[HPFGU-OTChatter] Torrents

[P. Alexis Nguyen]

Carol:
> Can someone explain to me what a torrent site is and whether it's
> legal (and free) to download episodes of a TV series from one?

Torrent (short for BitTorrent) is a file distribution method more than
anything else.  You can find aggregators like isohunt.com for torrent
files (for which you'll need a torrent client - try utorrent).  The
basic gist is that you download a small [torrent] file that tells your
[torrent] client where to find the file and what peers are
distributing it.

Torrents are technically legal (in so far as file sharing is also
technically legal).  The grey zone is, of course, the illegal content
being distributed (software, movies, etc) - legal content like Linux
ISO are free and clear and often distributed via bittorrent.  TV shows
(being copyrighted content and all) are illegal for download (and the
networks are generally fighting back by supplying content on their own
websites or via sites like Hulu and Fancast).  This does not, however,
mean you won't find your favourite TV shows on torrent sites.  :)

I rarely download TV shows anymore (rare content like David the Gnome
episodes is pretty much exclusively bittorrent territory these days -
now if only I could find the old Rupert bear TV shows).  It used to be
that missing an episode of something meant never seeing again until
the season is over, but now, what with Hulu supplying HD content and
all, it's so much easier just to watch TV shows on Hulu if my DVR
decides to be stupid (like when it only recorded 1 minute of Dollhouse
last Friday).

~Ali