Dictionary of Meaning

<<Back
Please select a letter:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0-9

Bram Cohen

*** Shopping-Tip: Bram Cohen
Bram Cohen (born 1975) is a computer programmer, best known as the author of BitTorrent. He is also the co-founder of CodeCon, organizer of the Bay Area p2p-hackers meeting and the author of Codeville. Cohen grew up in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He learned the BASIC programming language at the age of 5 on the family's Timex Sinclair computer. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1993, and attended the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York|University at Buffalo. He later dropped out of college to work for several dot com companies throughout the mid to late 1990s, the last being MojoNation, an ambitious but ill-fated project he worked on with Jim McCoy. MojoNation allows people to break up confidential files into encrypted chunks and distribute those pieces on computers also running the software. If someone wanted to download a copy of this encrypted file, he would have to download it simultaneously off of many computers. This concept, Cohen thought, was perfect for a peer-to-peer program, since programs like KaZaA take a long time to download a large file because the file is (usually) coming from one source, or peer. Cohen designed BitTorrent, which was written in Python programming language, to be able to download files from many different sources, thus speeding up the download time, especially for users with fast Python programming language, to be able to download files from many different sources, thus speeding up the download time, especially for users with fast download_and upload speeds. Thus, the more popular a file is, the faster a user will be able to download it, since many people will be downloading it at the same time, and these people will also be uploading the data to other users. In April 2001, Cohen quit MojoNation and began work on BitTorrent. Cohen unveiled his novel ideas at the first CodeCon conference, which he and his roommate, Len Sassaman created as a showcase event for novel technology projects after becoming disillusioned with the state of technology conferences. It remains a must-attend event for those seeking information about new directions in software, though BitTorrent continues to lay claim to the title of "most famous presentation". In the summer of 2002, Cohen collected free pornography to lure beta testers to use the program. The program became an instant hit with Linux users who wanted to swap their enormous open-source software, but gained its true fame (and infamy) for its ability to quickly share large music and movie files online. Cohen himself has claimed he has never violated copyright law using his software, and suspects the MPAA would love to make a legal example of him if he did. Regardless, he is outspoken in his belief that the current media business was doomed to being outmoded despite the RIAA and MPAA's legal or technical tactics, such as digital rights management. In May 2005, Cohen released a trackerless beta version of BitTorrent. In late 2003, Cohen was hired by Valve Software to work on Steam (content delivery)|Steam, their digital distribution system introduced for Half-Life 2. However, by early 2005 he was no longer at Valve, and his primary source of income once again became donations from BitTorrent users. In late 2005 Cohen made a deal with the Motion Picture Association of America to remove all links to illegal content on the official BitTorrent website. The deal was with the seven largest studios in America. The agreement means bittorrent.com will comply with procedures outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Cohen claims he has Asperger's syndrome based on a self-diagnosis. He also states this condition has given him great ability to concentrate, while also making it difficult for him to relate to other people. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Jenna and his children.

Other interests

Cohen's hobbies include original origami and juggling up to five balls, but his main interest is what he calls "recreational mathematics". Cohen maintains a blog where he frequently discusses trust metrics with Raph Levien, as well as money systems, games of skill, and other math-related topics. He is also a twisty puzzle enthusiast. Cohen passed the American Invitational Mathematics Examination to qualify for the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) while he attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City.

References

- Roth, Daniel (Nov. 14, 2005). "Torrential Reign". Fortune (magazine), p. 91–96.

- Gentile, Gary (Nov. 23, 2005). "Hollywood Hopes BitTorrent Deal Will Reduce Illegal Movie Downloads". "[http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=174401655 Information Week]"

External links

- Bram Cohen's blog

- Bram Cohen's home page

- Official BitTorrent page

- Wired.com Article

- Interview with Cohen about his Asperger's Syndrome

- Interview with Cohen about BitTorrent and CodeCon

Category:1975 births Category:American bloggers Category:Living people

*** Shopping-Tip: Bram Cohen