and select Do Not Download.

Wow. I'd never tried ABC but I like it a lot. Azureus is gone baby!