{"id":48493,"date":"2013-04-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/how-to-cut-the-cord-illegally\/"},"modified":"2013-04-26T00:53:41","modified_gmt":"2013-04-26T00:53:41","slug":"how-to-cut-the-cord-illegally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/2\/29270\/personal-tech\/multimedia\/how-to-cut-the-cord---illegally","title":{"rendered":"How to Cut the Cord – Illegally"},"content":{"rendered":"
While there are plenty of ways to get TV and movies legally on your devices, there are some reasons why you might want to resort to getting illegal copies of them. Or, at least a large number of people still think so. A report released by Sandvine in 2012 found that BitTorrent<\/a> traffic increased by a whopping 40 percent in the second part of 2012, accounting for about 10 percent of all Internet traffic during peak hours. Not everything that’s sent over BitTorrent is illegal, but it is a key tool for illegal downloads. Them thar’s a lot of pirates. <\/p>\n The problem is that as neat as services like Hulu and Netflix are, sometimes you just want to get the latest episode of a TV show or the latest movie immediately. Blame it on the digital age; we want what we want when we want it.<\/p>\n There are a number of ways to download content online, but before we get into them, we must stress that if you decide to sail the seas of piracy<\/a>, you do so at your own risk. If you get served with a lawsuit, cut off from the Internet under a "six strikes" rule, or even end up in jail in extreme cases, well, that’s your problem. You should be on the lookout for malware<\/a> too, because it’s a real risk when you download files from unknown sources. You’ve been warned. This article is for informational purposes only. (For some tips on how to get some of your favorite shows and movies legally, check out How to Cut the Cord on Cable TV – Legally<\/a>.)<\/p>\n With that out of the way, we have to highlight what is one of the most popular ways to send and receive large files, both legal and illegal: BitTorrent.<\/p>\n This P2P<\/a> file sharing standard helps solve a major problem with traditional P2P networks: the free rider problem. Simply put, in the past, lots of users simply downloaded material without uploading in return. Of course, this makes actually downloading stuff that much harder.<\/p>\n BitTorrent solves the problem by making sure everyone uploads material. One major technical innovation is that it breaks files into multiple pieces. This allows anyone to upload a large video file even if they’ve only downloaded a part of it. As users upload more, the download rate gets even faster.<\/p>\n Yes, BitTorrent is used to download movies and music and other goodies that may be copyrighted, but it does have a number of legitimate uses, the most notable of which is sending out ISO images of Linux distributions<\/a> that would overwhelm a Web server.<\/p>\n To get started with BitTorrent, there are a number of clients available. There’s an official BitTorrent client, but others are also popular. TransmissIon is a good one on Mac and Linux. Vuze is also a popular multiplatform client.<\/p>\n Once you have a client, you’ll have to find some content. We’re not going to actually abet piracy more than we already are, so you’re on your own. <\/p>\n Once you find what you want to watch, all you have to do is point the download link at your client and it will do its thing. If you’re behind a Wi-Fi router, you might have to use NAT<\/a> to open up a port to other torrenters, so you can get the optimum upload speed and not be considered a "leech" that just downloads without uploading in return.<\/p>\nBitTorrent<\/span><\/h2>\n
Usenet<\/span><\/h2>\n