BitTorrent in lamens terms....?

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milesg

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do I have this right? picture as if describing to a 4th grader...

You download a client such a uTorrent. Go to a website like thepiratebay.org. Download the torrent file. The client takes the torrent and interprets it. The client then connects you to a swarm of people with the files you want. You then receive the files collectively from everyone seeding. When you download, you are a leecher. When you distribute, you are a seeder. More seeders = faster download times, and vise versa.

is that a fair torrents 101 description? did I miss anything really important?
 
Sounds about right. You might add in about the client connecting to a tracker to know where to find the swarm.

The protocol and program itself are not illegal. Only using it in some jurisdictions to download files without the copyright holder's permission.
 
Sort of.

The client reads the data in the torrent file. From then on it gets the information of where the clients with the available file is (IP Address) through a couple of ways.

The, the client starts receiving files from Seeds and Peers/other leechers. The speed at which you get the files depends on how much you upload. (Basically, if you share what you get, they share with you back. No sharing = No good download speeds). You'll want to give as much as you take, so it's fair.

After your done, you'll want to continue sharing until you share as much as you downloaded (Ratio of 1:1. Meaning, you uploaded what you downloaded, or the amount of information).

More seeders and peers do offer faster download times.

That's fairly it :)

BTW It's illegal to download illegal stuff. But, there are plenty of legal stuff :)
 
Sounds right to me. And re: the legality of it all, don't forget it all depend on where you live. In some countries, you can download copyrighted material, but you're not allowed to upload it.

So if you set your torrent client to 0 upload bandwidth, AND you don't download inherently illegal stuff (e.g., pornography with minors), then you're safe. Well, again, in some countries.
 
That is pretty much the description;
but like the (suspiciously titled)officer stated, the gift of torrenting has been mostly used for illegal actions... it is extremely rare to find a completely legal torrent download (in my case).
 
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