Torrente, a micropayment based Bittorrent extension to mitigate free riding

• Felipe K. Shiraishi USP http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9131-6067
• Vitor H. Perles USP
• Hector K. Yassuda USP
• Leonardo T. Kimura USP
• Ewerton R. Andrade USP / UNIR
• Marcos A. Simplicio Junior USP https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5227-7165

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbseg_estendido.2021.17343

Resumo

We propose Torrente, a distributed file-sharing solution with economic incentives. Its implementation is built as an extension of BitTorrent protocol, in such a manner that user access to file-sharing swarms is controlled by peers that verify micropayments receipts in a blockchain-based ledger. In addition, by using payment commitments, Torrente facilitates off-chain transactions for faster content sharing. The solution is created as a tool to enhance Amazon Biobank application security, but can be used isolated in cases such as file sharing with monetary incentives.

Palavras-chave: Torrent, Blockchain, Distributed Systems, BitTorrent, Free-Riding, Micropayments

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