What Are Torrents And How Do They Work?

Torrents are a tool to share data freely online, but also nothing less than a symbol of piracy and violations of copyright laws. The term “torrent” is widely used to describe the act of downloading and uploading a file (usually a movie, song, or book) using a peer-to-peer network.

But how does it work more specifically? Are torrents safe? Can you get in legal trouble? Let us answer all of these questions in our torrent article.

What is a torrent?

A torrent, also known as a “torrent file”, is a small file that contains a trace of where the real file that you want to download is located on a wide network of different computers. It may sound complicated, but it is actually much simpler than you think.

Basically, a torrent is a small file that is used in what is called a torrent client to allow others to “tell” “Hey, I’m trying to download and upload this specific piece of content from and to you”.

The torrent file can be used to share multimedia files, such as movies, music, books, etc. with others, using something called a peer-to-peer or “P2P” network.

What is a torrent client?

A torrent client is a program that uses a torrent file to see who else has the file you want to download. The client obtains data from all those computers, and little by little it adds small packages from the file that you are downloading to your computer. The torrent client also uploads small packages from that file to those other computers. This is what makes up a P2P network.

Basically, the torrent client is a piece of software that connects people who download and upload a certain file to each other, using the file to determine which file should be shared.

What is the best torrent client?

It depends a lot on what you need. If you want a simple interface, BitTorrent is a good choice. If you don’t want ads and a respectable variety of features, qBittorrent may be better.
But in general, we recommend using uTorrent. It’s fast, reliable, easy to get around, and has enough advanced features to keep everyone happy. This is a quick rundown of the three most popular torrent clients:

TORRENT CLIENT DESCRIPTION
Bittorrent BitTorrent is the original client, with a lot of time in the market and reliable features for its users. There is nothing flashy, just a respectable option to be your torrent client.
uTorrent uTorrent is based on the BitTorrent infrastructure but takes it a little further. For newbies, its design is a bit better, making it easy to get around the tool and download torrents quickly. Also, it has many useful features like a built-in search bar to search for trackers.If you know a thing or two about networking and the Internet, you’ll like uTorrent even more. It has advanced options, such as manually setting the bandwidth to use for a file you are downloading or forcing the start of a torrent download if an error occurs.
qBittorrent qBittorrent is not the simplest torrent client, but not too complex either. It is compatible with all operating systems and does not have a monetization scheme, since it is developed by a non-profit company. In addition, it has interesting features, including a media player, a torrent search engine, and many more, so it is a good choice if you do not need the advanced features of BitTorrent or uTorrent.

What is a peer-to-peer network?

A peer-to-peer or P2P network is a way for computers or servers to share the workload by completing a specific task, or in this case a download. It is different from the normal client-server model where a user simply downloads a file from a server. As for torrent, using P2P, each computer connects to another to download (leech) and upload (seed) a specific file.

With the “normal” way of downloading, using the client-server model, the files are downloaded from the server, like this:

What is a peer-to-peer network

This is how downloads usually work.

However, on a P2P network, chunks of the file are constantly being shared with others on the P2P network, until the file is completely downloaded, like this:

sharing-files-through-torrenting

In this sense, those who share the file are acting as small servers to download a file, with the help of the torrent client.

What are the Seeders and the Leechers?

Seeders and leechers are words used by different parts of the P2P network. When downloading, the client is called a leecher, because it “sucks” the file of others. When uploading, the client is called a seeder, because it provides seeds for others to download.

Typically, you are both a seeder and a leecher when using a torrent client, since you are simultaneously downloading and uploading parts of a particular file. When you complete the download of a file, it turns you into a seeder, since you are no longer downloading the file, you are only uploading part of it through the P2P network.

How do torrents work?

Torrents work using the P2P system that we have described. First, you start by downloading a torrent file or “tracker”.

A torrent client uses that little tracker to see who else has the file you want to download, for example, a movie, and gets data from all those computers, slowly adding small packages from the file you are downloading to your computer.

While you are downloading various packages from the archive, you are also uploading packages that you have already downloaded to other people like you, making your computer a small server as well. In this sense, those who share the file (also called “seeders”) are acting as small servers to download the file, with the help of the client.

Also Read: Most Popular Torrent Sites

This download process continues until you have completely downloaded the file or stop sharing the file with the torrent client. To stop uploading a file, you usually have to manually stop hosting (sharing) the torrent.

Where do you get torrents?

In order to torrent, you must first have a torrent file. There are several websites that host these files and they are known as torrent websites. A well-known example of this type of website is The Pirate Bay.

But be careful, many torrent sites contain copyrighted content. It is usually illegal to download and share this content, so always make sure to stay away from these types of files. Some torrent sites, including The Pirate Bay and KickAss Torrents, have been shut down by law enforcement to stop the illegal sharing of copyrighted content. Even being the act itself of downloading torrents perfectly legal and that not all the files on those websites are copyrighted.

If you’re looking for a place to get torrents from, take a look at our article on the best torrent sites.

Are torrents legal?

Yes, the act of torrenting is legal. This means that being part of a P2P network and downloading and uploading packages from a specific file is legal. However, downloading copyrighted content is illegal in most countries.

Downloading copyrighted content is considered a copyright violation. This is better known as piracy, with people engaging in copyright infringement sometimes called pirates.

However, whether or not you are punished depends a lot on where you live. In most countries, especially Eastern Europe or Latin America, torrenting is illegal, but torrent laws have hardly been enforced. Therefore it is common practice in those regions to torrent without any security measures.

In the event that you are tracked down and caught, you can face a hefty fine. However, only a small number of people who download copyrighted content have been fined or sued. This does not change the fact that if you are caught downloading illegal files like in Germany, it is quite likely that you will get a hefty fine in your mail.

What are the risks of using torrents?

There are a couple of risks to keep in mind when considering torrenting. The most common problem you can have with a torrent is downloading a virus with (or instead of) the file you really want. It was much more common in the early 2010s, but it can continue to be a problem if you’re not careful. These are the biggest risks you can run into when downloading torrents:

  • You can download a file that contains copyrighted content. This is considered illegal in most countries, and you can get into serious legal trouble when you download copyrighted content.
  • You could download a virus instead of, or in conjunction with, the file you are trying to download.
  • Hackers can target torrent downloaders in many ways. However, this is no longer as common as it used to be.

Read on to learn more about these risks.

Risk 1: Accidentally downloading copyrighted content

Using torrent clients to download copyrighted content, such as movies, songs, books, or video games, is illegal. You’re getting copyrighted content without paying, so it’s outlawed. Even if you are somewhere where copyright laws are not enforced when torrenting, it goes without saying what will happen in the future.

It must be said that the act of torrenting itself is not illegal, and it is the reason why torrents still exist after so many years. When you reduce it, torrenting is simply for file sharing, so the entire infrastructure (clients, trackers, and even some private websites) is not inherently illegal.

Risk 2: Download a virus

One of the biggest risks when torrenting is bringing a virus. Since torrent downloading and sharing is in a gray area, files are not regulated by companies. This means that you are quite likely to download malware instead of, or with, a torrent.

Therefore, it is always important to use a proper antivirus program when doing anything online. Software like Kaspersky can protect your device from all kinds of unwanted malware, such as spyware and ransomware.

Risk 3: Hackers causing trouble

Torrenting gets a bit of a bad rap around the world, so it’s normal for people to start associating the act of torrenting with everything bad about the internet, including hackers.

While you put yourself at risk by mindlessly torrenting, we’ve searched forums and news sites to find hackers profiting from torrents, and we actually found nothing.

To have a little perspective: virtually any software, especially programs that connect to the Internet, can have flaws that expose your computer.

Hackers are much more successful with phishing campaigns, which is when they pretend to be someone else, sending fraudulent emails or blatantly copying a website and snooping on personal information.

So hackers won’t necessarily be your biggest concern when torrenting. But viruses, malware, adware, and legal trouble are a possibility, and they can even be used by hackers.

How to stay safe when downloading torrents

There are a few steps you can take to ensure your safety when torrenting. Remember that downloading copyrighted content is often illegal and you shouldn’t do it. However, there are a lot of perfectly legal torrents out there, and we want to make sure you know what people are doing to stay safe when trying to download and share these files.

In order to be safe when torrenting, the following is usually done:

  • Only use torrent websites that are considered safe and do not contain a lot of ads or malware.
  • Use appropriate antivirus software such as Kaspersky to protect yourself from any malware that you may encounter while downloading a torrent file.
  • Do not download copyrighted content so as not to break the law and prevent us from being sued or fined.
  • Use a VPN to protect identity when using torrent websites and P2P networks. A popular VPN among torrent users is ExpressVPN *:

*: We do not approve the use of a VPN to download illegal torrents, use it only when downloading legal files. Staying safe while browsing the internet is one of the most important things you can do, which is why we advise using a VPN no matter what you do online.

In summary

Torrenting is a way to share content on the Internet using a torrent client to become part of a P2P network. Torrents work by using a file tracker to find other people sharing and downloading a specific piece of a file. Instead of downloading the file from a specific server, torrent users share chunks of that file with others until the file is “complete.”

Downloading torrents is perfectly legal in most countries. However, if content that is protected by copyright is downloaded, then torrenting such files is often illegal.

Final Words

We do not condone the use of copyrighted links, lists, and files of this type. The content of this article serves to inform the user accurately how the aforementioned portals work. We will never support piracy, we respect copyright and we will always recommend using legal content. In the event that you use these websites, the responsibility falls on you, with future consequences that may occur to you.

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