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Can someone explain what this means for BitTorrent as in the protocol and ecosystem? I did not know that BitTorrent the company even existed or maintained uTorrent until this confusing announcement. I assumed the protocol was an open community thing, but it seems like this company has been trying (unsuccessfully) to become a media empire?

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I would guess this means absolutely nothing for the protocol and ecosystem. Both have been around a long time (in tech years) and I've never noticed any way that BitTorrent the company affected BitTorrent the protocol.

Aren't they basically the ones controlling the protocol specs through the BitTorrent Enhancement Proposals (BEP)?

(Honest question.)

Technically they are, but in reality, none of the BEPs matter unless libtorrent implements them. Every modern client links against libtorrent for their torrent logic; when picking a client, you're just selecting what version of libtorrent and UI framework you want.

libtorrent is solely maintained by Arvid Norberg who happens to actually work at another blockchain company, Blockstream. If you want to do one thing to support the BitTorrent ecosystem, it's to contribute to libtorrent to reduce the bus factor.

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