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OpenTrackr is a content-neutral torrent tracker that facilitates millions of BitTorrent transfers. The service doesn't store any files and doesn't have access to what people share. However, when prompted, it will block "infringing" hashes that can lead people to pirated files. To prevent abuse, several thousand hashes have been banned over the past year.
Every day, millions of people around the world use BitTorrent to download and share files.
Most of these transfers are facilitated by third-party torrent trackers, which help file sharers connect with each other.
When someone requests information referenced by a specific torrent hash, the tracker will respond with a list of peers, if available. This is a fairly simple but resource-intensive process.
While serverless technologies like DHT and PEX exist, trackers are still a core part of most people's torrent transfers. Despite this rather crucial role, the best trackers are mostly run by volunteers and hobbyists.
OpenTrackr
OpenTrackr It is one of the most used BitTorrent trackers today. The service was launched in 2015 when there was a shortage of alternatives. Since then, it has established itself as a stable player, coordinating the transfers of more than five million torrents today.
Despite handling up to 500,000 connections per second, which is good for several terabytes of daily traffic, the software runs on a single machine, an AMD Ryzen 9 Pro 3900 CPU with 2x DDR4-3200 16GB memory.
OpenTrackr operator Isa is proud of her achievements. On her own, with a little help from Patreon Subscribershas made the tracker an important and trusted player in the BitTorrent ecosystem.
"It's great to see that OpenTrackr has almost daily spikes of 500,000 connections per second; we've come a long way from the little virtual machine I created over 8 years ago," Isa tells TorrentFreak.
DMCA Notices
Using a tracker is not only a technical challenge, it also has a legal aspect. While the tracker does not host any torrent or media files, not all rights holders are happy with the fact that bad actors can also use it.
To accommodate these complaints, OpenTrackr accepts and processes DMCA takedown notices that allow rights holders to list hashes pointing to potentially infringing content and have them blocked by the tracker.
If a hash is blocked, the tracker will stop assisting in communication between BitTorrent users who are interested in sharing that file.
These takedown notices are relatively rare. In 2021 and 2022 not a single DMCA notice came, but last year there was some activity. On behalf of several rights holders, anti-piracy team MarkScan reported 2,990 problematic hashes.
Transparency
OpenTrackr transparently discloses all removal requests it receives. This includes the entire list of hashes, which on their own are not particularly revealing.
A quick search reveals that these strings of numbers and letters indirectly link to torrents of a wide variety of entertainment content, including the television series "Miracle Workers," "Telemarketers" and "Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty." .
These hashes themselves are not directly infringing. However, a rights holder could argue that since OpenTrackr can block associated torrent transfers, it should take action if problems are detected.
Avoid problems
Notices often include duplicate hashes, which are not counted in the total. Those that remain are blocked indefinitely. This also applies to any future encounters.
The tracker operator prefers not to elaborate on the legal ramifications or possible excessive blocking. The most important thing for the tracker is to avoid any type of problem, so processing the notices is the best option.
"Blocking a couple of thousand hashes out of millions of active hashes is a small price to pay; the damage it would cause to so many services that rely on our tracker far outweighs the benefits of ignoring the notices we receive," says Isa.
This approach seems sensible. OpenTrackr is a hobby project with limited means, so its key goal is to avoid problems. According to Isa, the most important thing is to secure the future of the tracker.
