BitTorrent or BitCrunch: Evidence of a Credit Squeeze in BitTorrent?

Abstract—BitTorrent is a highly popular peer-to-peer filesharing protocol. Much BitTorrent activity takes place within private virtual communities called “Private Trackers” - a server that allows only community members to share files. Many private trackers implement “ratio enforcement” where the tracker monitors the upload and download behaviour of peers. If a peer downloads substantially more than it uploads then service is terminated. Tracker policies related to credit effect the performance of the community as a whole. We identify the possibility of a “credit squeeze” in which performance is reduced due to lack of credit for some peers. We consider statistics from a popular private tracker and results from a simple model (called “BitCrunch”).

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: WETICE
• Authors: David Hales, Rameez Rahman, Boxun Zhang, Michel Meulpolder, Johan A. Pouwelse
• Keywords: Emerging Technologies, Private Tracker, Private Trackers Implement, Private Virtual Communities, WETICE 2009