{"id":2023024,"date":"2026-07-02T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2023024"},"modified":"2026-07-02T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T08:00:00","slug":"bittorrents-disastrous-legendary-and-controversial-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2023024","title":{"rendered":"BitTorrent\u2019s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><main id=\"content\"><\/p>\n<div class>\n<article>\n<div class=\"duet--article--lede duet--page-layout--feature-article\">\n<div class=\"duet--ledes--special-feature-lede gcd6w50\">\n<div class=\"gcd6w51 _1se63890\">\n<div class=\"gcd6w58\">\n<div class=\"_1xtd7xb7 _1xtd7xb4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_1044qiz6\">\n<div class=\"gcd6w52 _1044qiz3\">\n<div class=\"_1xtd7xb0 gcd6w56\">\n<div class=\"gcd6w57 _1xtd7xb1\">\n<div class=\"_19dn9e80\">\n<div class=\"_19dn9e82 _19dn9e81 sticky-nav-trigger\"><\/div>\n<div 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class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"duet--cta--button _11kb06m1 _11kb06m0 fv263x2 _11kb06mg\"><span><title>Follow<\/title><\/span><span>Follow<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tech\">See All <!-- -->Tech<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div id=\"follow-category-breadcrumb-dmcyOmNhdGVnb3J5OjU2\"><button aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-haspopup=\"true\"><span class=\"gnx4pm0 _1uf8q817 _19wv7tc5 _1618ekm0\"><span class=\"_1ajq89kj _1ajq89k6 _1ajq89k1 _1ajq89k0\"><\/span><span class=\"_1618ekm9\">Entertainment<\/span><\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<aside id=\"popover-dmcyOmNhdGVnb3J5OjU2-breadcrumb\" style=\"position:absolute;left:0;top:0\" class=\"_1wu3rm0 _1se63890\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<div class=\"_1wu3rm1\"><button class=\"_1wu3rm3\"><title>Close<\/title><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"_1wu3rm5\">Entertainment<\/div>\n<p class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"duet--cta--button _11kb06m1 _11kb06m0 fv263x2 _11kb06mg\"><span><title>Follow<\/title><\/span><span>Follow<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/entertainment\">See All <!-- -->Entertainment<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<div class>\n<h1 class=\"cbn62f3 cbn62f0 cbn62f9 _19wv7tcd _19wv7tc9 cbn62fe\">BitTorrent\u2019s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story<\/h1>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup cbn62fj cbn62fg _19wv7tcd _19wv7tc1 cbn62fe\">The file-sharing app launched 25 years ago and unleashed a wave of piracy that would shake Hollywood to its core.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_29pwo23 _29pwo20 _29pwo28\">\n<div class=\"_29pwo29\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-byline _19wv7tcd _1p3b6390\"><span class><span>by<\/span> <!-- --> <span aria-expanded=\"false\" role=\"button\"><span id=\"follow-author-author_byline_lead-dmcyOmF1dGhvclByb2ZpbGU6MTM1Ng==\" class=\"t0jcdf0 gnx4pm0 _1p3b6392 _1p3b6396 t0jcdf1\"><span class=\"t0jcdf2\"><span class=\"_1ajq89kj _1ajq89k6 _1ajq89k1 _1ajq89k0\"><\/span><\/span><span>Janko Roettgers<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<aside id=\"popover-dmcyOmF1dGhvclByb2ZpbGU6MTM1Ng==-author_byline_lead\" style=\"position:absolute;left:0;top:0\" class=\"_1wu3rm0 _1se63890\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<div class=\"_1wu3rm1\"><button class=\"_1wu3rm3\"><title>Close<\/title><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"_1bw37384\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Janko Roettgers\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1bw37385 i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/new_profile.avif?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_1wu3rm5 _1bw37380\">Janko Roettgers<\/div>\n<div class=\"_1bw37381\">\n<div class=\"_1bw37382\">Lowpass author, Verge contributor<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"duet--cta--button _11kb06m1 _11kb06m0 fv263x2 _11kb06mg\"><span><title>Follow<\/title><\/span><span>Follow<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/authors\/janko-roettgers\">See All by <!-- -->Janko Roettgers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw6 g4xafw1 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5 _19wv7tcd\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-02T11:00:00+00:00\">Jul 2, 2026, 11:00 AM 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src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/new_profile.avif?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=96\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"_4aoxp35\"><span aria-expanded=\"false\" role=\"button\"><span id=\"follow-author-feature_article_article_details-dmcyOmF1dGhvclByb2ZpbGU6MTM1Ng==\" class=\"t0jcdf0 gnx4pm0 _1p3b6392 _1p3b6393 t0jcdf1\"><span class=\"t0jcdf2\"><span class=\"_1ajq89k1 _1ajq89k0\"><\/span><\/span><span>Janko Roettgers<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<aside id=\"popover-dmcyOmF1dGhvclByb2ZpbGU6MTM1Ng==-feature_article_article_details\" style=\"position:absolute;left:0;top:0\" class=\"_1wu3rm0 _1se63890\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<div class=\"_1wu3rm1\"><button class=\"_1wu3rm3\"><title>Close<\/title><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"_1bw37384\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Janko Roettgers\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1bw37385 i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/new_profile.avif?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_1wu3rm5 _1bw37380\">Janko Roettgers<\/div>\n<div class=\"_1bw37381\">\n<div class=\"_1bw37382\">Lowpass author, Verge contributor<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"fv263x1\">Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"duet--cta--button _11kb06m1 _11kb06m0 fv263x2 _11kb06mg\"><span><title>Follow<\/title><\/span><span>Follow<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"fv263x4\"><a class=\"fv263x5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/authors\/janko-roettgers\">See All by <!-- -->Janko Roettgers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p> <span class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _4aoxp37\">is a tech reporter and author of the Lowpass newsletter.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"waimqt7 waimqt6\"><span class=\"_29pwo217\"><\/p>\n<ul class=\"duet--article--share-buttons _1e9wo7z0\">\n<li>\n<div class=\"_1e9wo7zo\"><button aria-label=\"Copy link\" class=\"_1e9wo7z5 _1e9wo7z1\"><title>Link<\/title><\/button><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li><button aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-haspopup=\"true\" aria-label=\"Share article\" class=\"_1e9wo7z5 _1e9wo7z1\"><title>Share<\/title><\/button><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><button aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-haspopup=\"true\" aria-label=\"Gift this article\" class=\"_1e9wo7z5 _1e9wo7z1\"><title>Gift<\/title><\/button><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/span><span class=\"_29pwo223 _1044qizr _29pwo217\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--layout--entry-body-container j2p4kx0 _1044qiz5\">\n<div class=\"j2p4kx1\">\n<div class=\"duet--layout--entry-body mebm7x0 mebm7x1\">\n<div id=\"zephr-anchor\" class>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b2 _18mzr4b0 _18mzr4b7 _18mzr4b5 _19wv7tc1 _18mzr4bb\">Twenty-five years ago today, a young, little-known programmer by the name of Bram Cohen fired off a <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20080129085545\/http:\/\/finance.groups.yahoo.com\/group\/decentralization\/message\/3160\">short message<\/a> to a mailing list for peer-to-peer enthusiasts. \u201cMy new app, BitTorrent, is now in working order, check it out here,\u201d Cohen wrote, followed by a link to his personal website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">\u201cWhat\u2019s BitTorrent, Bram?\u201d the founder of the list asked in response.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Cohen never bothered to reply. The world would find out soon enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">In the following years, BitTorrent quickly became the world\u2019s most popular file-sharing app, unleashing a massive wave of piracy that upended Hollywood forever. At one point, BitTorrent was said to be responsible for a huge amount of internet traffic \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/id\/wbna6738716\">some<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0140366411003896\">widely<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csd.uoc.gr\/~hy558\/papers\/bittorrent.pdf\">cited<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2005\/01\/bittorrent-2\/\">metrics<\/a> peg it at half of P2P and one-third of all internet traffic in 2004. And while the entertainment industry succeeded in shutting down file-sharing systems like Napster and Kazaa, it largely failed to curtail the massive flood of BitTorrent piracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">What stymied movie studios and record labels alike is exactly what makes the story of BitTorrent\u2019s 25th anniversary a gripping one. There\u2019s BitTorrent, the app that Cohen unveiled in July 2001 and which continues to attract tens of millions of monthly users to this day. There\u2019s BitTorrent, the file-sharing protocol, which has been adopted and advanced by hackers and developers from around the world, and which helped birth an entire cottage industry of piracy websites. And there\u2019s BitTorrent, the company cofounded by Cohen, which struggled for years to make money with its technology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">\u201cGoing into it, my plan was not to start a business,\u201d Cohen recalls. \u201cMy plan was to start a revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">This is the story of that revolution, and all that remains of it today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac1 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<hr class=\"duet--article--divider _1044qizj thksxb0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _18mzr4b6 _18mzr4b5 _19wv7tc1\">Cohen started working on BitTorrent soon after leaving Mojo Nation, a startup that had ambitious plans to combine file sharing, distributed computing, and micropayments, only to shut down in 2002 without ever really getting off the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Cohen helped Mojo Nation improve the efficiency of its file-sharing technology. His approach was to use something called swarming distribution: Instead of swapping large files between a few users at a time, the app would divide each file into lots of little chunks, and then allow large numbers (or swarms) of users to trade those chunks among themselves. The ethos of sharing was built into the software, insisting that users would help upload files instead of just downloading them selfishly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Cohen was disillusioned by the failure of Mojo Nation but not ready to give up on the underlying technology just yet. \u201cI decided to make a tool that very narrowly just did swarming distribution and nothing else, because that was a thing I knew how to do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac2 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-pullquote c39lj10\">\n<div class=\"c39lj11\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup c39lj12 _19wv7tc9\">\u201cMy plan was not to start a business. My plan was to start a revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">All this happened as P2P and file-sharing companies were facing massive headwinds. The music industry <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/SB944711263509285168?eafs_enabled=false\">sued Napster<\/a> at the end of 1999 and ultimately forced it to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2001\/07\/12\/technology\/ebusiness\/napster-is-told-to-remain-shut.html?eafs_enabled=false\">shut down<\/a> around the time Cohen first released BitTorrent. A few months after that, the entertainment industry <a href=\"https:\/\/mg.co.za\/news\/south-africa\/2001-10-03-recording-industry-sues-next-napster-companies\/\">sued Kazaa and Grokster<\/a>, followed by legal claims against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/archives\/la-xpm-2002-may-25-fi-audio25-story.html\">Audiogalaxy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2006\/08\/music-industry-squeezes-limewire\/\">LimeWire<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/edonkey-settles-with-majors-to-tune-of-30m-1350492\/\">eDonkey<\/a>, and other file-sharing systems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Despite some significant differences in their P2P architecture, all these apps ultimately lost in court or folded ahead of a likely legal defeat. Their Achilles\u2019 heel: They offered users a way to search for copyrighted files and then helped them find others to trade those files with. Courts deemed this contributory infringement, pointing to the fact that the owners of these services knew exactly which files their users were trading.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">BitTorrent was different. From the start, Cohen built the app without search functionality, instead relying on third-party websites for content discovery. He also didn\u2019t run a centralized server to help users discover other BitTorrent clients to trade content with, and instead outsourced that piece of the puzzle to so-called tracker servers. Websites dedicated to BitTorrent file sharing would offer a metadata file (the torrent file) for every download, which in turn pointed users to tracker servers that matched up users to facilitate the sharing. Simply put, BitTorrent was an app to help people trade data, but its developer had no way of knowing what that data was.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">That structure effectively shielded Cohen and the company he would eventually found from legal liability. To this day, BitTorrent remains the only major publisher of file-sharing software that hasn\u2019t gotten sued by Hollywood and the major labels. However, Cohen insists that the decision to outsource content search and client discovery wasn\u2019t primarily a shrewd legal maneuver, but a simple necessity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">After all, he was just one guy. \u201cMy hands were somewhat tied,\u201d he says. \u201cI was writing stuff on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac1 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<hr class=\"duet--article--divider _1044qizj thksxb0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _18mzr4b6 _18mzr4b5 _19wv7tc1\">Despite lacking the resources of much bigger P2P companies, Cohen\u2019s BitTorrent app quickly gained traction in tight-knit communities looking to trade large files. Among the first adopters was Etree, an online community of jam band enthusiasts. Bands like Phish and the Grateful Dead had long encouraged their fans to trade bootleg recordings of their shows with each other in the offline world. Etree brought this idea online with the help of BitTorrent, which allowed fans to share show recordings using high-resolution audio files that were simply too big to distribute any other way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">But pirated videos were like rocket fuel. \u201cWhen it started getting used for anime was when the numbers took off,\u201d Cohen says. Granted, that early success didn\u2019t quite measure up to the tens of millions of users apps like Kazaa were attracting at the time. \u201cIt was like, <em>Oh, look, we\u2019re getting a thousand downloads a day, that\u2019s massive<\/em>,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Things changed significantly with the emergence of major torrent sites, which allowed anyone to quickly find and download movies and TV shows. In 2002, a Slovenian high school student launched <a href=\"http:\/\/suprnova.org\">Suprnova.org<\/a>, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/culture\/bittorrent-file-swapping-networks-face-crisis\/\">reportedly attracted<\/a> up to a million users a day before its closure in 2004. And in 2003, a ragtag group of hackers founded The Pirate Bay in Sweden. With its open embrace of illicit content and an F-you attitude toward Hollywood, the site turned into a kind of lightning rod for self-described pirates and copyright enforcers alike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac2 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-pullquote c39lj10\">\n<div class=\"c39lj11\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup c39lj12 _19wv7tc9\">\u201cIt was so fast that we initially thought something was broken.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">While these sites quickly became household names, countless others sprung up all across the globe in their shadows. Some catered to specific interests like anime, porn, or \u201970s B movies, while others simply welcomed everyone and everything. And while copyright holders were able to shutter some sites, others survived, or reemerged under different names or domains. Plus, all those lawsuits generated countless headlines, effectively promoting BitTorrent to new audiences. By 2004, BitTorrent traffic exploded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">The surge of interest didn\u2019t just alarm rightsholders. It also put some significant strain on BitTorrent\u2019s infrastructure, including the tracker servers that helped users discover each other. One popular tracker, Denis.Stalker.H3Q.com, was run by a trio of German hackers associated with the local Chaos Computer Club.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Initially, their tracker ran server software Cohen had written in conjunction with the BitTorrent client app. But as BitTorrent gained in popularity, their server, which was just a single computer humming along in a kitchen somewhere in Berlin, was bombarded with hundreds of requests per second, slowing it to a crawl.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">That\u2019s when Dirk Engling, a member of the trio who is also known as Erdgeist in German hacker circles, decided to build a better-performing tracker software from scratch. He dubbed his server software Opentracker, and the difference was like night and day: While the Denis.Stalker server previously always ran hot, Engling\u2019s code put a sudden stop to the near-constant fan noise. \u201cIt was so fast that we initially thought something was broken,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Engling is not as well known as Cohen. But back then, he made a fateful decision that ultimately helped BitTorrent scale to surpass all other file-sharing networks in popularity. Instead of just using his code on the Denis.Stalker tracker, Engling <a href=\"https:\/\/erdgeist.org\/arts\/software\/opentracker\/\">published it online<\/a>, free to download for anyone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Opentracker quickly took off and was adopted by major torrent sites like The Pirate Bay as their tracker solution of choice. Many of these big sites relied on third-party tracker servers like Denis.Stalker, but for years also ran their own trackers as fallback solutions. Every torrent file can point to multiple tracker servers, so sharing continued when one server went down. (Eventually, BitTorrent added further decentralization to allow trackerless trading, but tracker servers remain to this day an important part of the ecosystem.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">\u201cBack then, it was a radical political idea,\u201d Engling says. The thought was to allow anyone to distribute large amounts of data without having to rely on expensive servers \u2014 and if some of that was used for piracy, so be it. \u201cIt was a movement to democratize [file sharing],\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Engling, for one, wasn\u2019t in it for the money. He distributed Opentracker as \u201cbeerware,\u201d an open-source license guided by the notion that anyone who found it useful should buy him a beer, as he half-jokingly explained in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Vzh8F408CJg\">2007 talk<\/a>. \u201cI thought: A lot of people are using BitTorrent, so\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac1 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<hr class=\"duet--article--divider _1044qizj thksxb0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _18mzr4b6 _18mzr4b5 _19wv7tc1\">Back in the United States, Cohen quickly realized that relying on the goodwill of others \u2014 especially people who used his software to download content for free \u2014 didn\u2019t pay the bills. In 2004, he founded BitTorrent Inc. to transform the revolution he had started into an actual business. \u201cThat didn\u2019t work so well, unfortunately,\u201d he now concedes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">BitTorrent raised $8.75 million in funding in 2005, followed by another $20 million round in 2006. The money helped the company to staff up, but it also put pressure on Cohen and his teammates to somehow turn an app that was beloved by pirates into a legitimate business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">As part of these efforts, the company struck deals with Hollywood to launch a movie download store called the BitTorrent Entertainment Network, which launched with thousands of titles from Warner Bros., Paramount, and MGM in early 2007. However, the company quickly realized that selling DRM-protected movies to an audience that already had access to the same titles for free was a fool\u2019s errand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac2 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-pullquote c39lj10\">\n<div class=\"c39lj11\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup c39lj12 _19wv7tc9\">\u201cBack then, it was a radical political idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">\u201cThat didn\u2019t work at all,\u201d says a former senior BitTorrent employee who declined to be named in this story because of fear of repercussions from his current employer. Not only did people not want to buy movies from BitTorrent, but minimum guarantee provisions in its contracts with Hollywood also forced the company to fork over millions of dollars for content no one wanted to buy. \u201cIt kind of worked out for the studios,\u201d the former employee says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">\u201cThere were gotchas [in those] deals that made them essentially unworkable,\u201d Cohen agrees. \u201cThe big copyright holders were perfectly happy with where things [were], and basically didn\u2019t want to create the streaming systems that we have today.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">BitTorrent closed the download store less than two years after its launch while also <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/bits.blogs.nytimes.com\/2008\/11\/07\/bittorrent-sacks-half-its-staff\/\">laying off half of its staff<\/a> amid a recapitalization. In the years that followed, the company kept trying to figure out other business models, from P2P CDNs to decentralized chat clients \u2014 only to hit roadblocks at every turn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">The big issue was always piracy. BitTorrent successfully avoided legal liability, but it couldn\u2019t get rid of its outlaw image. That made it impossible to strike deals that were open to others, Cohen says. \u201cWhen you\u2019re doing slightly sketchy things, the world doesn\u2019t want to give you a nice off-ramp.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac2 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-pullquote c39lj10\">\n<div class=\"c39lj11\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup c39lj12 _19wv7tc9\">\u201cI never should have brought on anybody else at all. I could have simply gotten enough money off of doing the slightly sketchy stuff just on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">One thing that worked was advertising. In addition to including ads directly in its products, BitTorrent would also bundle third-party tools with its installers and get a small cut when someone installed a browser toolbar or a similar app alongside the BitTorrent client. But while the ad money was paying the bills, it wasn\u2019t meeting the expectations of BitTorrent\u2019s investors looking for a lucrative exit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">\u201cThe [app download] numbers kept growing, but a lot of the use cases were never going to be the kind that you could legitimately either IPO or sell to another company,\u201d the former employee says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac1 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<hr class=\"duet--article--divider _1044qizj thksxb0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _18mzr4b6 _18mzr4b5 _19wv7tc1\">BitTorrent Inc.\u2019s struggles were in stark contrast to the success of Cohen\u2019s technology. \u201cWe were moving an exabyte of data every month,\u201d the former senior employee estimates. BitTorrent owed much of its popularity to the wars around file sharing, which got a new poster child when Swedish authorities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theregister.com\/offbeat\/2006\/05\/31\/swedish-police-scupper-piratebay\/967988\">raided<\/a> The Pirate Bay in 2006.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">The battle between rightsholders and The Pirate Bay is perhaps the best-known part of the BitTorrent saga. The site was up and running again days after the raid, thanks in part to BitTorrent\u2019s distributed architecture. The Pirate Bay didn\u2019t run a file-sharing network, and taking its servers didn\u2019t stop people from downloading BitTorrent\u2019s client, or finding each other via tracker servers. All the raid took offline was a public list of downloadable torrent files, and all it took to get that back online was a recent server backup.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Undeterred, rightsholders and law enforcement continued their crusade against BitTorrent pirates and their alleged enablers, including the three cofounders of The Pirate Bay. After getting charged with criminal copyright infringement in early 2008, in April 2009 they were each sentenced to a one-year prison term and ordered to pay financial damages. Much to Hollywood\u2019s chagrin, their site nonetheless stayed online. The exact identity of The Pirate Bay\u2019s new operators remains a mystery to this day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Hollywood\u2019s fight against pirates also had repercussions for the German hackers responsible for much of BitTorrent\u2019s tracker infrastructure. Used by a number of big torrent sites, the Denis.Stalker tracker attracted around 100 million daily peers at its peak, which were trading a million files every single day, according to Engling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac2 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-pullquote c39lj10\">\n<div class=\"c39lj11\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup c39lj12 _19wv7tc9\">\u201cWhen you\u2019re doing slightly sketchy things, the world doesn\u2019t want to give you a nice off-ramp.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">One day, the Berlin police\u2019s economic crimes unit raided the apartment of one of the three people involved in running the tracker server, confiscating every piece of equipment they could find, according to Engling. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t imagine that anyone was running something like this without making any money with it,\u201d he says. However, money was the last thing on the trio\u2019s mind. In the same aforementioned talk, held during the Chaos Computer Club\u2019s annual conference between Christmas and New Year\u2019s, they explained their motivation with three simple words: \u201cBecause we can.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Charging them for knowingly facilitating copyright infringement wasn\u2019t possible either, as tracker servers simply match users by hash values and never see the actual files being traded. Ultimately, the case was dismissed, according to Engling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">\u201cThose were the wild early days,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac1 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<hr class=\"duet--article--divider _1044qizj thksxb0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _18mzr4b6 _18mzr4b5 _19wv7tc1\">Things changed rapidly in subsequent years. Unable to put an end to torrent sites and trackers, rightsholders shifted their focus to end users. In some jurisdictions, including Germany, this can be extremely lucrative. Law offices can effectively send cease and desist letters that double as invoices for hundreds of euros per traded file to alleged offenders, threatening them with full-blown lawsuits if they don\u2019t pay up. Germany\u2019s <em>Stern<\/em> magazine <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stern.de\/digital\/computer\/illegale-downloads-das-millionengeschaeft-mit-den-abmahnungen-3782420.html\">estimated<\/a> that local file sharers received claims for around \u20ac120 million in 2010 alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">That led to end users embracing VPNs to protect themselves \u2014 and torrent sites cashing in on that trend by adding ads for privacy services to their sites. With that, torrent sites were starting to become a major moneymaker. One 2014 study <a href=\"https:\/\/media.gractions.com\/314A5A5A9ABBBBC5E3BD824CF47C46EF4B9D3A76\/4af7db7f-03e7-49cb-aeb8-ad0671a4e1c7.pdf\">estimated<\/a> that torrent sites generated around $114 million in ad revenue that year. In addition to VPNs, torrent sites have long been hawking anything from porn to dating to online casinos, with the occasional malware download thrown in for good measure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">These days, some sites also use elaborate schemes to hijack otherwise legitimate advertising and affiliate revenues. One such trick: When someone uses a torrent site, their browser opens an Amazon page for an extremely random product in the background. Toothpaste, maybe, or perhaps a totally unremarkable sweater. The goal isn\u2019t to sell those specific products, but to plant a cookie on the visitor\u2019s machine. If they order anything from Amazon in the following 24 hours, the pirates earn some affiliate revenue \u2014 a tactic known as <a href=\"https:\/\/chargebacks911.com\/cookie-stuffing\/\">cookie stuffing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">\u201cIt\u2019s whatever the latest scam is,\u201d says Engling, sounding disillusioned about what has become of the BitTorrent world he helped create. \u201cThe idea of democratization got lost,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">But while Torrent sites were making bank, BitTorrent Inc. continued to struggle. \u201cI did a good enough job of keeping the wheels from falling off the bus, keeping our core product working,\u201d Cohen says. Efforts to move beyond file sharing, however, kept failing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">That included Cohen\u2019s next big bet: For years, he worked on adapting the company\u2019s tech for low-latency livestreaming. BitTorrent Live, as the initiative was called, even shipped consumer apps, and the company was briefly working on building a kind of live online TV service. In 2017, the company <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2017\/digital\/news\/bittorrent-live-shutting-down-1202402117\/\">pulled the plug on those efforts<\/a> and laid off almost the entire BitTorrent Live team. \u201cThis is part of the world being out to get you,\u201d Cohen says, clearly still bitter that the project wasn\u2019t given a chance. \u201cThat was a product that worked great and was ready to go, and was just outright fucking killed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac2 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-pullquote c39lj10\">\n<div class=\"c39lj11\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup c39lj12 _19wv7tc9\">\u201cThey couldn\u2019t imagine that anyone was running something like this without making any money with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Soon after, BitTorrent Inc. <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2018\/digital\/news\/bittorrent-acquisition-tron-justin-sun-1202841793\/\">got sold<\/a> to controversial crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who went on to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bizjournals.com\/sanfrancisco\/news\/2023\/01\/20\/p2p-bittorrent-rainberry-tech-layoffs-torrent.html\">shutter the company\u2019s SF office<\/a> after a few <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/21459906\/bittorrent-tron-acquisition-justin-sun-us-china\">very tumultuous years<\/a> and now operates the company from overseas. (BitTorrent did not respond to multiple requests for comment.) \u201cIt eventually got an even sketchier exit than it had been all along,\u201d Cohen quips.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Looking back, Cohen believes that many of BitTorrent\u2019s troubles could have been avoided if he hadn\u2019t gone down the typical path of a VC-backed startup. Perhaps he should have just done his own thing \u2014 not unlike the path Engling chose, except more focused on modest revenue and less on free beer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">\u201cI never should have brought on anybody else at all,\u201d Cohen says. \u201cI could have simply gotten enough money off of doing the slightly sketchy stuff just on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac1 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<hr class=\"duet--article--divider _1044qizj thksxb0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _18mzr4b6 _18mzr4b5 _19wv7tc1\">How many people still use BitTorrent today is unknown. The days of it making up a third of all internet traffic are clearly over, with <a href=\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/bittorrent-is-no-longer-the-king-of-upstream-internet-traffic-240315\/\">one estimate suggesting<\/a> that it now contributes less to residential upstream traffic than iCloud and FaceTime. BitTorrent Inc., the company cofounded by Cohen and now owned by Sun, claims that its clients still have <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BitTorrent\/status\/2003355445331706324\">54 million monthly users<\/a>. Popular third-party clients like Transmission, BiglyBT, and qBittorrent likely attract millions more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/iknowwhatyoudownload.com\/\">I know what you download<\/a>, a website that tracks usage across multiple torrent sites, estimates that about 0.25 percent of all internet users download torrents on any given day. \u201cThe number of torrent users [has been] pretty stable over the last eight years,\u201d says the site\u2019s admin, Andrey Rogov. Data Rogov shared with<em> The Verge <\/em>shows Russia, where Netflix and other streaming services aren\u2019t legally available due to sanctions related to the Ukraine war, as BitTorrent\u2019s biggest market. The United States ranks second.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Engling doesn\u2019t have any data on the total usage of Opentracker, but he does at times look at the publicly available reporting dashboards of popular torrent trackers running his software. That data suggests we may be seeing a resurgence. \u201cIn absolute numbers, it has gotten more,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac2 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-pullquote c39lj10\">\n<div class=\"c39lj11\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup c39lj12 _19wv7tc9\">\u201cIt\u2019s whatever the latest scam is. The idea of democratization got lost.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">One reason? Streaming is getting awfully expensive these days. For a while, people were fine paying for Netflix and Disney Plus instead of downloading movies and shows for free. \u201cAt some point, it flipped,\u201d Engling says. \u201cAn increasing number of consumers who previously paid are dusting off their pirate hats.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Amid that resurgence, he still sometimes tinkers with Opentracker\u2019s code, reenergized by new technical challenges. And just last month, a Spanish anime fan took him out for beers in Berlin to thank him for his contribution to BitTorrent\u2019s global infrastructure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Cohen, on the other hand, is more than happy to leave that chapter of his life in the past, and instead focus on his blockchain startup Chia Network. \u201cI don\u2019t really care to revisit BitTorrent too much,\u201d he says. Except, if you start a revolution, some of it always stays with you, whether you like it or not. What haunts him to this day are the struggles that came with turning BitTorrent Inc. into a venture-funded startup, and ultimately a profitable business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _18mzr4ba _19wv7tc1\">\u201cYou know how people say they wake up their whole lives with nightmares that it\u2019s the morning of a final exam in grad school? I never had those,\u201d Cohen says. \u201cI do get nightmares about board meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--block-placement _1xorkac1 _1xorkac0 duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1h0hdr20\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tly2fw0\"><span class=\"tly2fw2\"><strong>Follow topics and authors<\/strong> from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"tly2fw3\">\n<li id=\"follow-author-article_footer-dmcyOmF1dGhvclByb2ZpbGU6MTM1Ng==\"><span aria-expanded=\"false\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"gnx4pm0 _1uf8q814 _19wv7tc5 _1618ekm0\"><span class=\"_1ajq89kf _1ajq89k1 _1ajq89k0\"><\/span><span class=\"_1618ekm9\">Janko Roettgers<\/span><\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<aside id=\"popover-dmcyOmF1dGhvclByb2ZpbGU6MTM1Ng==-article_footer\" style=\"position:absolute;left:0;top:0\" class=\"_1wu3rm0 _1se63890\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<div 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class=\"_1hofmaw0\">\n<div class>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card up4voo0 _7uluu53\">\n<div class=\"up4voo7 up4voop up4vooa _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Apple\u2019s entry-level MacBook Pro could be up for a redesign\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Apple-MacBook-Pro-14-in-hero-251015.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=7.8125%2C0%2C84.375%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"up4voo6\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/news\/960541\/apple-macbook-pro-entry-level-redesign-ipad-pro-update\">Apple\u2019s entry-level MacBook Pro could be up for a redesign<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card up4voo0 _7uluu53\">\n<div class=\"up4voo7 up4voop up4vooa _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Elon Musk denies a report about SpaceX\u2019s AI phone prototype\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25355897\/STK022_ELON_MUSK_CVIRGINIA_D.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0.95588235294118%2C0%2C98.088235294118%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"up4voo6\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/science\/960442\/spacex-phone-prototype-elon-musk\">Elon Musk denies a report about SpaceX\u2019s AI phone prototype<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card up4voo0 _7uluu53\">\n<div class=\"up4voo7 up4voop up4vooa _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25283724\/STK048_XBOX_C.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0.95588235294118%2C0%2C98.088235294118%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"up4voo6\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/report\/960173\/microsoft-xbox-disc-to-digital-feature-physical-game-collection\">Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card up4voo0 _7uluu53\">\n<div class=\"up4voo7 up4voop up4vooa _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"My favorite Kindle alternative is $30 off after a recent price increase\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25382590\/S8___LIBRA_HERO_MARK_UPS___EN.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0.024402147388969%2C100%2C99.951195705222&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"up4voo6\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/gadgets\/960282\/kobo-libra-colour-july-fourth-sale-deal-sale\">My favorite Kindle alternative is $30 off after a recent price increase<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card up4voo0 _7uluu53\">\n<div class=\"up4voo7 up4voop up4vooa _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sony is killing all physical PlayStation game discs\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25717608\/247361_PS5_Pro_VPavic_55.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0.03673769287289%2C100%2C99.926524614254&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"up4voo6\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/games\/960160\/sony-playstation-disc-production-ending\">Sony is killing all physical PlayStation game discs<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card up4voo0 _7uluu53\">\n<div class=\"up4voo7 up4voop up4vooa _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Google built a great smart speaker, but Gemini isn\u2019t ready for it\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/268614_Google_Home_Speaker_JTuohy_0009.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"_1j7g5t30 xhcq400\">\n<p class=\"xhcq401\">6<\/p>\n<p class=\"xhcq402\">Verge Score<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"up4voo6\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tech\/959503\/google-home-speaker-review-gemini-for-home\">Google built a great smart speaker, but Gemini isn\u2019t ready for it<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_1hofmaw2\">\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj1 _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqjj _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqj7 _1ismqj6 _1ismqjc _1ismqjh _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Apple\u2019s entry-level MacBook Pro could be up for a redesign\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjf i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Apple-MacBook-Pro-14-in-hero-251015.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=21.875%2C0%2C56.25%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Apple\u2019s entry-level MacBook Pro could be up for a redesign\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjg i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Apple-MacBook-Pro-14-in-hero-251015.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=7.8125%2C0%2C84.375%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd3 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/news\/960541\/apple-macbook-pro-entry-level-redesign-ipad-pro-update\">Apple\u2019s entry-level MacBook Pro could be up for a redesign<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jelpepd jelpep0\"><span><span class=\"_1g89o322 _19wv7tc5\"><span><span>Jay Peters<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw2 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5 _1044qizs\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T22:39:43+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj1 _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqj7 _1ismqj6 _1ismqjc _1ismqjh _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Elon Musk denies a report about SpaceX\u2019s AI phone prototype\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjf i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25355897\/STK022_ELON_MUSK_CVIRGINIA_D.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=17.303921568627%2C0%2C65.392156862745%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Elon Musk denies a report about SpaceX\u2019s AI phone prototype\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjg i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25355897\/STK022_ELON_MUSK_CVIRGINIA_D.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0.95588235294118%2C0%2C98.088235294118%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd3 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/science\/960442\/spacex-phone-prototype-elon-musk\">Elon Musk denies a report about SpaceX\u2019s AI phone prototype<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jelpepd jelpep0\"><span><span class=\"_1g89o322 _19wv7tc5\"><span><span>Emma Roth<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw2 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5 _1044qizs\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T20:10:21+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj1 _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqj7 _1ismqj6 _1ismqjc _1ismqjh _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjf i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25283724\/STK048_XBOX_C.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=17.303921568627%2C0%2C65.392156862745%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjg i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25283724\/STK048_XBOX_C.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0.95588235294118%2C0%2C98.088235294118%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd3 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/report\/960173\/microsoft-xbox-disc-to-digital-feature-physical-game-collection\">Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jelpepd jelpep0\"><span><span class=\"_1g89o322 _19wv7tc5\"><span><span>Tom Warren<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw2 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5 _1044qizs\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T17:41:23+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj1 _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqj7 _1ismqj6 _1ismqjc _1ismqjh _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"My favorite Kindle alternative is $30 off after a recent price increase\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjf i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25382590\/S8___LIBRA_HERO_MARK_UPS___EN.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=16.650390625%2C0%2C66.69921875%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"My favorite Kindle alternative is $30 off after a recent price increase\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjg i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25382590\/S8___LIBRA_HERO_MARK_UPS___EN.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0.024402147388969%2C100%2C99.951195705222&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd3 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/gadgets\/960282\/kobo-libra-colour-july-fourth-sale-deal-sale\">My favorite Kindle alternative is $30 off after a recent price increase<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jelpepd jelpep0\"><span><span class=\"_1g89o322 _19wv7tc5\"><span><span>Sheena Vasani<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw2 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5 _1044qizs\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T16:28:40+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj1 _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqj7 _1ismqj6 _1ismqjc _1ismqjh _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sony is killing all physical PlayStation game discs\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjf i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25717608\/247361_PS5_Pro_VPavic_55.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=16.642156862745%2C0%2C66.71568627451%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sony is killing all physical PlayStation game discs\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjg i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/chorus\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/25717608\/247361_PS5_Pro_VPavic_55.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0.03673769287289%2C100%2C99.926524614254&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd3 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/games\/960160\/sony-playstation-disc-production-ending\">Sony is killing all physical PlayStation game discs<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jelpepd jelpep0\"><span><span class=\"_1g89o322 _19wv7tc5\"><span><span>Dominic Preston<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw2 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5 _1044qizs\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T12:15:13+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj1 _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqjk _1ismqjl _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqj7 _1ismqj6 _1ismqjc _1ismqjh _1cnxcye3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Google built a great smart speaker, but Gemini isn\u2019t ready for it\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjf i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/268614_Google_Home_Speaker_JTuohy_0009.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Google built a great smart speaker, but Gemini isn\u2019t ready for it\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1ismqjg i7ks070\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;filter: url(%23b);)\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/268614_Google_Home_Speaker_JTuohy_0009.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&amp;w=2400\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd3 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tech\/959503\/google-home-speaker-review-gemini-for-home\">Google built a great smart speaker, but Gemini isn\u2019t ready for it<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jelpepd jelpep0\"><span><span class=\"_1g89o322 _19wv7tc5\"><span><span>Jennifer Pattison Tuohy<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw2 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5 _1044qizs\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T12:00:00+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--ad--native-ad-linkset _14xz0mv4 _14xz0mv5 _14xz0mva hidden\" data-native-ad-id=\"container\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"visually-hidden\">\n<div class=\"dynamic-native-ad-native_ad_linkset_link\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/\" aria-label=\"Advertisement\"><\/p>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"_14xz0mv7\"><span data-native-ad-id=\"preamble\" class=\"_14xz0mv8 _14xz0mv9\">Advertiser Content From<\/span><\/p>\n<div><img data-native-ad-id=\"logo\" src alt=\"Sponsor Logo\" class=\"_14xz0mvg\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"_14xz0mvj\" data-native-ad-id=\"title\">This is the title for the native ad<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"e3czlx6\">\n<div class=\"duet--layout--header-pattern _75r1tr2\">\n<div class=\"_75r1tr3\">\n<div class=\"duet--layout--page-header bpecqn0\">\n<div class=\"bpecqnj bpecqnf\">\n<h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup bpecqno bpecqnm _19wv7tc2\">Top Stories<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sticky-nav-trigger\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_75r1tr4\">\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqjj _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"jelpep4 jelpep0\"><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw8 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T15:00:00+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/games\/960212\/sony-playstation-killing-discs-digital-preservation\">Sony is killing discs \u2014 and showing us why it\u2019s a terrible idea<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"jelpep4 jelpep0\"><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw8 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T11:00:02+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/cs\/features\/938196\/rivian-r2-ev-factory-supply-chain\">Rivian makes the iconic American car \u2014 but that may not be enough<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"jelpep4 jelpep0\"><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw8 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T17:41:23+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/report\/960173\/microsoft-xbox-disc-to-digital-feature-physical-game-collection\">Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--content-cards--content-card _1ismqj0 _7uluu53 _1ismqjk _1ismqjl _1ismqj5\">\n<div class=\"_1ismqji\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class>\n<div class=\"jelpep4 jelpep0\"><span class=\"duet--article--timestamp g4xafw8 g4xafw0 _19wv7tc5\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-01T12:00:00+00:00\">Jul 1<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"_19wv7tc9 _1d4s5vd7 _1d4s5vd0\"><a class=\"_7uluu50 _7uluu54 _7uluu55\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tech\/959503\/google-home-speaker-review-gemini-for-home\">Google built a great smart speaker, but Gemini isn\u2019t ready for it<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tech Close Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowFollow See All Tech Entertainment Close Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowFollow See All Entertainment BitTorrent\u2019s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story The file-sharing app [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,250],"class_list":["post-2023024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-theverge-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2023024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2023024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2023024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2023024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2023024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}