Twenty-five years ago today, a young programmer named Bram Cohen sent a brief message to a peer-to-peer mailing list: "My new app, BitTorrent, is now in working order, check it out here." He never replied to a follow-up question. The world soon discovered what BitTorrent was.
BitTorrent quickly became the most popular file-sharing application, unleashing a massive wave of piracy that reshaped Hollywood. By 2004, it was responsible for half of all peer-to-peer traffic and a third of all internet traffic. Unlike Napster or Kazaa, BitTorrent survived legal attacks because its decentralized design shielded its creators from liability. Cohen built no search function and relied on third-party tracker servers and websites, making it impossible for him to know what users were trading.
Cohen started developing BitTorrent after leaving Mojo Nation, a failed startup that combined file sharing, distributed computing, and micropayments. His key innovation was swarming distribution: dividing files into tiny chunks and allowing large groups of users to trade those chunks. The system required users to upload as well as download, creating a self-sustaining network.
Early adopters included Etree, a community of jam band fans trading high-resolution bootlegs. But the real explosion came with anime and later Hollywood movies. Major torrent sites like Suprnova.org and The Pirate Bay emerged, the latter becoming a symbol of defiance. By 2004, BitTorrent traffic skyrocketed.
The infrastructure struggled to keep up. A German hacker trio ran a tracker server on a single kitchen computer under the domain Denis.Stalker.H3Q.com. When it was overwhelmed, Dirk Engling (known as Erdgeist) created Opentracker, an open-source tracker that could handle hundreds of requests per second. Opentracker became the backbone of The Pirate Bay and other major sites.
Cohen founded BitTorrent Inc. in 2004 to turn the revolution into a business. It raised millions in venture capital but failed to find a sustainable model. A download store called the BitTorrent Entertainment Network, launched with Hollywood studios, flopped because no one wanted to pay for content they could get for free. The company later tried live streaming and other ventures, but each failed. Cohen later lamented bringing in investors: "I never should have brought on anybody else at all."
Meanwhile, the piracy ecosystem thrived. Rightsholders sued users in countries like Germany, sending cease-and-desist letters demanding hundreds of euros. Torrent sites monetized through ads for VPNs, dating, and even cookie-stuffing schemes. Engling noted, "The idea of democratization got lost."
The Pirate Bay's cofounders were sentenced to prison in 2009, but the site stayed online. Law enforcement raided the German tracker operators, but the case was dismissed because trackers only match hash values and never see the actual files.
Today, BitTorrent usage has declined from its peak but remains significant. Estimates suggest about 0.25% of internet users still download torrents daily. Russia is the biggest market, followed by the United States. Streaming price hikes have driven some users back to piracy.
Cohen moved on to blockchain startup Chia Network, but the legacy of BitTorrent endures. The protocol still powers countless peer-to-peer transfers, and the open-source community continues to maintain clients like Transmission and qBittorrent. The story of BitTorrent is one of technical brilliance, legal evasion, business failure, and enduring cultural impact.
Source:The Verge News