The Lowdown on Torrents

Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, Prison Break, Kyle XY - these are just some of the more famous television series’ which you can now find online…for free. Forget about buying pirated DVD’s in the corners of Manila; the Internet has once more given birth to another technological wonder that is the torrent.

Say what?

Torrents are files that you download from the Internet. You go to torrent sites like www.mininova.org and www.torrentspy.com, where users from all over the globe upload season after season of their favorite television series’ and movies. Of course, torrents are not limited to movies and television series’ alone; pictures, ebooks and other software can also be uploaded, and downloaded, at will.

How does it work?

The usual norm is that users would record live television broadcast of the series, upload it to their computer, then upload it to the torrent site. This person now acts as a server, and in the process becomes what is known as a seed. Anyone who downloads this torrent becomes a leech, and once a leech has finished downloading the torrent, he in turn becomes a seed. This kind of file-sharing setup thus makes it hard for internet-crime police, or other companies who police online networks, to determine who is responsible for the uploaded torrent. Even much harder is taking it down; as long as a seed is online, the torrent stays up. Another related concept = the more seeds, the less leeches, the faster the download. If the situation is reversed, download speeds are slower.

Bear in mind that to have an optimal torrent-downloading experience, you should have two things: a fast internet connection, and a torrent client. The torrent client is the program that will allow you to download these torrent files. Three of the most popular are BitTorrent, Azureus, and uTorrent. Each one is free for download online.

Worth the try

If you have the internet speed, as well as the desire to download your favorite television series’ and movies for free (without having to risk going to the shadier places of Manila and buying pirated DVD’s that may not even work), then by all means give torrent downloading a try. Oh, and if you’re wondering if it’s legal, that’s a pretty gray area. Usually, if you only intend to use your torrents for personal use, it’s okay. If you plan to burn it into DVD’s and sell them, well that’s illegal of course. In the end, it’s always wise to check with the laws of your country, just to make sure. So what are you waiting for? Start downloading those torrents now!