many clients are available. being a cmd-line unix hardliner, I like rtorrent... ymmv.
a "torrent" is a unit of data which one can acquire via the bittorrent protocol, usually a large single file or a tarball containing lots of files.
the basic idea is to make it possible to download very large files without bringing any individual server to its knees with overload, by distributing the provision of the data among peers in a very anarcho-syndicalist kind of way. I approve heartily of the BT architecture :-) it includes positive feedback for sharing, i.e. you get better bandwidth if you share more with others. The difference between theory and practise in practise ...
And considering the liberal suing policies of the media and film industries associations of america (including suing people who has no computer or are dead) I do not know if the risk increases significantly compared to not filesharing.
If one wishes to remove the increase in risk there are commercial anonymisations services such as relakks (5 euros/month or 50 euros/year).
Relakks - Surf the web anonymously and secure
Relakks offers you not only to surf anonymously, but also to use clients and applications anonymously on the internet.
Essentially, they change your IP. Your traffic goes through their computers (a VPN tunnel) and for the outside world it looks like your computer is stationed in Sweden and as the services don't save any of your information any legal summonses are returned with a standard reply. This is perfectly legal in Sweden. Your bandwidth stays the same. It can be tricky to get it to work (though as all things computer related, it might also work perfectly at first try), so I recommend anyone testing it just paying for one month to begin with. If you cannot get it to work you loose no more then 5 euros.
If the EU data retention directive is implemented these services will have to shut down or move outside EU, as that directive demands that parts of all computer traffic shall be stored for later access for police. The EU data retention directive is a big part of the Stasi 2.0 society.
STEAL THIS FILM "If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." Sun Tzu
http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html
Beginners guide
This guide will show you how to get started with bittorrent. There are many different clients for bittorrent, this guide will deal with Azureus and Bittornado.
This guide will show you how to get started with bittorrent.
There are many different clients for bittorrent, this guide will deal with Azureus and Bittornado.
For windows, I prefer µTorrent, and on Mac and Unix-based systems Azureus (have not tried rtorrent).
