Forward looking adult webmasters are continuously seeking a competitive advantage in the ways in which they market their wares. Set against this backdrop are the challenges that impede this process — such as piracy. While the battle against piracy is ongoing and perhaps as unwinnable as the war on drugs, some ground has been gained and knowledge built upon to better understand the tools of unauthorized distribution — such as the peer-to-peer (P2P) BitTorrent file-sharing protocol.
While there is nothing particularly new about torrents, along with the various indexes and trackers that enable them — such as notorious P2P portal, The Pirate Bay, many site owners may not have considered these systems, particularly private or secure trackers, as an innovative option for premium content delivery and traffic generation.
Think of a private tracker as a new member’s area (or an addition to an existing one) and you’ll be on track to see the benefits and opportunities that this technology presents.
“People serious about downloading pirated music, movies, TV shows, software and other media aren’t interested in getting a letter from their ISP or the RIAA/IFPI/MPAA/CRIA,” Adam Frucci wrote for Gizmodo.com. “They’re also not interested in getting viruses or fake files, often seeded on public trackers by copyright enforcers looking to make piracy annoying.”
In response, Frucci says, users have built up hundreds of private sites that only trusted members can access, on an invitation-only basis.
“Some of them are very basic, featuring merely a searchable list of torrents people have uploaded,” Frucci added. “Many feature forums with the trackers for people to announce and discuss files that are available. The most sophisticated feature gigantic databases that organize the files like the greatest online downloading store ever built, but with no checkout.”
This lays a cultural and technological groundwork for legitimate adult oriented offers with enhanced feature sets — the ideas (and code) for which may come directly from the community that develops around any given tracker — so why not leverage the model?
Established services, such as Mininova, may offer distribution deals for rights holders but may prohibit adult content; still, the concept is intriguing. For the ultimate in control and flexibility, having your own private tracker, while perhaps legally risky, may be the best way to go.
Private tracker software such as xbtit (www.xbtit.com) is readily available for free, with enhanced support service and hosting packages that provide a seamless entry point for prospective tracker admins.
Think of a private tracker as a new member’s area (or an addition to an existing one) and you’ll be on track to see the benefits and opportunities that this technology presents.