How Do Seeders Profit From BitTorrent?

arcticstoat writes "As you may remember, a recent study claimed that just 100 users were responsible for downloading 75% of BitTorrent content, and were doing it for money, raising a lot of questions about the study. How do you profit from seeding, and how can the same 100 users be responsible for 75% of downloading and 66% of uploading. The details of the study are clarified in an interview with one of the key researchers, showing that the study's actual statistic is that 66% of the original seeds indexed on the Pirate Bay come from just 100 users, and these seeds then go on to account for 75% of downloads. The interview also details how it's possible for this small number of seeders to make a profit from seeding, via embedding links to their own indexing sites in the filenames and bundled TXT files, which then get money from advertising if downloaders decide to visit the site, assured of quality downloads. Meanwhile, other ways of profiting include 'premium' registered accounts."

Comments

Re:Really?

[ScentCone]

i.e. "This mower is sold as is," and the mower does not work, and there was no opportunity to try it before hand, then the Seller is required to refund the money or else face jailtime. That is the law.

I begin to see that your entire understanding of reality is just ... incorrect. That explains a lot, like your inability to find a single movie review blog, on the entire internet, that's written by someone who shares your tastes.

Your statement of "the law" is simply wrong on the face of it. When something is sold "as is," that's exactly what preserves the sale as-is. If the seller doesn't say that it works, and simply says "as-is," that's it, period. If you're projecting, in your mind, the image of a perfectly working lawnmower, and can't get your head around the meaning of "as-is," then I suppose it's possible that you're just irrational enough to think that, indeed, your disappointment with one movie makes it OK to rip off another movie. You really don't need to explain any more, thanks. You're quite clear.