UPDATED (June 23, 2008):

People have emailed me to say that the torrent is down. However, the nature of torrents is that they don't go down easy once they're out there! (http://www.stealthisfilm.com)

At the link below you will find (currently at least) download for all levels of ChinesePod. It's not the 3.1 gigger, there are several options, but it seems to be all there. And legal.

http://www.mininova.org/search/?search=chinesepod

ORIGINAL POST:

I came across the Praxis language post about a torrent for 500 free Mandarin Chinese lessons while reading an interesting article on wayofthegeek.org about using Linux as a language tool. Random how these things occur.

At any rate, this is a hefty 3.1 GB download, so it'll take a while to get all the lessons downloaded. But once you have them in your possession, there is nothing that can stop you from finally learning (or improving your) Mandarin Chinese! (Except perhaps work, studies, significant others, movies, magazines, pets, in-laws...)

At any rate, this is a great download and all you need to know about "torrents" and BitTorrent you can find out in the links below:

Wikipedia Article on BitTorrent
Comparison Chart of BitTorrent Clients
The Official BitTorrent Website
Azureus: A Reliable BitTorrent Client for Linux, Mac and Windows

Just make sure you have the free disk space before you start commanding those 0s and 1s. Best of luck!