BitTorrent is a communications
protocol for the practice of
peer-to-peer file sharing that is used to distribute large amounts of
data over the
Internet. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, and peer-to-peer networks have been estimated to collectively account for approximately 43% to 70% of all
Internet traffic (depending on geographical location) . In November 2004, BitTorrent was responsible for 35% of all Internet traffic. As of February 2013, BitTorrent was responsible for 3.35% of all worldwide
bandwidth, more than half of the 6% of total bandwidth dedicated to file sharing.