2024-01-08 13:46:55
A tracker used when exchanging millions of files via the BitTorrent protocol blocks many. There is a very specific reason for this, and the creator of the tracker intends to respect it.
Credits: 123RF
By an erroneous but easy shortcut, torrents are associated with piracy. However, it is originally a simple computer file exchange protocol appointed BitTorrent. Each day, millions of people use it to send and receive documents or others. The procedure is facilitated by programs called trackers. In order to understand what they are used for, you need to know that the files exchanged are “hashed”, that is to say they are identified not by their name, but a sequence of numbers and lettersthe hash.
When you search for something via torrent, the tracker will respond to you in displaying the people who offer the file corresponding to the requested hash. A kind of identity check that ensures you download what you wanted. Of course, this works in legitimate exchanges, but also when someone is looking for a copyrighted film For example. If we consider that the hash is a kind of alternative file name, we can identify those that link to content that should not circulate for free. This is where the tracker has a role to play.
This open source torrent tracker blocks access to many files
Among the most used torrent trackers in the world are OpenTrackr. Created in 2015 by a single person, Isa, it can today manage up to 500,000 connections per second. It represents several TB of data each day. In the pile, there are inevitably some that the rights holders want to see disappear. They therefore emit DMCA requests directly to Isa by listing the hashes according to them in violation of their copyright. The aim being to block so that files are no longer accessible. Their number varies greatly: 0 in 2021 and 2022, almost 3000 in 2023.
Read also – Torrent: there will no longer be a warning before the sanction for illegal sharing in this country
OpenTrackr does not hide these blockages and publishes the incriminated hashes, which in itself does not provide information on the associated content. The creator of OpenTrackr always raises eyebrows: “blocking a few thousand hashes among the millions of active hashes is a small price to pay, the harm that this would cause to so many services that depend on our tracker far outweighs the benefits of ‘ignore the requests we receive’. Indeed, there is no point in risking prison sentences and astronomical fines for what remains above all a hobby.
Source : TorrentFreak
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