Can BitTorrent Help Enable Old Time Radio Researchers Group Wider Downloading of Their Library?

IVI on 03/05/2019 - 12:52
Last edited 03/05/2019 - 13:06 by 1 other user

So, this week's CBC show "Under the Influence" of Marketing, by the way mentioned Stan Freberg & some other old-time comedians, shows, etc. From its citations I got to radio show: "Dragnet" (1 of whose sponsors was "Fatima cigarettes" BTW)

Then, to OTRR - Old Time Radio Researchers Group:
+ OTRRLibrary.org &
+ OTRR.org

They let 1 download, but got Limits 10GB, 50 each and maybe others.

A question occurred to me: Can BitTorrent protocol, and its BT Clients be useful in some way, eg to help:
Give More folks access to OTRR's library -without- requiring them 2 -limit- their resource consumption?

I think all items in the OTRR Library are Public Domain (or equivalent.), it's OK to download 'em. It's just OTRR's current server, etc. that seem to give them cause to limit non-member public users' usage, as they seem to do.

Now, I don't know enough about BT's protocol, etc to know all trade offs, if any could make BT a bad idea, as another means of giving the public access to OTRR's Library. That's why I'm turning to our "Brain Trust" (you)! If you know something on BT, for this application I'd really appreciate a link to authoritative details on how to implement BT for their purpose.

BTW, I thought to get your opinions and information now, before asking OTRR whether they'd want any "alternate path" like BT to be made available to
others. If they purpose is genuine, I can't see why they would Neg it but they can make it hard to get much of their show Library into any "competing" free system.

What do you think (technically) of the idea? What would it required? Is it both easy to maintain and use by public?

Thanks, Gang!

• 

  [Deactivated] on 03/05/2019 - 12:55

  +2

  Fix the formatting and I may possibly read your post.

  May I suggest grammarly?

  Edit: thanks baysew

• 

  blitz on 03/05/2019 - 13:23

  Archive.org already has a huge old time radio archive, some provided by the Old Time Radio Researchers, with torrent support:
  https://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio

  • 

    IVI on 11/05/2019 - 04:16

    How easy is it to "bulk-download"
    any of their collections?

• 

  Clear on 03/05/2019 - 13:30

  I think it could definitely help. With seeding being the core part of torrenting, those who have already downloaded can share those files with others who are downloading. It's also helpful for those with slower/unstable internet who run the risk of the downloading failing while with a torrent it can start and stop.

  Raspberry Pi for example have either a direct download of a 2GB zip file of their Raspbian OS or a torrent file. I did a quick test and my direct download was around ~6.7 MB/s and the torrent was ~11.3 MB/s.

• 

  spackbace on 03/05/2019 - 13:50

  +2

  IVI

  So apparently the reason for the weird formatting in your posts/comments is the magnification or something on your iPad? Can you please create a post and ask for help sorting that out, or what people suggest to resolve it?

  Not fair on Baysew to have to go in and fix it for every post you do.

  Of all your weird forum posts, this would be the one you should be creating.

  • 

    SBOB on 04/05/2019 - 15:51

    +1

    they shouldnt be fixing them, they should just be deleting them for being unreadable.. its practically eye spam ;)

    • 

      IVI on 11/05/2019 - 04:23

      -1

      For generations, folks have
      somehow managed to read, eg
      slim "Wall St Journal" col-
      umns.

      And WSJ fonts were tiny, as
      I recall…

      Has our use of eScreens had
      such devastating impacts on
      our eyes, as your post sug-
      gests? (I doubt it, but you
      can send any Peer-Reviewed-
      Evidence, on this question,
      to Yours Truly.)

• 

  trustnoone on 03/05/2019 - 14:04

  Basically if I'm understanding you correctly, yes, the bittorrent protocol helps with p2p sharing, if they have the file and you download it, and now you both have it, I can download from both of you, cutting their server cost down a lot because I get part of it off yourself instead of them.

  This is actually fairly common, Ubuntu used to do this (unsure if they do it now), and some websites prefer it because it reduces the load on their servers, Microsoft has a similar idea with updates as you can share and 'upload' updates from your computer to others once you've got it downloaded.

  The idea is sound, but the issue is it raises problems, one is that bitorrent protocol is largely used for piracy, so even if you have a torrent file, most torrent sites are blocked in Aus, or people just make the connection with piracy and 'feel its bad'. There's also the question on whether you're okay with uploading, some are, but theres always people who don't know whats going on who never really had that choice.
  I also imagine even if the files are public domain, the website gets advertising money (or at least some do) when you visit the page, so you may still be dropping their revenue even though its completely legal to do what you're doing (I'm not a lawyer, I'm just assuming its legal).
  The need for an extra client is probably a big one too, some people just want to press download an be done, not get another client or be at the mercy of seeders etc.

  Still though bitorrent is a good candidate for this if you can get people to use it, and therein lies the problem, the server is only available if people are seeding it, and unless your files are popular, theres probably hardly anyone seeding, so you're better off getting it online as its faster. Old article on how to make one here: https://torrentfreak.com/how-to-create-a-torrent/

  Just of course only use it for stuff you're legally allowed to share! :p

  • 

    IVI on 11/05/2019 - 04:36

    -2

    A tool, like Bit Torrent protocol
    is Neutral, neither Good not Evil

    DistroWatch posts often list a BT
    link, eg, to reduce Server load'g

    My Q -doesn't- seem to be Ans'd..

    What would we need to insure that
    anyone wanting a file (or collec-
    tion) - ~24x7 - could get get it?

    Eg, how many servers on 24x7?

    How much bandwidth?

    Would, eg, a shared NBN50 feed be
    enough? How many concurrent users
    could likely be well served?

    Not wanting Exact figures rather:
    Benefit of someone's experience -
    doing this kind of thing for such
    a Library of Collections.

    At this point, I have No Idea how
    many concurrent users are now ac-
    cessing the Library (I'll ask 'em
    after I sus out whether they want
    to try BT).

• 

  alvian on 03/05/2019 - 17:29

  OTRR Library claims it has tens of thousands of episodes, and from a cursory glance each episode is less than 10 megabytes in size. A rough size estimate of the entire library is 1 terabytes.

  The 10GB/month restriction on downloads is probably due to limits on OTRR's hosting plan. Rather than sharing the library on their host server, a better solution is to share it via cloud storage hosts. MediaFire charges US $45 per year for 1TB.

  • 

    IVI on 11/05/2019 - 04:52

    I'd guess their Library might be larger.

    They said they restrict access - in part
    - to insure a [paying] Member can always
    access the Library.

    I'm more familiar with the Theory of How
    BT works, than with Clouds.

    Since BT is Peer-to-Peer, anyone who has
    a computer running 24x7 (eg for business
    purposes) could hang an external HD onto
    the same machine & run qBitTorrent 24x7.

    Sharing an Unlimited Internet feed would
    add no extra cost - other than for HDD's
    holding [at least] part of the Library.

    Some of the [more dedicated] Members may
    offer to plug-in the HDD(s) and run that
    program on a home/office machine.

    I'd do it if I had [much of] the Library
    on an external HDD, in part to taste the
    practicality of BT-based sharing of good
    Public Domain files, in this way.

    What'cha think?