ImageShack’s Free Torrent Download Service Expands
Written by Ernesto on July 27, 2008ImageShack, one of the largest media hosting websites, has implemented some significant upgrades to their torrent download service. One of the most innovative new features is the “video preview”, which allows users to browse through stills of the video they are downloading, to get an impression of the quality of the file.
ImageShack, as the name already suggests, is best known for their image hosting. However, the site has more to offer, like their torrent download service for example.
ImageShack allows its users to upload a .torrent file to the site, which will then be downloaded to the ImageShack servers. After the download is complete, the files can be easily downloaded via a http link in any browser. The service is ideal for people who have throttled connection, and those who don’t want to give out their IP address to the public.
In April we reported that ImageShack had rolled out the BETA version to the public but since then some exiting features have been added. One of these new features is the video preview feature. When you add a popular video torrent to your download queue, it will show you a time-line of image stills, so you can verify the content and the quality of the file. Below is an example of such a time-line.
Torrent download services are not new, but there are only a few that don’t change any money. Jack Levin, the founder of ImageShack explained to TorrentFreak why he started the project: “We think its going to be a great service for users, especially in the light of ISPs rate-limiting torrent traffic. There are a lot of free and legal torrents out there that people should have easy access to too. We have the capacity to do it, and the world needs it.”
Although the service is free, there is a storage limit of 5GB and a transfer limit of 10GB per month. Users that would like to use the service more intensively will have to pay a subscription fee, starting at $10 a month for 10GB disk space and 15GB bandwidth.
Initially, we had some concerns about the service, because it did not support seeding. The torrent simply disconnected as soon as the download was finished, which hurts the overall swarm speed. This has changed as well, as ImageShack now allows users to seed files up to 150%.
The torrent downloads are pretty easy to manage, and the site provides some basic details about the progress of the downloads. Under the “status” link it lists information about the download progress, connected seeds and leechers, share ratio and more. Other great features are selective downloading, which is ideal if you only need one file from a big torrent, and the ability to request an email notification when the download has finished.
It’s doubtful that Hollywood will like the service. However, Levin is not worried about this: “DMCA applies, so, if we get reports from copyright owners to take down content, we will comply,” he told us earlier. Overall we would say that the service does what it promises, it downloads files much faster than most residential connections would, and has become more friendly to the torrent community now it allows seeding. Worth a try.
Previously: UK “MP3 Police” Evidence Unchallenged, Not For Public Consumption
Next: Where’s the Warning Letter for the OiNK Uploaders?
36 Responses
Nice Ad ;)
The service is sloooooooooow and buggy as heck. About a month ago (when everyone and their brother didn’t know about it) it was okay, but now it just plain sucks.
Who cares about video preview when the site is miserably slow and the torrent transfer rates are even worse? They need to be cutting back on unnecessary features NOT adding them.
i think its a handy service atm if you want to download some poorly seeded torrent from a public tracker.. upload the torrent to imageshack, forget about it for 2 days and then download it via http with considerably higher speeds (nothing truly FAST though) than you would’ve gotten from the torrent – usually.
you missed a few changes… two I’ve noticed are that they’ve increased the upload speed cap from 20 kB/s to 200 kB/s and have added an unrar feature
It now supports seeding until 150%? That’s good :)
Sounds great, but it’s practically unusable. Trying to do _anything_ gets me “To access ImageShack’s beta torrent service, you must login or create an imageshack account.” which would make sense if I _wasn’t already logged in_.
Yeah, i am trying to create a password for my older account which simply had a “login link” but the links i click in the registration emails never load. Slow and unusable seems to extend to the whole site and especially the user login system.
I thought I was the only one facing problems. This clears up the air. :)
Honestly, ImageShack can barely host images, it sometimes take minutes to load a jpg file! It wont work :P
get a seedbox, faster and cheaper. go with OVH for unlimited bandwith
@9 ofcourse a seedbox is better in every aspect, but it aint free.
I would suggest giving Imageshack a little more timeto fix the relevant issues. They’ll only be able to rectify the issues as users begin to encounter/identify issues.
Some people are so quick to denounce anything that is not perfect to them. I hate people like that. Not everything is perfect out of the box. Give it time to be improved.
I think that another service like this, especially from a big player like ImageShack is a step in the right direction for file sharing.
And for the record, those saying this is slow…it’s a hell of a lot faster than a throttled connection.
Can we get clarification on the DMCA part? Does that mean that they simply delete the content downloaded OR that they hand over the account details and ban the user as well? Nice service, but if they’re offering this for free (which is generous), they shouldn’t stab their customers in the back.
I was rough the last time this was mentioned here which was much to do with the hit+run nature of the original service. If that’s now a thing of the past (will it seed a minimum 1:1 by default?) then good stuff indeed as I think that’s only fair given how the BitTorrent protocol actually works.
If all’s cool now then I hope it all works out. You know full well though that a lot of people are going to use it to procure illicit content so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the media companies kick up a fuss at some point if it became popular. An interesting thing I think is that afaik it’s actually LEGAL to DOWNLOAD copyrighted content in some countries, so I guess anyone from these places could use the service to download *any copyrighted content they want* and not have any fear of consequence because they wouldn’t be doing anything legally wrong(?).
I dunno, all seems a bit odd really, like I’m missing some obvious catch somewhere…
I experienced the same things with the guys above. It was slow like hell before, but it isn’t anymore : just doesn’t even work.
@13 I’m wondering the same thing, it doesn’t matter whether your IP is revealed if ImageShack will “tell on you”.
Though if this proves to be reliable, free anonymous torrenting? Woo-hoo!
ImageShack Torrent System Sucks @ss
Really useless option, i tried once and i will never try again.
English error – Changed? Charged?! Under picture
Is TPB down? Can’t access it, even through Proxy…
@19
Same here.I hope they are upgrading/backingup o something
Last torrent to be uploaded was “Japanesse Foot Domination.mpg”
I fear Batman has changed sides, or some wanker vandalized the “signpost”.
Anyways Breakfast is Ready
bye
ImageShack is run by a furry.
If you use ImageShack, you’re supporting furries!
I HATE YOU! GREAT, IT MADE DIGG. STOP TELLING PEOPLE THIS STUFF, IT WILL RUIN IT FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME.
do not use this service they will track your ip and send you letters to your isp and sue you. i repeat its a TRAP. they will sue you. keep using utorrent and the piratebay.
thanks alot for drawing attention to them. now it will be fucking harder and SLOWER. ass holes
site is not user friendly at all been at it for the past 5 mins trying to search for torrents. slow what a waste
That is until MPAA/RIAA demands the company to produce the list of IP addresses linked to accounts used for downloading illegal content… and then… you’re screwed.
Give them some credit, it’s still beta :p
TPB still down.
@ 7:06 PM Monday, July 28, 2008 FJT
@21
Yah it’s run by a furry (MacBeth from SomethingAwful)
@26 – Maybe they will get a list of IP address, but if you register under a proxy, and add your torrent from under a proxy…
Dude, Image Shack totally rocks! Always has! keep it FREE!!
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
why isnt it working, how long does it normally take for a torrent to start
Meh. Sucked before, hasn’t improved much since.
Have the ImageShack guys ever heard of alpha testing? (hint: it comes right before beta testing)
works great for me I setup multiple
accounts I found it very fast
Imageshack inaction Rev09.iso (699.9 MB) img574
S ACTIVE (20%) 10:59 (Down: 873.5 kB/s | Up: 18.9 kB/s) Check for errors
then download over http I did over 400 k in
check it out at
http://www.dslreports.com/speak/slideshow/20859963?c=1332768&ret=L2ZvcnVtL3IyMDc1NTY2OC1Ib3ctdG8tZGVmZWF0LXRoZS10aHJvdHRsZX5zdGFydD0xMjA%3D
works well for me– I guess I am just smarter than the rest. perfect for people that must pay upload usage or for those with bad torrent connections. the paranoid will appreciate it too.
BTW, if the tracker is blocking imageshack IPs, then the torrent will not start. goes for the demonoid tracker.
I cant find this preview feature.
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