One of the largest broadband providers, AT&T, has recently patented a rather unusual technology. While other Internet service providers prefer to limit the BitTorrent traffic on their networks, this one has patented a technology enabling to keep torrents alive – even if they are not seeded in the current swarm.
The intellectual property division of the Internet service provider has patented quite a few unusual inventions thus far, and now the telco was granted a patent to keep torrent files available longer than they usually remain online.
AT&T points out that BitTorrent protocol is a very efficient way of sharing files on the Internet, but it features some drawbacks – for example, some torrent swarms become unavailable because there are no complete copies of the file available.
Taking into account the fact that there are often many swarms that download the same content through different BitTorrent trackers, it could be that the file lives on elsewhere. In the meantime, other peers might want to start seeding the dead torrent again. The new patent can pair these sources in order to increase the availability of files downloaded via BitTorrent networks.
The new patent registered by AT&T suggests adding “collaboration information” that can be obtained from each peer when it joins a torrent swarm. In the event that a torrent lacks active seeds available, this collaboration information can point the downloader to “dormant peers” or external trackers where you can find active seeders.
In fact, if the file is unavailable at an active peer, the tracker node may contact some of the listed dormant peers to find out whether they want to make the file available or contact a remote tracker node listed for the file.
Actually, the very idea to point downloader to other torrent trackers is not entirely new – you may know that most torrents offer multiple trackers nowadays in order to make sure that the file remains available for as long as possible. However, the patent received by AT&T would automate this feature. In addition, the idea to contact “dormant peers” is new. Shortly speaking, those users who previously downloaded a file, but then stopped seeding it, can be asked to make it available again.
It is unclear whether the telecom company has any real life applications for its recent invention. Although the current patent was granted only a few days ago, the first applications date back to 2005 – at the time, BitTorrent protocol wasn’t quite as mainstream as it is today.
Finally, the fact that the broadband provider received the patent doesn’t necessarily mean that the company encourages sharing copyrighted files. It should be noted that along with other anti-piracy innovations, the ISP previously patented systems that allow tracking content being shared via BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer networks and report those offenders to the authorities.
The intellectual property division of the Internet service provider has patented quite a few unusual inventions thus far, and now the telco was granted a patent to keep torrent files available longer than they usually remain online.
AT&T points out that BitTorrent protocol is a very efficient way of sharing files on the Internet, but it features some drawbacks – for example, some torrent swarms become unavailable because there are no complete copies of the file available.
Taking into account the fact that there are often many swarms that download the same content through different BitTorrent trackers, it could be that the file lives on elsewhere. In the meantime, other peers might want to start seeding the dead torrent again. The new patent can pair these sources in order to increase the availability of files downloaded via BitTorrent networks.
The new patent registered by AT&T suggests adding “collaboration information” that can be obtained from each peer when it joins a torrent swarm. In the event that a torrent lacks active seeds available, this collaboration information can point the downloader to “dormant peers” or external trackers where you can find active seeders.
In fact, if the file is unavailable at an active peer, the tracker node may contact some of the listed dormant peers to find out whether they want to make the file available or contact a remote tracker node listed for the file.
Actually, the very idea to point downloader to other torrent trackers is not entirely new – you may know that most torrents offer multiple trackers nowadays in order to make sure that the file remains available for as long as possible. However, the patent received by AT&T would automate this feature. In addition, the idea to contact “dormant peers” is new. Shortly speaking, those users who previously downloaded a file, but then stopped seeding it, can be asked to make it available again.
It is unclear whether the telecom company has any real life applications for its recent invention. Although the current patent was granted only a few days ago, the first applications date back to 2005 – at the time, BitTorrent protocol wasn’t quite as mainstream as it is today.
Finally, the fact that the broadband provider received the patent doesn’t necessarily mean that the company encourages sharing copyrighted files. It should be noted that along with other anti-piracy innovations, the ISP previously patented systems that allow tracking content being shared via BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer networks and report those offenders to the authorities.
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