Bit torrent’s were developed as a P2P protocol which allowed fast sharing of information on the internet. The owner of the company Bram Cohen released the first version in 2001 as a way for researchers and others in the IT community to share information over the internet fast and hassle free. The initial design had a server or <"tracker" who holds information of who has which files among the several hundred if not thousands of users out on the internet. Those who conducted searches checks in with the tracker to see who has which and re-directs those who search for a particular file and then commences downloading the contents. The advantage is that if there were several users logged on with the same file (say a program) the one’s that are most likely to succeed are elected to be the primary source of the parts of the file and if that user happens to log-out out of the net, others with the same files can become alternates sources continuing the download without interruptions.
Anti-Piracy advocates have been after the technology which has taken on the role left by the many file sharing sites that have since been shut down due to the fact that the information being shared (well mostly all of them) are subject to copyright. The files or information themselves stay within the individual user’s computer with them only being made available if chosen to or if registered as a viable source on the tracker.
The newest version of the Bit torrent system as of 2007 eliminates the need for a tracker system instead making each and every computer a server on its own getting set up in so short a time to get starting downloads. The technology is mainly aimed at those who are connected at least to broadband services with those on dial-up being denied access to save on bandwidth consumes by the said slow-connection computers.
A company owned by the developer of Bit Torrent known as Bit Torrent Inc. who develops and distributes the system for more real-world applications such as RSS feeds, Content Updating and many other should we say useful applications continues to develop the technology for more commercial applications.