We all hear the stories about lawsuits. I even know some who download illegally. Let's start from the beginning. BitTorrent is a protocol, used by utorrent, (you guessed it) BitTorrent, and more. Nothing is illegal about it or the software, it has legal uses, including sharing Linux distros (something you are encouraged to do), and downloading non-copyrighted, GNU GPL-licensed or out-of-copyright stuff, like the Sherlock Holmes audiobook I downloaded from none other than The Pirate Bay the other day.
What all the trouble is about is that people use it very often to distribute pirated films, games, even Microsoft Windows using the protocol. Why? It's hard to track down a single server doing the work, since hundreds, even thousands of "seeders" are assisting in the upload. And the law is shaky if you want to confiscate a tracker server, since it contains none of the copyrighted content. It's pretty much just watching the piracy in progress.
What's my opinion? BitTorrent is cool. If you want to download Linux, there's nothing better than a faster download, along with the ability to share your favorite distro. And out of copyright stuff is a hidden gem on the internet, since loads of classic books are in the public domain. How about The Pirate Bay? Sorry guys, go ahead and stop helping the pirates by taking down that free Windows XP download, but stay up to distribute open-source software, free to share stuff, and out-of-copyright content by all means, Pirate Bay is the most comprehensive tracker I've ever seen, it can be put to good use.
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