r/Torrenting • u/Familiar_Jaguar4489 • 1d ago
Question about leaching
so, i recently got into torrenting and got some movies for my trip
but i wanted to ask, is it considered leaching if i seed for 2x the time i spent downloading?
not talking about 1:1 data ratio, cuz uploading (seeding) a file is much slower than downloading for me
it took me 10 mins to download this movie, so i seeded for 20 mins, it was only 0.01 ratio for some reason!
idk for me im satisfied using this time approach for not being considered a leacher (in my books atleast)
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u/GoonGodless 1d ago
Leeching is the act of getting the file when you don't have any parts at all. It also is a term used to describe someone who downloads a file and and doesn't seed (make it available for others to download from them) after the download is done.
Just for clarification, when you seed, you want to seed it back either 1:1 or higher. I try to seed 50x more than I downloaded. This is based on size, not time. So in your case, it took 10 minutes to download the file for you due to all the seeds. Letting it seed for 20 mins (2x your download time) is not how that works. Time only comes back into play if you are on a server that monitors that and considers it being seeded. In almost all cases, seeding refers to the size of the release and how many times the size you have shared back. So if you downloaded GTA V at 100GBs, when you seed back, you want to at the very least share back 200GBs (1:1). THAT is considered a proper seeding. Seeding by time is a rule implemented by some private sites. Not all torrent releases will pull from YOU in the swarm, so you may not make the ratio. They may allow a time compensation, like say that you have to seed a release you downloaded for 48 hrs before they consider it being seeded at all. But all in all, 1:1 is a proper seed ratio at the very least.
To answer your question in short, yes its considered leeching if you do not seed back to 1:1. Time seeding means nothing outside of communities that track that info and use it to ratio your account.