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> Bulk downloading is often done with BitTorrent, the file-sharing protocol popular with pirates for its anonymity, and downloading with BitTorrent typically in

> Bulk downloading is often done with BitTorrent, the file-sharing protocol popular with pirates for its anonymity, and downloading with BitTorrent typically involves uploading to other users simultaneously. Isn't this a twofold misunderstanding of BitTorrent? I haven't used it much, but I've never believed BitTorrent to be popular for anonymity (is it even truly anonymous?), I thought it was popular because it makes downloading go faster by reducing bottlenecks. Also, choosing not to seed a file is extremely simple in every torrent client I've seen, so it seems a bit of a leap to conclude that Meta seeded the pirated books just because the protocol supports it. I'm far more concerned about the simple fact that they downloaded pirated books at all than I am about the protocol they used to do it.

pimlottc 2y ago
> [D]ownloading with BitTorrent typically involves uploading to other users simultaneously. The key word here is "typically". Mutual sharing is designed into the protocol itself, particularly in the early seeding period, where higher priority is given to peers that re-share their portions of the torrent. Yes, you can turn off uploads, but that's not the default in any client I've ever used. So I don't see anything wrong with saying the typical user will re-upload files.
- lolinder 2y ago
  But Meta specifically says they took precautions to not do that, and in every client I've seen the only thing they would have to do is make sure a single checkbox which is prominently visible on the main download modal isn't checked! I'm not objecting to the use of the word "typically", I'm objecting to the explicit suggestion that Meta might have seeded the pirated works. It's unlikely and unnecessary to suggest—there's plenty else wrong with this picture so there was no need to include this idea, it's just a distraction from the real problem.

pimlottc 2y ago

> [D]ownloading with BitTorrent typically involves uploading to other users simultaneously. The key word here is "typically". Mutual sharing is designed into the protocol itself, particularly in the early seeding period, where higher priority is given to peers that re-share their portions of the torrent. Yes, you can turn off uploads, but that's not the default in any client I've ever used. So I don't see anything wrong with saying the typical user will re-upload files.

lolinder 2y ago
But Meta specifically says they took precautions to not do that, and in every client I've seen the only thing they would have to do is make sure a single checkbox which is prominently visible on the main download modal isn't checked! I'm not objecting to the use of the word "typically", I'm objecting to the explicit suggestion that Meta might have seeded the pirated works. It's unlikely and unnecessary to suggest—there's plenty else wrong with this picture so there was no need to include this idea, it's just a distraction from the real problem.