BitComet

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:Infobox Software BitComet is a BitTorrent client written in [[C++]] for Microsoft Windows.

1 Overview
2 BitComet DHT Issues
3 See also
4 External links

Overview

BitComet is a P2P file-sharing freeware fully compatible with BitTorrent, which is one of the most popular P2P protocols designed for high-speed distribution of large files. It supports simultaneous downloads, download queuing, selected downloads inside a torrent package, fast-resume, Mainline DHT, protocol encryption, chatting, disk cache, speed limits, port mapping, peer exchange (PEX), UDP NAT traversal, proxy, IP filter, etc.

BitComet also provides an embedded Internet Explorer window for the purpose of making torrent searching easier. A default list of torrent index sites is included which users can modify to remove unwanted sites and add missing ones. Script errors are common, though.

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BitComet DHT Issues

During versions 0.59 to 0.60, BitComet was receiving bad publicity because of an incomplete implementation of the DHT feature. DHT is a protocol that can connect peers without the need of a tracker. BitComet's implementation did not respect the 'private' flag of a torrent, allowing other DHT users outside of a private site to access and download that site's files if 1) the tracker is down, 2) 'Add DHT Network as backup tracker' option is selected and 3) the torrent file has been shared out. This in turn allowed users that hadn't signed up to avoid download and upload ratio restrictions, which are common on private trackers. Many private trackers (including BitSpirit and FileList) have now banned all versions because of the flawed implementation of the DHT feature that is unfair to the peers on the private tracker. Although this problem of not respecint the private flag was solved in the 0.61 release, there are still many DHT leaks. Thus BitComet remains banned on many private trackers.

Two of the major DHT bugs were fixed with the release of BitComet 0.64. These were editing the .xml file of the active .torrent to allow not only DHT but PEX to run aswell. The other bug is pasting "DHT Network" into the tracker list in the properties section of a .torrent.

BitComet's upload slot limit is known not to work. BitComet has also been accused of favoring other BitComet users on uploads, hammering trackers, dropping piece requests, and other similar "cheating" techniques.

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