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<networking> A popular, distributed form of peer-to-peer file sharing that enables a client program to fetch different parts of a file (a "torrent") from different sources in parallel. The system is designed to encourage users to make downloaded data available for others to upload. This is aided by a scheme for exchanging unique identifiers, commonly stored in ".torrent" files. A downloader who does not serve data to others is called a "leech". A "seed" is a computer that has a complete copy of a file, possibly the original.
The bittorrent.com site claims there are over 100 million users as of 2007-03-24.
Most of the data is copyright material like films or commercial software.
(http://www.bittorrent.com/what-is-bittorrent).
(2007-03-27)
Nearby terms: bits per second « bit string « bit stuffing « BitTorrent » bit twiddling » bitty box » bitwise
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