Denver Colorado Blog

Popular Torrent Usages
by FrosT

Introduction
Recently I have been approached by a few people who have asked about torrents. The main question I get is the legality of a torrent and the ethical issues involved with downloading torrents and seeding, or uploading, torrents. Really the torrent community has a bad reputation, for merited reason. Most torrents are used to transport illegal and pirated material. But for the few people who do not use torrents in this way, the legality views can hinder their projects and plans.

Torrents Save Money
Torrents are an ideal solution for any small software company starting out. The reason being is that bandwidth is expensive. A torrent can easily save a small company starting out or even a larger company money by utilizing a system where peers help share the files.

The Torrent system is also ideal for Non-Profit organizations to help get their software or files out to their employees for little to no cost all the while having the volunteers be able to help out with their own computer bandwidth. The biggest organization to utilize the BitTorrents would be the Linux community, who offers free open-source operating systems for those who cannot afford Windows and or want more functionality from their computers.

The Ethical Views
Torrents are noted for their bad reputation and for a lot of people this will shy them away from ever downloading a torrent. For the few companies that choose to use Torrents this will effectively limit their customer base. Torrents, in it self are not unethical; however, how torrents have been abused by many software pirates is. If you are downloading a torrent to obtain a copy of software, the best way to make sure what you are downloading is not illegal, is first check the companies website (if it is hosted on a 3rd party website). See if the software you are downloading requires to be purchased. If it does you have a couple options, one you can help out the business by informing them of the torrent. Two you can download the software from that torrent, but be sure to buy a genuine license key. Three do your own research; talk with the company etc. doing this will save you from having any type of lawsuits for downloading illegal software.

Just remember that not all torrents are bad or good. Always virus scan what you downloading and make sure the software you are downloading is legal, if not go straight to the company.

Ending Notes
In the end Torrents are not all illegal, although there is a vast community out there that do use torrents illegally, torrents can be considered a viable solution to expensive bandwidth; thus allowing companies, non-profit or profit making, pass along their savings to their customers all the while making access to their files easier. Remember a lot of time and effort go into making movies, games, and software. Give credit where credit is due.

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