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Is a VPN necessary for torrenting? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Alextheacceptable@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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I don't live in the US, so my ISP doesn't really seem to care what I torrent, but the megathread vehemently recommends to always use one. Since VPNs aren't cheap and I'm on a strict budget (wouldn't pirate otherwise), is it really that dangerous to torrent without one?

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[-] BootlegHermit@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

I find that most VPNs are so heavily shilled that by that very nature, makes them suspect. Since the days of Napster, WinMX, Bearshare and the like, I've gotten exactly 2 "Hey, knock it off" letters from my ISP. And they were both from new-release, mouse-affiliated movie releases from a public tracker.

Get in with some of the private trackers and 99.9% of the worry disappears. Try not to upload terabytes of data, and the majority of ISPs (I mean, two of the 3 that seem to have the monopolies at least) wont even bother sending the notices.

[-] illyria817@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago

Totally doesn't take "terabytes of data". I'm in the US, and one time I got a notice from my ISP (Comcast) for a file that took all of 7 seconds to download. It was an episode of an HBO show so no mouse affiliation, and also pretty sure I was using a private tracker (can't remember exactly, though, since it's probably been 10 years, and I've been using a VPN ever since).

[-] BootlegHermit@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

"pretty sure I was on a private tracker" - well there's your problem right there. You probably weren't. Not saying that you're lying or the like, but just so we're clear, Im differentiating between "Demonoid private" wherein everybody could create an account damned near whenever, and "UHD private" wherein it relies on a system of invites and/or interviews.