TechnologyAugust 29, 2026

torrenting

TOR-en-ting

Definition

The act of using peer-to-peer file sharing technology to distribute or download large amounts of data, often associated with unauthorized access to copyrighted content.

Etymology

Derived from the noun 'torrent,' referring to a fast-moving stream, the term was adopted in the early 2000s to describe the BitTorrent protocol's ability to rapidly distribute data across a decentralized network.

In the news

The article uses the term to describe the method Anthropic allegedly employed to illegally acquire copyrighted music for training their AI models. It highlights the scale and unauthorized nature of the data collection process.

Music Publishers Sue AI CEO Dario Amodei for 'Blatant Theft'

Read the full article ↗

Mediaite

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