Downloading .torrents safe

You aren't necessarily a pirate if you use torrents.

Using torrents is not illegal if you are not downloading or sharing pirated content that is copyrighted. In all the ruckus about the ban on torrent sites, we forget that there are many more legal uses for torrents than illegal ones.

Still not convinced?

Like cars or your butter knife torrents are simple to use. It's your responsibility how you use them.

Although it's fairly simple, many people experience difficulties at the start. Even those that would call themselves "advanced users" often don't know even half of what's possible.

This guide aims to guide you through the first steps and also present some cool tricks so that more experienced users get their fair share of worth as well.

BitTorrent: Just a Simple Way to Share Files

Most of us are more familiar with more conventional forms of file sharing, such as email and FTP. BitTorrent is just another file sharing method we can use.

BitTorrent introduces a major difference. Whereas email and FTP rely on one computer hosting the file and transmitting it to connected computers, BitTorrent files are spread out over many computers using a technology called peer-to-peer networking. We can use BitTorrent to share or download any type of files: EXE, MP3, AVI, JPG, DOCX, etc.

Let's use the analogy of book sharing to illustrate how BitTorrent works.

There is a book you want to read but you only have one chapter with you. You look around and find a friend who has a few more chapters. It still isn't a complete book, so both of you search for few more guys around the block who might have the remaining pages. There are a bunch of guys and though nobody has the complete book yet, you can share the chapters among each other till all of you get a copy of the complete book one by one.

On the internet, the "book" becomes the file you want to download. The file is broken up into little pieces or bits. Each of you has at least one piece so you start to download and share these "bits" until everyone has the entire file. Each piece that you (or someone else) downloads are available to all the others. At the same time, you are downloading some pieces while uploading others.

Thus, you can all share rather than placing the onus on one computer to host the file and distribute it.

Understanding Common BitTorrent Terms

These key terms will further explain how each part of the protocol works.

Torrent: At the beginning of all this is the torrent file itself. This is the file you search for when you want to download something. Usually, the torrent file name is descriptive enough. For instance, an Ubuntu release can have this file name: ubuntu-17.10-desktop-amd64.iso.torrent

Remember, the .torrent file is not the entire file. It is extremely small and it just contains the information that points to the actual file and the people who are sharing it. It is like a map which is used by the BitTorrent client to assemble all the pieces together.

BitTorrent client: A BitTorrent client is your downloader. It is the piece of software which takes the .torrent file, reads the information in it and starts the download. Torrent clients are available for all platforms including Android and iOS. On the iOS, you may have to jailbreak the phone.

Peer: A peer is any computer participating in the download and upload of a torrent file.

Seeder: A seed (or seeder) is anyone who has a complete copy of the file being shared across the torrent network.

Leecher: A leech (or a leecher) is the person who does not have the complete file yet but has joined the network to download it. A leecher becomes a seeder when he downloads the entire file and then shares it across the network.

Swarm: The swarm is the sum total of all the leechers and seeders (i.e. all the computers) participating in the torrent process.

Index: An index is, as the name implies, a searchable list of .torrent files, hosted on a website.

Share ratio: The ratio is the amount of data a user has uploaded divided by the amount of data they have downloaded for a particular torrent (UL÷DL). A share ratio greater than 1 has a positive effect on the user's reputation because it means that the user has sent more data to other users than he has received. Conversely, a share ratio under 1 has a negative effect.

Tracker: The tracker is a server which has the information of who has what files and who needs which ones, thus acting as a bridge between seeders and leechers. Some trackers are private requiring a registration where most are public.

Before we get into the process and get our hands dirty, let's pause and review the legality of torrents again. Even though the torrent protocol is technically legal, its abuse is at the core of the fight against digital piracy. Big Brother is watching your every move, so stay aware and stay clean.

BitTorrent Isn't Illegal: Understanding Copyright Laws

"Season 7 of Game of Thrones exceeded 1 billion illegal downloads and streams across piracy channels by the 3rd September 2017."-- MUSO.com

Peer-to-peer file sharing is completely legal, but using it to obtain copyrighted content is not. When you are dependent on downloads for your creative work or education, take the time to understand copyright laws.

In some countries it's okay to download (use) material for personal use, but distribution makes it a punishable offense. With torrents, the water gets a bit muddied because the protocol makes everyone both downloader and distributor.

There have been numerous cases where torrent trackers which index the torrents available have been shut down for infringing some country's laws. Organizations like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have become proactive against many of them because it represents a source of piracy.

Remember, downloaders can be pinpointed by their IP addresses, so the cloak of anonymity is not there to hide behind.

The safest course of action is to follow the copyright laws as laid down. Browse to the copyright policy link of the respective tracker website; the better ones have it.

Getting Started With Torrents

A torrent client is a piece of software that is designed for peer to peer file sharing with the BitTorrent protocol. A good torrent client should be safe, reliable, and user-friendly. Here's how easy it is to grab a solid torrent client, set it up, and download our first file.

Finding the Right Torrent Software

A simple Google Search will throw up some popular names. BitTorrent was the first torrent client and it is still going strong after 16 years of solid service. But you might want to look at the larger field and a few more options for your operating systems.

A good place to get acquainted with the whole shebang is Wikipedia's Comparision of BitTorrent clients. Or you can check out our articles on the best torrent clients for Windows, best torrent clients for Mac, and best torrent clients for Linux. Chromebook users can try tools like JSTorrent and Bitford.

There are many free and lightweight software available. Some clients are ad-supported (including BitTorrent's official client) and you have to pay to remove the ads.

Installing the Torrent Client

The download is small at 2.74MB for the Windows version of BitTorrent Free. If you are installing BitTorrent for the first time, just follow the screenshots. Installations of the other BitTorrent clients are also similar.

Optimizing Your Torrent Client for Speed

A torrent client is no different from any other software. You can take it out "straight from the box" and run it. Or you could change a thing here and there to give it a smoother run.

BitTorrent includes a Setup Guide that can help you test your bandwidth and configure the client for maximum performance. Go to Options > Setup Guide (or use Ctrl + G). BitTorrent recommends that you follow the steps in order.

The Setup Guide runs two tests:

It tests your bandwidth for upload speeds. BitTorrent will try to upload at your maximum speed, so you have to find out how much it is and cap it a specific limit to avoid choking your connection. Choose the closest location from the dropdown.

It tests and verifies your router settings. When BitTorrent runs for the first time, a port is automatically selected for you. A port is where your computer receives the communication signals from the outside network. This test checks if the port is open for traffic or there is some configuration issue.

Later in the guide, we will dig into the Preferences screen and optimize your BitTorrent for speed and performance.

Downloading Your First Torrent

Search engines are cagey about promoting torrent links on the search results page. This is another front in the battle against copyright infringement. Earlier in 2017, Google and other search engines worked on a voluntary anti-piracy code. Policing has got stricter with search engines and ISP's honoring genuine takedown requests.

The discussion is not against torrents, but against piracy sites. Google and other internet continue to deindex them from their search results. SEO traffic to dubious sites are cut off and torrent sites, in general, do not find a place in the search results.

For instance, The Pirate Bay is banned in the U.K and India among other countries even though these torrent sites and meta-search engines also host legal content (e.g. LibreOffice and various Linux distros).

Which torrent sites should you go to? If you were miffed with The Pirate Bay closure, here are some reliable Pirate Bay alternatives.

Going to a trustworthy torrent site also lets us avoid the pitfalls of downloading a corrupted file or even worse, a malicious virus. A good torrent website filters out the undesirable and hosts clean .torrents. Here are a few more recommended ones:

SkyTorrents [Broken URL Removed]: A clean privacy focussed torrent site without ads.

Zooqle: A clean interface with nearly three million verified torrents and counting. You can sign-up to manage your torrent downloads on the site.

Torlock: A torrent download site with 100% verified torrents. Torlock pays its users $1 for every fake torrent they discover but I couldn't verify this claim independently.

SeedPeer: A fast and clean site with a large catalog of three million verified torrents.

Demonoid [Broken Link Removed]: A well-known name that has survived the churn. The only downside is that Demonoid is a private torrent community and you need to register when slots are available.

How to Search for Torrents to Download

1. Hop over to any of the torrent sites and search for your desired torrent file. For instance, the screenshot below is from Sky Torrents. Enter your keyword.

Remember, a torrent file is nothing but a small 15-100KB file which points to the contents of the whole file and the people in the swarm. These .torrent files are uploaded by torrent sharers around the web.

2. Choose a healthy torrent link to download from. Usually, it will be one that has a high number of seeders and peers. Some torrent sites also display an icon that shows it has been verified as "clean" by the community. It is always a good idea to go through any comments contributed by the community below the link.

3. Click on the torrent link. The tiny ".torrent" file is downloaded to your desktop in a couple of seconds. You can also click the icon of a magnet that is a magnet link for the torrent. A magnet link is a server-less way of downloading the torrent information. Instead of a torrent file sitting on a server somewhere, you download it directly from a peer.

Most torrent websites carry both options. Many sites have moved to magnet links exclusively because you can then download the torrent even if the original tracker is down or closed.

4. Browse to your saved .torrent file and double-click it to open the file with your torrent client. You can also use the menu of the software to add the .torrent file for download. Or alternatively, drag and drop the .torrent file into your software window.

With a magnet link, the torrent client will automatically launch the torrent client. Now, your software begins the download by first connecting to the tracker server to find out who else is downloading the same file and which bits they have.

5. The tracker server identifies the users participating in the share and labels them as either seeders or leechers. Look for a torrent with a higher number of seeders. The ratio of seeders to leechers is the share ratio and a higher figure makes for a healthier (and faster) torrent.

6. The download begins, but if it starts slowly, don't be alarmed. Gradually the speed picks up as the swarm increases.

The time to complete the download will depend on the file size, the speed of your connection and the quality of the swarm. After your download finishes, you may enjoy the file you just got. Now after all that hard work if you are thinking of deleting the leftover .torrent file and closing the client software just pause here. This single selfish act is known as a "hit and run" (HnR or H&R) in the torrent community and is a cardinal sin of the torrent world.

How to Be a Good Member of the Torrent Community

Hit-and-runners are called "leechers" by the torrent community. Strictly speaking, a leecher is one who does not have a complete copy of a particular file yet. A leecher turns into a seeder only when he starts sharing his completed copy with the rest of the swarm.

Unfortunately, the term has also come to symbolize those users who download without uploading (i.e. take but not give back to the swarm). To avoid this name calling, follow this cardinal rule:

"After your download finishes, leave your Torrent client software running for at least three hours, or until you have uploaded as much as you have downloaded (a 1:1 share ratio). Sometimes it may not be possible to follow this rule but it is important to get close to it."

Tip: Do your downloading at night so that by the time you wake up you have downloaded your file and you would have uploaded your share too.

Torrent Safety Rules: Be Careful What You Download

At first, you might feel like a kid let loose in a chocolate shop, but beware as there are many fake torrents out there. Most of them are malicious. Here are five golden rules of internet security which have never failed me:

1. Make it a habit to scour around for any comments left by earlier downloaders regarding the quality of torrents.
2. Download torrents from a reputable website or join a private tracker. Private trackers moderate the quality vigorously but then they are equally rigorous with their rules.