Anyone who has used file-sharing services must have come across BitTorrent that offers a fast download of the most recent movies or music releases. This file transferring platform offers a far better chance of downloading a file faster than it would take for someone to go out a legitimate copy of whatever it is that one’s trying to get—a movie, game, book, music, etc.
But do you know that aside from allowing its users to get free copies of files that they like, BitTorrent also provides researches with access to data regarding who uses torrents to download illegal goodies?
With the use of the famous client plugin Ono, Northwestern researchers have tracked users. The information that Ono gathered included the IP addresses of the downloaders, their geographical location, and information about the file and it sent the details over to the researchers.
What stood out and surprised the researchers at Northwestern was finding out that the users of the same country download similar types of files. It was also discovered based on data gathered that users from the richer countries like the U.S. seem to download more music while those from the poorer nations like Spain prefer to get more movies.
The research findings show that users don’t always download movies and music and that they would have paid to view if the files were not available for free download on the internet. Also, the research project indicated that BitTorrent users in nations with the same economies tend to make more downloads and the same thing goes for those users who are from countries where access to media is prohibited by law.
The researchers at Northwestern were able to find out that most downloaders and file-sharers are not really those who want to watch movies or listen to their favorite music but they are avid collectors and connoisseurs. What these downloaders normally do is curate a wide collection of the same type of media with over 50% of them downloading only either movie or music with very low percentage of having a crossover between the two groups.
Now that researchers have already revealed the connection between the economy of a country and the file types that are downloaded from BitTorrent, this should give authorities an idea on online behavior of users and hopefully help them track down pirates on the internet.