BitTorrent requires that one person act as an initial “seed” and make the entire file available to the network.129 In order to share a file via BitTorrent, the person offering the initial file—the “seeder”— must first create a “.torrent” file,130 which contains information on the “tracker”131 and metadata132 about the underlying file, such as the size of the component pieces.133 Someone wishing to download the underlying file (known as a “leecher”) will browse an index site, such as The Pirate Bay,134 and locate the desired file.135 Once the .torrent file is downloaded, the leecher opens the .torrent file with a BitTorrent client,136 which establishes a connection between the leecher and the tracker.137 Once the connection to the tracker is established, the tracker facilitates and enables the downloading of the underlying file, directing the leecher to the location of the component pieces.138 As other users (peers) begin downloading the file from the initial seed, they simultaneously begin uploading the
pieces they have already obtained or are in the process of obtaining from other peers.139 Accordingly, once a peer has fully downloaded the entire file, he also becomes a seed.140 All of the peers, including
the initial seed, actively engaged in sharing a particular file are collectively known as a “swarm.”141 It is not guaranteed, however, that every member of a BitTorrent swarm will interact with every other member within that swarm.142 The intersection of this complicated technology and antiquted law is where the analysis gets murky.