torrent

Hands on with BitTorrent Sync

Announced back in January and subsequently thrown into private alpha, BitTorrent Sync ( Windows, Mac, Linux) rolled out its first version, available to the general public today. Rather than using a central online repository for your synced files, BitTorrent Sync uses the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol to transfer files between your various devices, using your rules and custom settings.

The latest version, 1.0.116, adds a few new features like one-way and one-time syncing as well as the ability to exclude specific files or subdirectories from syncing.

After spending a few hours today syncing various files across different Windows and Mac … Read more

Forget online drives, sync directly with BitTorrent Sync

If you do not trust online storage drives for file syncing across your devices or are frustrated with storage limits, there is another player in town. BitTorrent has released a new alpha version of its Sync software, which supports syncing folders across the Internet without going through an intermediary like Dropbox, Cloud Drive, or iCloud.

The Sync software uses the standard BitTorrent decentralized file-sharing technology to establish a secure file-synchronizing routine between your various devices. It does so by use of local peer discovery, peer exchange, and static known hosts as well as DHT and classic BitTorrent trackers to establish … Read more

The Week on Download.com, April 10-16, 2013

Every week, we compile the best new reviews, products, and features from the Download.com software catalog and blog, package them up in a tidy little newsletter, and e-mail it out to all of our lovely subscribers.

If you are a registered CNET member, you can sign up for the newsletter yourself (it's listed as "CNET Download.com Software Dispatch" under "Software News and Reviews"), or check back every Tuesday to read our latest roundup.

Notable New Products

BitTorrent Surf brings the power of BitTorrent to Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox Mok Force is a … Read more

Porn piracy tracked to computers in Vatican City

Even the residents of Vatican City need to be entertained, but are they pirating porn?

The blog TorrentFreak recently compiled a report alleging that computers located in Vatican City are downloading pornography. A recent tale of Irish priests enjoying first-run hits at their home movie nights piqued the blog's interest to see what the residents of Vatican City have been downloading.

TorrentFreak recruited the help of ScanEye, a Web site that tracks and analyzes this type of online activity. ScanEye's data found that computers inside Vatican City were downloading films like "Love Actually" and TV shows … Read more

The 404 1,241: Where we rip from the rich and seed to the poor (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The first call from a cell phone was made 40 years ago today.

- The Verge interviews Marty Cooper, father of the cell phone.

- Recalling 1993: Step back 20 years in NYC's past.

- Catching up with the TV show release group responsible for recording, distributing torrents.… Read more

'Game of Thrones' sets piracy record, report says

"Game of Thrones," the wildly popular fantasy drama on HBO, has set an all-time record via BitTorrent, according to data collected by Torrent Freak.

The site, which tracks the world of BitTorrent and piracy, was tracking uploads and downloads of the first episode of the latest season of "Game of Thrones." It found that just a few hours after the first torrent was shared on the site, 163,088 people were sharing just one torrent. The so-called "swarm" of people sharing the torrent outpaced the previous titleholder, "Heroes," which had 144,663 … Read more

Torrent site IsoHunt loses appeal against MPAA filters

Torrent search site IsoHunt has lost its appeal against Hollywood movie studios to have keyword filters removed from its results.

The court battle between the torrent indexing site and the Motion Picture Association of America's member studios has resulted in the former losing its appeal to remove an injunction that forces the Web site to filter its search results.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday upheld a 2010 ruling (PDF) that stated the site does not qualify for safe harbor under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The site's founder, Gary Fung, allegedly had "red flag&… Read more

The Pirate Bay is relocating to North Korea?

Even though North Korea is known to have extremely limited Internet service, the Web-based bittorrent tracker The Pirate Bay announced today that it relocated to this closed-off and highly censored country.

"The Pirate Bay has been hunted in many countries around the world. Not for illegal activities but being persecuted for beliefs of freedom of information. Today, a new chapter is written in the history of the movement, as well as the history of the internets," The Pirate Bay wrote in a blog post. "Today we can reveal that we have been invited by the leader of … Read more

U.K. court forces ISPs to block three torrent sites

A U.K. court has decided that three torrent sites should be blocked by the country's largest Internet service providers for alleged piracy.

The U.K.'s High Court today ordered U.K. ISPs to block Kickass Torrents, H33T, and Fenopy after the country's British Phonographic Industry (BPI) claimed that the sites were infringing copyrights on a "significant scale." The BBC was first to report on the story.

Today's ruling comes just months after the BPI asked U.K. ISPs, including BT, Sky Broadband, and others, to block the three sites. The ISPs made clear … Read more