New thread for off topic discussion in VIP section.

[Scratchitandc]

Hummmmm... I wonder why you post three year old stats for user numbers? I am well in the top 1% of users (no 17,000 odd, a year ago I was listed as being in approx 40,000 position. Granted I seed as well as download, but i download way way more than seed. So I guess the speed of my increase in position is because of diminishing numbers of registered users (I notice in the swarms that utorrent appears most popular, but that is too basic for me... Further info is needed on registered users however, not the rubbish stats posted above, as it I clear that there are now very few LT seeds in swarms, so position (and therefore access to a supposed increasing number of LT seeds) is a mute point, whether I am 17,000 or 1.7 millionth there is no one to leech from using that feature...

[Scratchitandc]

The above post aside - I have the following observations - questions about anon downloading...

It appears to me there this is not true anon downloading - anon part of download is between bitcomet servers and the wider file (held in the swarm or by LT seeds), there is no encryption between:

a) - Bitcomet servers (LT seeds or otherwise) and my isp -

b - My isp servers and my pc. Is this correct?

c) - If my isp uses DPI everything that comes via my bitcomet will be visible to them whether I pay for VIP or not, or is the connection then encrypted?

d) - The bitcomet client lists "Torrent Sites"' as search engines on the left hand side of the screen. An increasing number of isps worldwide now block one or more of those sites you list, making your list partially if not wholly redundant. Will you be implementing any form of workaround within bitcomet itself to re-enable those searches (such as via scripts that immunicity successfully use)?

e) - Will bitcomet be introducing its own paid for VPN service to make possible truly anon downloading and will any vpn be part of the bitcomet package (which is a strength of the bitcomet package, almost everything included in the client), and will any vpn be part of the vip service?

f) - The cost of storage has come down a lot since the VIP service was introduced in 2011. Will you be revisiting your price structure to lower the cost or increase bandwidth allocation (to say 500gb or 1tb) any time soon?

Edited February 4, 2014 by Scratchitandc (see edit history)

[The UnUsual Suspect]

Hummmmm... I wonder why you post three year old stats for user numbers?

These are the only stats available to me, they were collected in 2011 when our volunteer forum staff translated a press release about new bitcomet features.

i download way way more than seed.

This is very bad for the swarm and you should keep your tasks running until your upload is greater than your download.

So I guess the speed of my increase in position is because of diminishing numbers of registered users

Supposition not supported by any facts.

Further info is needed on registered users however, not the rubbish stats posted above,

They are not "rubbish stats" and considering you're insulting someone who has volunteered countless hours to help people like you use a FREE product, I find this comment uncalled for.

as it I clear that there are now very few LT seeds in swarms

More supposition not based on facts. I've seen many torrents that download the majority of their data from LTseed. This network has been hugely popular with bitcomet users many of whom report huge increases in speed when LTseed is enabled, but also keep in mind that LTseed is not enabled if the private flag is set when the torrent is created as that protocol only allows sourcing data from the bittorrent swarm. In this case, and in a case where there are no LTseeds, http/ftp or emule sources available bitcomet will behave exactly like any other client.

The above post aside - I have the following observations - questions about anon downloading...

It appears to me there this is not true anon downloading - anon part of download is between bitcomet servers and the wider file (held in the swarm or by LT seeds), there is no encryption between:

a) - Bitcomet servers (LT seeds or otherwise) and my isp -

b - My isp servers and my pc. Is this correct?

First you have to understand how p2p downloads are monitored. Your ISP is not allowed to spy on what you download, the only way anti p2p groups have used to determine this is by joining the swarm and logging IP addresses. This doesn't tell them who you are, only the owner of the IP (your isp). They then submit threatening letters to your isp, some of which pass them onto their users. At this point only the isp knows who you are and they only have the word of the group that you downloaded anything, they didn't witness it themselves. For them to analyse every steam of data would bankrupt them overnight. They just provide the connection, nothing more.

c) - If my isp uses DPI everything that comes via my bitcomet will be visible to them whether I pay for VIP or not, or is the connection then encrypted?

Deep packet inspection isn't used to determine what you've downloaded, only to determine if it's p2p or not, and some ISP's have been known to throttle p2p connections, but they don't analyse the data to determine what you are downloading.

They are also required to tell you if they do this. You can call them and pretend you're interested in their service and ask them if they throttle p2p file sharing. As far as I know only Comcast has lied about this and got sued in a class action suit because of it. They have to disclose if they do this.

BitComet VIP with anonymous enabled won't connect to the trackers or the swarm. Your data comes direct from bitcomet servers and (optionally) from LTseed connections where your IP is hidden by the Bitcomet GUI. You can read more about this in the FAQ's here in the VIP section or on wiki.bitcomet.com.

d) - The bitcomet client lists "Torrent Sites"' as search engines on the left hand side of the screen. An increasing number of isps worldwide now block one or more of those sites you list, making your list partially if not wholly redundant. Will you be implementing any form of workaround within bitcomet itself to re-enable those searches (such as via scripts that immunicity successfully use)?

You're free to request this, but keep in mind that BitComet is a free program, developed and supported by volunteers and what you're asking for would cost money in order to handle all the bandwidth to connect you to websites through a server located in a p2p friendly country.

e) - Will bitcomet be introducing its own paid for VPN service to make possible truly anon downloading and will any vpn be part of the bitcomet package (which is a strength of the bitcomet package, almost everything included in the client), and will any vpn be part of the vip service?

Bitcomet VIP (in theory) is far superior to VPN as it can provide faster speeds where vpn will slow you down. In order to have anything close to the speeds without VIP you'd need a dedicated remote VPN server with at least the same speed as your connection, and in this case all connections will be slowed by the need to pass through this computer. With VIP the actual BitComet client is moved from your computer to the remote server, then the downloads to you can be received at a speed limited only by your connection limits. If you want something where you can have increase performance and be anonymous, I'd consider renting a seedbox in a p2p friendly country. What VIP does is allow you to share one without any of the work or setup required and without a commitment of renting an expensive server on a monthly basis with things like initial setup fees, etc.

f) - The cost of storage has come down a lot since the VIP service was introduced in 2011. Will you be revisiting your price structure to lower the cost or increase bandwidth allocation (to say 500gb or 1tb) any time soon?

I cannot speak for the developers, but I think this will be addressed only when VIP is out of beta testing and a stable product is released. There are also other issues that will be addressed such as enabling vip on a partial torrent download or partially complete download, so a lot of fine tuning will need to be done, but of course we all have our "day jobs", so I cannot say when this may happen.

For now I only recommend users purchase vip if they consider the payment as a donation, and that they educate themselves and not simply get vip as a random attempt to download a dead torrent or to fix other problems they may have.

In order for vip to help you, you need to be limited in your download speed by your inability to attract the best peers. This is by far the most common reason for a user to get slow downloads on a healthy torrent.

[Scratchitandc]

Humm - a lot of verbiage, nothing of substance. Facts are, my rank is Marshall, I am ranked 17,000 odd, and so to say it is supposition that there are fewer registered is, quite frankly, laughable! No supposition, it is evidential! I have 50+ individual torrents downloading or about to start, not one LT seed in any of those! Many of those have swarms greater than a 1,000!

You make a mockery of privacy issues. I am uk based, many (most?), ISPs use DPI and other measures against torrent files whether legit distos of Linux or other materal, no need for my ISP to tell anyone, they just do it. I can't comment on US law, but my ISP doesn't need to worry about it, it simply doesn't' apply. You will find a lot of the world gets on fine without recourse to US law and policy! Torrent Freak was reporting about British ISP's using DPI software in 2011(one system called CView). You think British (European) ISPs have cleaned up their act since then? I find your post worrying and ill informed! You are however right about the stats of bitcomet users! I was wrong and those stats are sill relevant for all those who continue to live In 2011/2012.

As for dev's being volunteers', that may or may not be true, but bitcomet is a 'for profit' Chinese company, with registered offices in the US. Your company develops games which make money. There is a link to the gams at the top of the client screen if you look closely. I know, I spent $6,000 dollars on one game alone, fun whilst it lasted! But the devs won't fix bugs and the games die (WWII still in beta after 5 years! VIP in beta for 3, maybe that will stretch to 5+ years too?). It therefore appears the devs have time to amend the code on the bitcomet client, (new game launched just before Christmas. links amended in other older games to p***!!) they just prefer it appears, making money from the games side, rather than fix/improve issues with the torrent client! Stay relevant or die?

I can't be asked replying to the rest f what you say, life is too short my friend.. Time to find another client me thinks. Shame really 'cos I like bitcomet!

Edited February 5, 2014 by Scratchitandc (see edit history)

[The UnUsual Suspect]

If you have a problem with a game, you should go to the game forum and complain. This is a bitcomet forum for users to help each other and although I'd be glad to answer any questions, I'm not going to accommodate you if you're looking for a place to complain about being unhappy with a video game.

Enjoy your new client

[The UnUsual Suspect]

Since this topic was off topic it would normally be deleted, but I don't want members to feel they don't have the right to post their complaints about bitcomet, however this complaint seems to reveal it was based on a video game.

I'll leave it here for now as long as the discussion remains civil, at least for now.