BitTorrent

/ ˈbɪtˌtɒrənt /

noun

1. a file transfer protocol which enables users to upload and download large files on the internet in the form of software, games, film, video, music, etc, from other users rather than from a central server

Word History and Origins

Origin of BitTorrent¹

C21: from bit ³ (sense 1) + torrent , the name used in this system for a file that allows the data to be downloaded

Example Sentences

The indictment alleged that Pilar used BitTorrent, a digital file-sharing protocol, to knowingly receive 400-plus videos and images of child sex abuse material in February and April 2020.

From Los Angeles Times

In 2007, Comcast was caught degrading traffic from the file-sharing service BitTorrent, which held contracts to distribute licensed content from Hollywood studios and other sources in direct competition with Comcast’s pay-TV business.

From Los Angeles Times

Since September 2017, Strike 3 has filed more than 12,440 lawsuits in federal courts alleging that defendants infringed its copyrights by downloading its movies via BitTorrent, an online service on which unauthorized content can be accessed by almost anyone with a computer and internet connection.

From Los Angeles Times

Similar cases have been clogging federal dockets for years; between 2014 and 2016, according to a 2018 survey by Matthew Sag of Emory University law school, more than half of all copyright infringement cases were filed by a small number of obscure plaintiffs against individual defendants accused of downloading from BitTorrent.

From Los Angeles Times

Strike 3, like other similar plaintiffs, starts by identifying the defendant only by his or her IP address, a designation typically assigned to users’ computers by their internet service provider, ostensibly used to download content from BitTorrent.

From Los Angeles Times