Reseed Etiquette Questions
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First please be kind in your responses even if my questions are dumb. I am mainly asking because my ISP limits my downloads/uploads and I have to manage how many files I download/upload at one time.
I got several reseed requests in the past couple of days which prompts those questions:
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One of those requests was from an older torrent whose file I had on a hard drive. Got the file back on my computer, redowloaded the torrent and started seeding… A day and some later still no activity (read: leecher didn't leech).
Now first question is: how long should a reseeder ethically wait before giving up on reseeding if the leecher who was interested doesn't actually leech?
Until they get their file, no matter how long? A day? A week? -
Some of the requests came from people with very low ratios. Is it ethical to use that criteria to judge whether responding to the request (again, if I had unlimited options I would respond regardless but since reseeding a file means seeding other current files less because of limited capacity I wonder if I should prioritize)? Can other criteria count (low ratio but long-time contributor, low-ratio and brand new etc)?
Wondering if it is ethical or it is our duty to respond to all reseed requests to the best of our availability
Thanks for answering my questions if you can. Hope those had not been litigated before and I somehow missed it in which case I apologize.
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Hi there.
1. Great effort on your part, but sometimes due to geography, the leecher's ISP speeds, leecher's client port forwarding configuration, etc, you will be unable to upload to that requester directly due to network limitations. It is largely out of the seeder's and leecher's control.
How long should a reseeder continue on for ? - It's entirely up to you, as it is entirely based on goodwill. There is no penalty or reward for fulfilling the uploading request, and as far as I know, there is no practical way of tracking it (i.e. which specific user seeded what and how much to specifically whom), nor can I see why a tracker would want to keep logs of this on every single user - the data would be enormous and quite useless. Continuing on from my initial point, there is therefore no guideline for how long a reseeder should continue doing so.2. Again, I would base it on goodwill. Those will low ratios will have to find ways to get their act together (upload a new file, use freeleech only, etc). I think it is pointless to judge others, as each user has unique circumstances and there is no use in assuming anything.
Ethical ? No comment. Is torrenting porn taken from somewhere ethical in itself ?
Your duty ? No. It is but a request.
Best of our ability ? Yes. Do what you can. -
1. Sometimes there are problems connecting to seeds. Today I got a request to reseed a torrent that I was already seeding and it appeared to have one other seeder as well for two seeders and one leecher total. So I made the torrent freeleech for 24 hours to bring in enough other leechers so that at least someone can connect to a seeder so that the data will start flowing all around. The more seeders and leechers, the better. It's now at 3 seeders and 3 leechers just a half hour later.
If you are going to go to the trouble of actually downloading the torrent file and reseeding, give it a couple of weeks, especially if you can see that there is a leecher trying to download. It may take other downloaders joining in to make the connections needed. If a torrent is inactive and no data is being uploaded or downloaded, that shouldn't affect your ISP limits as they are most likely related to data rates and total volume rather than the actual raw number of torrents that are sitting in your torrent client inactive.
2. If you have fewer resources than needed to meet demand then you must necessarily allocate those resources if you can't increase the available resources or lower demand. You could use whatever criteria you like to decide when to reseed and I think any of the ones you suggested would be fine.
You might also look at how many other seeders there are 24 or 72 hours later when there is a reseed request and then decide. Those requests seem to produce a slow response as many people only actively manage their torrents and check torrent websites on an occasional basis. Sometimes I have tried to download a torrent with no seeders for months and then one day when I look at my torrent software, it's sitting there complete. There are some seeders with a very high upload rate that apparently seed intermittently or seed so much that there is a queue. So there may be a lot of seeders a few days later and your seed simply won't be needed.
My personal torrent ethics acknowledge that it is an "honor among thieves" or "pirates' agreement" situation as ssd points out above. The primary rule I adhere to is that I always give more than I take.
Since I provide little new content, that means seeding what I've leeched. All of the videos that I download are generally seeded as long as the torrent file itself can be downloaded.However, if there are already a lot of seeders on something I've downloaded that I don't intend to keep indefinitely, I will delete that file after I'm through with it instead of seeding it as the need is greater elsewhere, on files without a lot of seeders. Basically I try to sustain torrents for the long term and it's the ones of limited interest that most need seeders and that are most appreciated by those who download them.
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Very very interesting insights. I appreciate both of you taking the time to share your perspective and it did give me gruel for thought.
Thank you! :hug: -
First please be kind in your responses even if my questions are dumb. I am mainly asking because my ISP limits my downloads/uploads and I have to manage how many files I download/upload at one time.
I got several reseed requests in the past couple of days which prompts those questions:
-
One of those requests was from an older torrent whose file I had on a hard drive. Got the file back on my computer, redowloaded the torrent and started seeding… A day and some later still no activity (read: leecher didn't leech).
Now first question is: how long should a reseeder ethically wait before giving up on reseeding if the leecher who was interested doesn't actually leech?
Until they get their file, no matter how long? A day? A week? -
Some of the requests came from people with very low ratios. Is it ethical to use that criteria to judge whether responding to the request (again, if I had unlimited options I would respond regardless but since reseeding a file means seeding other current files less because of limited capacity I wonder if I should prioritize)? Can other criteria count (low ratio but long-time contributor, low-ratio and brand new etc)?
Wondering if it is ethical or it is our duty to respond to all reseed requests to the best of our availability
Thanks for answering my questions if you can. Hope those had not been litigated before and I somehow missed it in which case I apologize.
Question #1 Don't stress yourself. Personally, many times I don't realize there have been a request, and by that time the requester has downloaded it. LOL. Anytime you get a request, immediately look at the number of leeches in the torrent post. If it says "0," then don't break your neck, because chances are, either someone already filled the request, or they were getting it for someone else and changed their mind. Once you make an original post, and you've seeded it to the required time, you are under no obligation to keep seeding a request. Only if you want to.
Question #2 This is a moral thing. To tell you the truth, sometimes I struggle with that issue. The reason being, people come here from all over the world; and in some countries their internet is horrendous! Yet, I tell myself, why the fuck are they even using torrents? Then you realize, if you're poor, there really isn't anything else they can afford. The bottom line is, this is a moral issue I guess. To me, no matter what excuse you make, anyone who signs up for a private tracker KNOWS you need to seed. You may not have a lot of technical aptitude, you should know enough that you need to seed. If that person don't know how to upload, there are mechanisms in place to remedy that, ie donations…. So..... I don't forgive people quickly when I see a fucked up ratio. Sorry.
-AOS
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Also, take into account the fact that port forwarding is CRITICAL for our tracker. If the port your torrent client uses is not forwarded through your router or VPN to your computer, both in TCP and UDP, you will have a plethora of troubles trying to get any upload traffic, especially if there are other active and connectable peers in the pool.
I cannot stress the importance of this enough.
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Also, take into account the fact that port forwarding is CRITICAL for our tracker. If the port your torrent client uses is not forwarded through your router or VPN to your computer, both in TCP and UDP, you will have a plethora of troubles trying to get any upload traffic, especially if there are other active and connectable peers in the pool.
I cannot stress the importance of this enough.
Port forwarding really doesn't have anything to do with any tracker, and it's extremely rare nowadays that someone would have to port forward. Unless you are playing certain high-end internet games that require it.
