Transmission 4.0 promises more efficient performance, support for BitTorrent v2 and hybrid torrents
Open-source BitTorrent client Transmission 4.0 has landed after over a year in development. Sporting over one thousands commits, the new release focuses on no fewer than four areas: resource efficiency, better community, code modernization and new features.
In terms of more efficient use of resources, Transmission 4.0’s code has been streamlined to fix poorly performing code and memory usage, with developers claiming 50 percent fewer CPU cycles and 70 percent fewer memory allocations are now used based on stress test benchmarking. In addition, payloads are smaller and bandwidth usage reduced.
While piracy remains rife, leaked movie screeners are all but dead
This time of year is significant for various reasons, not least of which is that it is the start of a new year for those who follow the Gregorian calendar. In the world of technology, we're moving towards CES, but December/January has also been the period during which movie piracy has tended to peak.
In previous years, because of screeners being sent out for viewing by critics and judges ahead of the Oscars in a few months, this is when there has traditionally been a glut of big-name movies leaking before their official released dates. This year, there have been none.
Torrent site YTS loses control of its domain
Torrent sites remain just as popular as ever, as people continue to seek ways to grab copies of the latest blockbuster movies to watch free of charge. While the Pirate Bay is probably the most famous torrent site out there, it is closely followed by YTS.
But anyone trying to visit yts.mx will find that the site is inaccessible after the domain was put on hold by its registrar. It is not entirely clear what is happening, but legal issues are thought -- unsurprisingly -- to be involved.
Happy 20th Birthday, BitTorrent!
It was 20 years ago today that BitTorrent helped the pirates play! Yes, folks, it was July 2, 2001 when the BitTorrent protocol was officially released to the world.
For the past two decades, this genius protocol has allowed people all over the world to more easily download pirated content, such as software (warez), music, and movies. It was a real game-changer. Heck, it is how many people recently downloaded the leaked version of Windows 11. In other words, yes, BitTorrent is still relevant in 2021.
Cross-platform torrent client Transmission 3.00 arrives after two years of development
BitTorrent clients are plentiful, but many leave a lot to be desired. While numerous clients have fallen by the wayside, there are some names that have stuck around. One such client is Transmission, and after a two year wait, we're finally being treated to a new version.
Transmission 3.00 is a significant release, and there are numerous new options and features in the latest version of the open source, cross-platform client. Improvements have been made to the client across all platform -- Windows, macOS, Linux and the web -- including the option of allowing the RPC server to listen on an IPv6 address.
Pirates rush to download Onward, The Invisible Man and The Hunt as coronavirus shuts cinemas
In addition to death, illness and panic, there have been plenty of other effects of the spread of coronavirus -- some expected, others not. With people self-isolating and seeking entertainment, streaming video services like Netflix and YouTube have seen an uptick in usage, despite a reduction in quality.
The COVID-19 pandemic means that many businesses are shut, including cinemas. To ensure that movie-lovers are still able to see the latest releases, some movie studios have decided to make newly released titles available for rental streaming much earlier than normal -- and this has in turn led to an increase in piracy, with major movie being available to all far earlier than normal. Titles such as The Hunt, Onward, The Invisible Man and Emma, as well as Pixar's Onward, are all available to download from torrent sites.
BitTorrent Inc announces BitTorrent Live, a social streaming platform that's not based on BitTorrent
BitTorrent Inc has announced plans to launch a new social media platform for live streaming. It will be called BitTorrent Live and -- at least initially -- it will be centralized rather than decentralized, meaning that it is not based on the BitTorrent protocol or other P2P technology.
The first beta version is expected to launch in the coming quarter, and it will compete with the likes of Facebook Live. BitTorrent Live will enable users to stream content to mobile devices, or broadcast live, and will include social media elements.
Torrent-Paradise launches a Pirate Bay alternative that takes decentralization to the next level
While the BitTorrent protocol is, by its very nature, decentralized, the same cannot be said of torrent search engines such as the Pirate Bay. Torrent-Paradise, however, is a little different.
A new version of the site uses the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to provide decentralized torrent searching. The idea behind how the system works is very similar to the way BitTorrent makes it possible to download files without the need for a central host.
BitTorrent embraces streaming torrents and takes uTorrent Web out of beta
Acknowledging that we are now very much in the streaming age, BitTorrent has launched the first version of µTorrent Web. The aim of the browser-based tool is to make torrenting as simple as possible and -- most importantly -- support torrent streaming.
It remains to be seen how many people are willing to switch from a dedicated app to a browser-based torrenting experience, but the promise that you can "play while you download, no more staring at progress bars" is certainly alluring.
Blockchain startup TRON acquires BitTorrent
BitTorrent Inc says that it has been acquired by TRON, a blockchain startup, to create "the world's largest decentralized ecosystem".
There have been rumors about the acquisition for a few weeks now, but the news has now been confirmed. TRON is thought to have paid $126 million in cash for company, and the two teams will merge and pool their talent resources.
Cloudflare ditches sites that use Coinhive mining code after classing it as malware
Bitcoin has been in the news for some time now as its value climbs and drops, but most recently interest turned to mining code embedded in websites. The Pirate Bay was one of the first sites to be seen using Coinhive code to secretly mine using visitors' CPU time, and then we saw similar activity from the SafeBrowse extension for Chrome.
The discovery of the code was a little distressing for visitors to the affected sites, and internet security and content delivery network (CDN) firm Cloudflare is taking action to clamp down on what it is describing as malware.
The Pirate Bay is secretly running a Bitcoin miner in the background, increasing your CPU usage
When it comes to the Pirate Bay, it's usually movie studios, music producers and software creators that get annoyed with the site -- you know, copyright and all that. But in an interesting twist it is now users who find themselves irked by -- and disappointed in -- the most famous torrent site in the world.
So what's happened? Out of the blue, the Pirate Bay has added a Javascript-powered Bitcoin miner to the site. Nestling in the code of the site is an embedded cryptocurrency miner from Coinhive. Users who have noticed an increase in resource usage on their computers as a result of this are not happy.
Could Kim Dotcom's Bitcache and K.im be the solution to piracy?
The man made famous by Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, thinks he may have come up with a solution to piracy. The solution pairs his new file-sharing site, K.im, with his micro-payment service Bitcache.
Working in a slightly different way to Megaupload, K.im is a decentralized cloud-based hosting system. Users can upload files and they will be distributed between various cloud services and also Bittorent. Coupled with Bitcache, a Bitcoin-based payment system, creators can charge for access to their content.
Hackers leak more HBO episodes -- but Game of Thrones is left in the cold this time
HBO continues to feel the fallout from the recent hack it suffered. We have seen leaks of episodes and scripts from Game of Thrones, and the network allegedly tried to offer the hackers a "bug bounty" to stop the leaks.
The offer did not work, and the leaks continue. Episode five of Game of Thrones season seven may have aired last night (meaning today will undoubtedly see a flurry of downloads from torrent sites), but the hit show has been let off the hook in the latest batch. This time, it is episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and other shows that have been leaked.
HBO calls in FBI over Game of Thrones hack as Indian distributor admits it is the source of S07E04 leak
Season seven of Game of Thrones has been something of a disaster for HBO. Not in terms of interest or viewing figures, of course, but in terms of hacking, leaks, spoilers and piracy.
Last night saw the official airing of episode four of season seven but this particular episode, The Spoils of War, leaked some days ago. Distribution partner Star India has admitted the leak came from its website, and HBO has called in the FBI to investigate the hack that lead to a number of episode and script leaks.
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