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Most people assume that RSS feeds are the best method to stay up-to-date with the latest torrents on a private tracker. This is a fallacy. With RSS, your computer/browser must request an update from the feed - typically this is set to every 15 minutes (with the shortest pull-time being 5 minutes). And that’s even if the site supports RSS - not all do.

Now, you can try running through all of the site’s torrent categories to try to keep up with the latest content, or sit in one category and constantly hit the browser’s ‘Refresh’ button like an idiot. Both of these methods work to beat out the RSS feed.

Or, you can join the private tracker’s IRC (pre) channel and watch the latest torrents being announced on-the-fly, and simply click the links as they appear. Most modern private sites use an IRC “pre-chan” to announce the torrents before (as) they get published on the site. This is beneficial in two ways:

— You’ll get instant access to the most recent torrents, typically in advance of most other site members who aren’t in the IRC channel. Unless, of course, they’re forever reloading the pages…

— This is also a great tactic for getting into the uploading swarm as early as possible. If you get in a torrent very early, everyone else jumping on it after you will use your completed parts, thus your upload rate will be higher for longer.

IRC is also a great way to gain credits or other site ‘currency’ just for being in the channel.

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« Part 5 of a 7-part series on Advanced Searching for Copyrighted Content »

Part 5. Searching IRC / IRC Tools.

IRC is about as close as you can get to the top of the piracy pyramid without actually being involved in “the scene”. Most (but not all of) pirated releases found at the P2P level descended from IRC in some form or another, usually directly. It is the major cog between release groups and what is found publicly through BitTorrent websites, the newsgroups, DDL sites and any other method of P2P file sharing. So the significance of IRC to the “piracy scene” should not be overlooked or undervalued. The vastness of illegal content is staggering; both in sheer numbers, and in the diversity of available content often found nowhere else.

About This Tip: IRC has a high learning curve, and these tips & tricks are not aimed towards those who are inexperienced in IRC. It is assumed you are already affluent in IRC, with a good grasp of its functions and features that include joining networks, servers, channels, sending/receiving files and using commands in the IRC window. If you are new to Internet Relay Chat, we recommend that you check out www.irchelp.org and learn some of the basics before proceeding. However; some of these programs (scripts) take all the hard work out of IRC and many contain great GUIs for easy navigation and file transferring. Be our guest to jump right in - our setups are simple to follow.

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This is the largest collection of XDCC Search sites on the ‘Net !

There are a few good websites that take some of the hard work out of having to join the proper networks and channels in search of the illicit. With one-click you’ll be launched to the proper channel on the right network with the ‘command line’ you need to get the request just one ‘paste’ away. With these sites, users can search for a movie, game, album or software title, and they will display a list of files matching your criteria with the active XDCC bots that are hosting that file, all in real-time. When you see the desired file, click the link and it will launch your mIRC program. It’s that simple!

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Introduction to IRC

One thing we can tell you is this: This is where it all begins. Every movie, every program and every game - it all originated from IRC first - and then trickled down to the torrent sites, to P2P, and to the newsgroups. A pioneer of file sharing, IRC is still at the heart of ‘the scene’. And still the best place to get the newest pirated releases.

IRC, which stands for Internet Relay Chat, is a protocol to connect people for real-time discussions and file sharing from all over the world. It is perhaps the most sophisticated method of file transfer available, and it is also one of the oldest. Mastery of IRC takes a great deal of skill and knowledge. But to grossly oversimplify it, users connect to a network through client software (mIRC) and then join ‘channels’ in that network. Some networks consist of thousands of channels, covering every known topic and subject. Some channels are dedicated to cars, some to pokemon, and some are dedicated to the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials. Can you guess which one has the most users?