when i download a torrent file why do i get upload speed also?

[LIVETORIDE1]

the upload speed in the column is also there while i am downloading why is it so

 

[afroC]

When you use a torrent, you not only download it, you upload it so that others, like you, can download it since a torrent is more of a stream than a rapidshare like file. You can turn the upload limit down to 1kb if you right click it, however this makes it harder for others to download it.

 

[10"PP]

Torrents are files being shared with up to 30, or 40,000 people at a time. Some people have completed the download, and others have not. The ones who have completed the download are the people you are receiving it from. Some people are downloading like you, and need parts of the file that you have, so you give them yours, they give you theirs (if they have any), and ultimately the goal (in a perfect world) would be to have everyone seed all the time, so it would download super fast.

 

[NikoM]

Well, quite simply put, it's there to inform you how fast the download is taking.

Torrent veterans use these subtle mechanics to calculate how long it be until the download is complete, and ready to be extracted.
IF your actually BitTorrenting the file, it should also give you an ETA
(Estimated Time of Arrival)

 

[Censure455]

A torrent works by connecting a community of computers together and splitting the files into pieces allowing people to download parts from other computers in the torrent "seed" that have that part available. For example while you download a file lets say it gets split up into 50 parts, and you download 20 parts and someone else has the other 30 parts, you two can share your parts allowing you faster download speeds rather than downloading the complete file from a single connection. Since you are all sharing the data/files, you also have to upload data to the network of computers, you can see what IP addresses (computers) you are connected to under "Peers".