In the world of torrenting there are two types of trackers: public trackers such as the pirate bay, and private trackers such as IPtorrents and Torrentleech etc.

The most obvious difference? Basically public trackers don't require you to sign up, where as private trackers do and some if not most require you to obtain an invite. However, there are far many other differences and they mainly favour the use of Private bittorrent trackers

Below are the main benefits of using private trackers

Safer downloading
Ever downloaded the same movie, song etc 3-4 times only to find each time thats its a virus or a fake? Usually no viruses are found on private trackers as many private sites have dedicated uploaders and dont allow general members to upload, others that do allow members to upload are usually safe due to the members respecting there place on the site they have been invited to and the fact that any dodgy files will be immediately reported and removed by tracker staff. In public trackers, anyone is allowed to upload content, and therefore, any TYPE of content (viruses, malware, etc).

Less undesirables
The invite system used on many trackers along with built in methods helps to keep out these undesirables and so for the most part you are safer downloading from "private" trackers.

Ratio
if your used to using public trackers and usually disconnect as soon as you have finsihed dl your torrent then you wil think the ratio system is a negative, but its really the reason private trackers are much better. If you seed your torrents ratio's arn't really very hard especially the minumim with is usually about 0.4. Some private trackers are ratio free but they require a minimum seed time.

Faster speeds
Members on most private trackers are obliged to seed the torrents they download to a ration of 1:1 or for a minimum length of time. members are usually also obliged to keep their overall ratio above a minimum (usually 0.4). This system ensures most torrents are well seeded. Another reason for better speeds is the fat that many users on private trackers use seedboxes which ensure your torrents will usually download at your maximum connection speed

Community
Private torrent trackers breed a great community whether on the tracker itself or forums like this one. Most private trackers have a forum or an irc where you can chat and meet the members you are sharing with. The invite system also creates communities like this one where members share invites for free and make great online friends.

Fun
Using private trackers can be quite fun too and a challenge to get into the rarer trackers. Be active in communities like this can realy help you clib the private torrent ladder. Many will say theres no such thing, but everyone wants what they cant have, and its always a challenge to get into those trackers which have a rarity rating of 9 and 10 in the tracker inbox

open sign ups
it can be very annoying when you hear about a great tracker only to find out its invite only, and you may think this is a down side to private trackers. But some trackers do have open sign ups from time to time, even some of the hardest to obtain trackers have had open signups in the past.

Not all Private trackers are always invite only and there are some great sites always open

Good luck everyone starting out on your private tracker adventure