A BitTorrent client that allows free riding without any payment or contribution.
BitThief is a BitTorrent client that is free and easy to use. It allows you to download from BitTorrent swarms without contributing any resources. However, this raises concerns about the BitTorrent protocol being unable to prevent uncooperative behavior. The lack of countermeasures against free riding clients has led to the ongoing research project of the Distributed Computing Group at ETH Zurich.
BitThief aims to study selfish behavior in distributed systems, with a particular focus on peer-to-peer filesharing systems. The project's research demonstrates how the absence of incentives to contribute resources can potentially result in a total collapse of a peer-to-peer system. Ensuring fair sharing of resources is essential for a completely decentralized system.
It is important to note that BitThief is a scientific project that requires measurements of the performance of its exploits. To facilitate this, the client transmits data to the project's webserver occasionally. This transmitted data only contains information about the time required to download files of different sizes, and a hash of the info hash. This means that it is not possible to determine what has actually been downloaded. However, users are advised not to download any copyrighted material.
Overall, BitThief offers a unique perspective on BitTorrent systems, which raises concerns about fair resource sharing. However, it is essential to keep in mind its scientific nature and the warnings regarding copyrighted material.
BitThief aims to study selfish behavior in distributed systems, with a particular focus on peer-to-peer filesharing systems. The project's research demonstrates how the absence of incentives to contribute resources can potentially result in a total collapse of a peer-to-peer system. Ensuring fair sharing of resources is essential for a completely decentralized system.
It is important to note that BitThief is a scientific project that requires measurements of the performance of its exploits. To facilitate this, the client transmits data to the project's webserver occasionally. This transmitted data only contains information about the time required to download files of different sizes, and a hash of the info hash. This means that it is not possible to determine what has actually been downloaded. However, users are advised not to download any copyrighted material.
Overall, BitThief offers a unique perspective on BitTorrent systems, which raises concerns about fair resource sharing. However, it is essential to keep in mind its scientific nature and the warnings regarding copyrighted material.
What's New
Version 0.3.0: N/A