Rainberry, Inc., formerly known as BitTorrent, Inc., is an American

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

responsible for

μTorrent μTorrent, or uTorrent (see pronunciation), is a proprietary adware BitTorrent client owned and developed by Rainberry, Inc. The " μ" (Greek letter " mu") in its name comes from the SI prefix "micro-", referring to the program's small memo ...

and BitTorrent Mainline. The company was founded on September 22, 2004 by

Bram Cohen Bram Cohen is an American computer programmer, best known as the author of the peer-to-peer (P2P) BitTorrent protocol in 2001, as well as the first file sharing program to use the protocol, also known as BitTorrent. He is also the co-founder of ...

and Ashwin Navin. It was successful during the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

under the leadership of CEO Eric Klinker. In 2018, the company was acquired by cryptocurrency startup

TRON ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...

, and Bram Cohen left the company. In March 2022, the SEC charged Rainberry with fraud for selling cryptocurrencies Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) as unregistered securities.

History

The company was founded in 2004 by

and Ashwin Navin, and became the inventor of "

μtorrent μTorrent, or uTorrent (see pronunciation), is a proprietary adware BitTorrent client owned and developed by Rainberry, Inc. The " μ" (Greek letter " mu") in its name comes from the SI prefix "micro-", referring to the program's small memo ...

and

BitTorrent BitTorrent is a Protocol (computing), communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a Decentralised system, decentralized manner. The protocol is d ...

software and a pioneering San Francisco company in decentralized peer-to-peer file sharing technology." According to the ''San Francisco Times'' at its peak, BitTorrent in the early 2010s had up to a quarter billion active monthly users, while its protocol "accounted for virtually half of file-sharing bandwidth on the Internet." Tron, a cryptocurrency startup, acquired Rainberry in 2018, with Tron later introducing BTT, a BitTorrent cryptocurrency token. The token aimed to help monetize Rainberry's software, which had been free since inception, and made money for the company through ads in the

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

. In early 2023 Rainberry Inc. closed its San Francisco headquarters in the Financial District and laid off 92 employees. In March 2023, Sun served as CEO of Rainberry, Tron, and Peiwo simultaneously. In March 2023, the SEC sued Tron founder Justin Sun, the Tron foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry Inc. over the sale of TRX and BTT tokens, and over the debate as to whether they counted as unregistered crypto asset securities.

BitTorrent software

BitTorrent is a

peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...

computer program developed by

and BitTorrent, Inc. that is used for

upload Uploading refers to ''transmitting'' data from one computer system to another through means of a network. Common methods of uploading include: uploading via web browsers, FTP clients, and terminals ( SCP/ SFTP). Uploading can be used in th ...

ing and

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

ing files via the

BitTorrent protocol BitTorrent is a communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a decentralized manner. The protocol is developed and maintained by Rainberry, Inc., ...

. BitTorrent was the first

client Client(s) or The Client may refer to: * Client (business) * Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer * Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuable ...

written for the protocol. It is often nicknamed Mainline by developers, denoting its official origins. Since version 6.0, the BitTorrent client has been a rebranded version of

. As a result, it is no longer

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

and is currently available for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

μTorrent

'μTorrent' is a

freeware Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...

closed source Proprietary software is software that grants its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner a legal monopoly by modern copyright and intellectual property law to exclude the recipient from freely sharing the software or modi ...

BitTorrent client The following is a general comparison of Glossary of BitTorrent terms#Client, BitTorrent clients, which are computer programs designed for peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent, BitTorrent protocol. The BitTorrent protocol coordinates se ...

owned by BitTorrent, Inc. It is available for

, Android and

. A μTorrent Server is available for

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

. All versions are written in C++. On December 7, 2006, μTorrent was purchased by BitTorrent, Inc., as it was announced on their official forum.

BitTorrent/μTorrent Pro

Pro is the name received by advanced versions, formerly branded Plus, of BitTorrent and μTorrent. These are premium versions of the Windows software with additional features that are downloaded and installed when the user upgrades for US$19.95. Pre-sales for Plus were announced November 29, 2011 and the upgrade became available December 8, 2011. A "Pro" version of uTorrent for Android also exists, for a lower initial price, though in-app purchases can take it over the cost of the desktop version. When a user upgrades to the Pro version of BitTorrent or μTorrent they enable the following features: * Anti-virus protection for acquired .torrent files * Integrated HD media player * Transcoding capability with media codecs * Streaming playback while torrent is downloading

BitTorrent Sync

BitTorrent Sync is a peer-to-peer file synchronization tool running on

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

, and

. It can sync files between computers on a local network, or between remote users over the Internet. The BitTorrent Sync pre-Alpha program, announced in January 2013, was opened to general users on April 23, 2013. On November 23, 2013, BitTorrent announced the release of version 1.2 of the client along with a beta version of the BitTorrent Sync API. On June 1, 2016, product and team were spun out of BitTorrent Inc. as an independent company, Resilio Inc. which will continue development of the product under the name Resilio Sync.

BitTorrent Bundle

The company has released "Bundles" with artists such as

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

, Pixies,

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

, and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. The Madonna Bundle, entitled ''secretprojectrevolution'', was released on September 24, 2013 and consisted of the 17-minute film of the same name, stills from the film, and an option for those users who submit their email addresses and make a donation that also includes HD and 2K versions of the film, a VICE interview, and a message from Madonna. On September 17, 2013, the company launched "BitTorrent Bundles for Publishers", an alpha program for content creators to distribute bundles of any size and file type using the BitTorrent client. The first released bundle was the fantasy feature film "Overturn: Awakening of the Warrior" starring Ukrainian Vietnamese actor Ivan Doan On September 26, 2014,

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

released his album ''Tomorrow's Modern Boxes'' as the first paid Bundle, priced at US$6.00. On October 3, 2014, it was announced that the project had been downloaded over 1 million times, which included the free single and video plus the paid downloads; sales numbers have not been released. On October 28, 2014,

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

released their music video for "

Phantom Limb A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached. It is a chronic condition that is often resistant to treatment. When the cut ends of sensory fibres are stimulated during thigh movements, the patient feels as ...

" via BitTorrent Bundle for free streaming and download. The bundle also included the video treatment and the shot list in

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

, as well as access to the band's merch.

BitTorrent DNA

BitTorrent, Inc. also offers BitTorrent DNA (Delivery Network Accelerator), a free content delivery service based on the BitTorrent protocol that allows content providers to distribute their content using the bandwidth of their users.

SoShare (beta)

On January 5, 2012, SoShare was released in alpha as "Share" within the μTorrent client, as a standalone desktop client and as a plug-in based web client. On February 15, 2013, the SoShare beta was launched and repositioned as a user-friendly web application that uses the BitTorrent protocol, designed for creative industry professionals to share high-res photos, files and videos using the app's email system or public links. From the official website, the service messages that registered users can send file bundles containing up to one terabyte of data per send, free.

BitTorrent News

Discontinued software

BitTorrent Live

First announced in September 2011 and was first publicly tested on October 14, 2011. BitTorrent premiered Live in public beta in March 2013. The platform was used to showcase live streaming events of musical acts and DJs. It was shut down in 2017. In March 2019 it was announced that BitTorrent Live is going to return in the form of Snapchat-like social media app for Android and iOS.

BitTorrent Bleep

BitTorrent Bleep is a multi-platform, peer-to-peer, serverless chat client available free on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS. Bleep was never officially discontinued, but as of August 2017 the website no longer exists, the Windows application is no longer available to download from their website, or on the Google Play store, the Bleep Blog hasn't been updated since August 2015, and the Bleep forums no longer have any active moderators participating.

Project Maelstrom

On December 10, 2014, BitTorrent announced Project Maelstrom, a

Chromium Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium ...

-based browser project that enables

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

-resistant

distributed Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

Web publishing by utilizing the BitTorrent and DHT protocols. Initially, the project was run as a closed alpha, but was then opened as a public beta available for Windows only. Although no official discontinue notice has been announced as of February 2017, the BitTorrent Inc. website no longer provides the browser for download, the last build has not been updated past Chromium version 44, and the last post by the project lead staff was on September 14, 2015.

DLive

In late 2019, BitTorrent purchased DLive, which was created in 2017 as a

blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...

-based video game streaming platform with lax moderation and generous monetization plans. Around this time, DLive became popular with far-right extremists and conspiracy theorists who had been banned from other platforms. According to the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...

, "DLive has paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to extremists since its founding, largely through donations of cryptocurrency built into a service provided by the site." DLive was used by multiple creators to stream and coordinate the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months after his defea ...

. Several of these streamers were subsequently banned by DLive.

Partners

According to the company's website, BitTorrent Inc. has announced partnerships with many companies, including, for venture capital,

Accel Partners Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is a global venture capital firm. Accel works with startups in seed, early and growth-stage investments. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California, with additional ope ...

and DCM, technology partners ESA Flash Components, NTL:Telewest,

Opera Software Opera (formerly Opera Software AS) is a Norwegian multinational technology corporation headquartered in Oslo, Norway with additional offices in European Union, Europe, China, and Africa. Opera offers a range of products and services that inclu ...

, and device partners Buffalo Technology,

D-Link D-Link Systems, Inc. (formerly Datex Systems, Inc.) is a Taiwanese multinational manufacturer of networking hardware and telecoms equipments. It was founded in 1986 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. History Datex Systems was founded i ...

, I-O Data, Marvell Semiconductors,

Netgear Netgear, Inc. (stylized as NETGEAR in all caps), is an American computer networking company based in San Jose, California, with offices in about 22 other countries. It produces networking hardware for consumers, businesses, and service provide ...

, Planex Communications Inc., and QNAP Systems, Inc.BitTorrent Inc. Launches the BitTorrent Entertainment Network
. Press release. BitTorrent Inc. February 26, 2007.

References

External links

* {{BitTorrent American companies established in 2004 Internet technology companies of the United States BitTorrent Companies based in San Francisco South of Market, San Francisco Technology companies established in 2004 Software companies based in California Video game platforms