The second generation file sharing networks which include Kazaa, Morpheus and so on aimed to solve the issue of the first generation central server based networks by allowing almost anyone to become a supernode and thus making it immune to being shut down. One problem with 2nd generation P2P networks is that most users join it to download rather than share thus wasting a lot of unused uplink bandwidth and putting pressure on the user's uplink that do share. Also with the recent music industries actions, more and more users are aiming to avoid the battle by not sharing any files.
A young programmer named Bram Cohen developed software known as BitTorrent which aims to make better usage of the clients unused uplink bandwidth. BitTorrent does this by making the client's download speed depend on how fast the user allocates to uplink bandwidth. Another feature is that the software will start sharing files as they download thus allowing other clients to start uploading from what ever portion has currently downloaded. This means that a single shared file becomes immediately shared on what ever clients begin downloading it thus greatly reducing the load on the original source.
BitTorrent is freeware and open-source in which the author does not make profit from. He originally intended the software to allow consumers to share their work efficiently but not get involved in piracy as with the other P2P networks. BitTorrent took off in early 2003 and according toAbilene's internet back bone in January 26th 2004, 9.3% of the total traffic has been generated from BitTorrent. No other file sharing network even registered 1%. While BitTorrent appears to be the third generation of file sharing networks, it lacks security and encryption of other P2P networks thus users are not any more anonymous than on the 1st and 2nd P2P generations.
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"I decided I finally wanted to work on a project that people would actually use, would actually work and would actually be fun," he recalled. Three years later, Cohen, 28, has emerged as the face of the next wave of Internet file sharing. If Napster started the first generation of file sharing, and services like Kazaa represented the second, then the system developed by Cohen, known as BitTorrent, may well be leading the third. Firm numbers are difficult to come by, but it appears that the BitTorrent software has been downloaded more than 10 million times. And just as earlier forms of file-sharing seem to be waning in popularity under legal pressure from the music industry, new technologies like BitTorrent are making it easier than ever to share and distribute the huge files used for video. One site alone, Suprnova.org, routinely offers hundreds of television programs, recent movies and copyrighted software programs. The movie industry, among others, has taken notice. Read the full article on CNET here. |
I have heard about BitTorrent but never knew about it being any different to the current file sharing networks. While Kazaa is still the most downloaded P2P application at present, it looks like BitTorrent is definitely the leader when it comes to file sharing quantity. It is a pity that the author has not put any sort of encryption or proxy relaying in it to improve the user's privacy. We have already seen the movie industry setting up 'bait' on BitTorrent and going after anyone that grabs hold of it.
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Source: CNET News - The Net
