BitTorrent has just launched its own peer to peer program browsing like a public beta. BitTorrent announced the alpha version of the browser, known as Project Maelstrom, last December. 
The Project Maelstrom it uses the same protocols that torrent clients use to run a browser that can pull its content from other users' browsers rather than from a web server. It's a strategy that can be very useful for websites like Pirate bay, which constantly has legal problems, resulting in the seizure of hosting servers. With Project Maelstrom in the event of a raid by the authorities, the website will still be available through other users' browsers.
The Project Maelstrom browser is based on the open version of Chrome and can be used to access regular HTTP webpages, alongside webpages distributed by the BitTorrent P2P protocol.
According to BitTorrent, the browser is a way to make the Internet more open, as it protects web pages from the "guards" of the Internet.
"We believe that this Project Maelstrom has the potential to help address some of the most frustrating issues facing the Internet today. How can we keep the Internet open? How can we keep Internet access neutral? How can we better secure our private data from the abuse of big companies? How can we help distribute content? Says BitTorrent.
According to BitTorrent, for the alpha version of the browser, 10.000 developers and 3.500 publishers have already been involved. Along with the beta version, BitTorrent also distributes a new set of development tools for anyone interested. The tools support the creation and seeding torrent files containing static web pages.
"The editors' development tool will help you build Project Maelstrom easily, even from the command line," notes company.
Among the tools there is a generator that will make the web site files a torrent for the browser. Publishers can seed the torrent from a client, such as BitTorrent, while user browsers can access the content from a magnet link.
The beta browser is currently only available for Windows, and as the company mentions we will soon have a version for Mac.
