ImageShack has launched a new torrent download service, which lets you download torrent files onto their servers and then download the same files to your computer via http link. Currently, the service is available as public beta, but unlike other ImageShack services, you’ll be asked to register for the service before trying it.
You can either specify the URL of torrent file or upload .torrent files from your computer. The download will begin immediately, and you can see the status of the process. Once completed, the seeding stops and you can download the downloaded files to your computer via http link, just like how you download files from other file hosting services such as RapidShare or DivShare.
There are some restrictions, naturally, like you can only download upto 15GB per month. ImageShack plans to launch juicy paid flavors of the same service, with more bandwidth and storage. For those, who are worried about the anonymity of the service, the founder Jack Levin said:
"We will not look at what you download and simply provide you, an account, with bandwidth and space. What you do with it is up to you. The DMCA applies, so, if we get reports from copyright owners to take down content, we will comply."
The service allows selective downloading, which means you can download some files from the torrent while skipping others. This is especially good, if you want to download a discography pack, but want to skip those albums which you already have. The seeding stops as soon as the download completes, so you’ll be sharing less than what you should be. 100% seed ratio is always considered to be an ethical practice. I hope ImageShack will practice the same in future; however, it’s most unlikely that they will.
Frankly, I fail to see a point in using the service over my BitTorrent client. But I think it can be great for sharing legal torrents publicly or in those regions where they throttle BitTorrent traffic. [via: TorrentFreaks]
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