Torrents, P2P and VPN: what Colitu allows and why

"Can I use torrents with Colitu?" is a fair question, and it deserves a straight answer before anything else. Colitu's Acceptable Use Policy allows torrent and P2P traffic only on servers shown in the app under the Torrent category, and only for lawful content. At the moment no Colitu server carries the Torrent tag, so P2P is not offered right now. This article explains how P2P works, what a VPN would and would not change, and what the current situation means for you.

#How P2P and BitTorrent work

In a classic download, you fetch a file from one server. In peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, everyone who has the file, or part of it, shares it with everyone else. BitTorrent, the best-known P2P protocol, works like this:

1. A torrent file or magnet link identifies the content.
2. Your client asks a tracker, or the distributed hash table (DHT), for other peers sharing the same content.
3. Trackers and the DHT hand out peers' IP addresses and ports to anyone who asks about that content.
4. Your client connects to many peers at once, downloads pieces from them and uploads pieces to them.

Two consequences follow. Your IP address is visible to every peer in the swarm and to anyone who queries the tracker or DHT for that content. And P2P creates many parallel connections and a lot of upload traffic, far more than ordinary browsing.

#What a VPN changes, and what it does not

Through a VPN, peers would see the VPN server's address instead of yours, and your provider would see encrypted traffic to the server rather than a list of peers.

What a VPN does not change:

• The legality of the content. Sharing a file you have no right to share does not become lawful because it goes through a VPN.
• What peers see you share. Everyone in the swarm still sees which content the server's address is downloading and uploading.
• Shared resources. A VPN server is shared by many users. Heavy P2P traffic can degrade the service for everyone else on that server.
• Responsibility. Complaints about traffic from a server's address reach the service that runs it. That is one reason why providers, including Colitu, set rules for P2P.

#What Colitu's rules say

Section 3 of the Acceptable Use Policy says that torrent and P2P traffic is allowed only on servers that permit it and are shown in the app under the Torrent category, and that on those servers too only lawful content should be shared, for example open-source software distributions. The same policy lists distributing copyrighted content without permission among prohibited uses.

Breaking these rules has consequences that depend on how serious the breach is: a warning, restricted access to certain servers or ports, a temporary suspension or, for serious or repeated breaches, closing the account without refund.

#Why there is no Torrent server right now

Colitu servers have categories: streaming, gaming, privacy, speed, torrent and AI. Streaming and AI are assigned automatically from the regular service checks. The Torrent category is different: our staff assign it by hand, only to servers where P2P is permitted.

Currently no server has that tag. In practice this means:

• the Torrent filter in the Android app's location list shows no servers;
• P2P traffic is not allowed on any Colitu server;
• using torrents on other servers breaches the Acceptable Use Policy.

We do not announce dates for Torrent servers. If that changes, servers will appear under the Torrent category in the app.

#What this means for you

1. Do not use Colitu for P2P at the moment. This includes torrent clients and other file-sharing apps.
2. Check before you pay if P2P is important to you. The free plan, 10 GB per month with no card needed, lets you try everything else first.
3. Check background apps. Close torrent clients that start with your computer, so they do not run while Colitu is connected.
4. Use Colitu for what it is built for: private browsing on public Wi-Fi, getting past network restrictions, and services such as AI assistants and streaming, where our servers page shows which services open from each server.

#The legal side

Laws on file sharing and copyright differ from country to country. You are responsible for following the laws that apply to you, whether or not you use a VPN. To report abuse coming from a Colitu address, write to abuse@colitu.com.

#Quick answers

#Sources

• BitTorrent Enhancement Proposals: index
• BEP 3: The BitTorrent protocol specification
• BEP 5: DHT protocol
• WIPO: Copyright