Bittorrent has always had two main problems: non-existent indexing services and lack of anonymity. Some solutions have been published from time to time to eliminate the last weakness and all are based on the use of virtual private networks or proxies. As for the first issue, namely a viable alternative to indexing services, there is probably not something worthwhile.
The Tribler, which went public in the summer of 2014, attempts to change all that. It was developed by researchers at the Technological University of Delft who wanted to create an anonymous system and impossible to shut down at the same time.
Tribler integrates both the above-mentioned services, the indexing of torrents and the anonymity of each client directly, which means that it is not based on third-party services or other websites.
The great feature of Tribler is the provision of anonymity, which is now possible with its latest version. It uses a system similar to that offered by the Tor network, but has its own network which is not compatible with Tor.
Detailed information about the application is available at Github. The routing of requests appears to be done through the various systems of each user who uses it automatically. Instead of downloading the files directly from the seeder, they are downloaded and diverted through other users.
This means that each user of the Triller network is a node that is used to transfer data to other users, which in turn can affect your overall download speed and your ability to seeding the files.
Packets received in this way are encrypted with the exception of header (header) that carries only an identifier used to determine where to send the packet.
The Triller also comes with built-in search options that you can use to find torrents directly from your application without having to use any website. It also supports channels with torrent collections offered by other users, which users can vote to improve their search visibility.
The idea of Triller seems meaningful, but it is too early to tell if it will be accepted by the online audience. The security and anonymity of the service should be subjected to third party control, so that we can safely say that everything works as promised by the researchers developing it.
You can download the application from here.
