So me and my brother have been torrenting some games and such and we have not gotten a letter yet. So any precautions to use
The easy route: Rent a seedbox.
+1
Look into I2P.
It’s a network similar to TOR, but more suited for usecases like torrenting.
For anything you do on I2P, you can rest assured noone else can even in theory trace it back to you.
Go visit http://tracker2.postman.i2p for a large collection of public domain content.The only issue is that there is also a lot of content available in german and english language which is not in the public domain, and due to the anonymous nature of I2P noone would be able to warn you of that. So take care you don’t accidentally seed the content to others, keeping it online for even more people to commit the same mistake with noone the wiser.
The one and only a absolutely necessary precaution is preventing your torrent client from accessing the internet when the VPN is not running.
This must be done by binding your torrent client to your VPN network interface. [1]
A “VPN Kill Switch” or similar is not enough to prevent your IP from leaking to law firms.It’s also a good idea to use a reputable VPN company like AirVPN, ProtonVPN or Njalla VPN.
I’m also german and I’ve been using torrents for years, so this definitely works well for me. A friend of mine’s brother received an “Abmahnung” from a law firm, as well as a more distant person ended up paying around 1000€. I feel like almost any german somehow heard of people getting letters.
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Pirating is illegal in many jurisdictions and as such should never be encouraged. My guess is your question is academic.
I have heard people use reputable VPN’s like Mullvad, Proton, etc. for daily usage to obscure their traffic/IP which is entirely legal and a wonderful use of these tools since we must safeguard our privacy from bad actors/protect ourselves from malware (a side benefit many VPN’s).
I have also heard uploading (seeding) is where you really get in trouble with the law in many jurisdictions, as opposed to downloading (leeching), so it’s important to know the laws that apply to you. Not that it matters, because neither of us would ever use these tools to pirate.
Killswitches are important as well whenever using a VPN. This helps prevent leaks. I have never seen a major VPN that did not have this feature baked in.
Allegedly it is higher risk when you are grabbing brand new stuff, especially things that have not been released to the public yet.
So there’s… Uhh… Quite a bit wrong with this.
I have heard people use reputable VPN’s like Mullvad, Proton, etc. for daily usage to obscure their traffic/IP… protect ourselves from malware (a side benefit many VPN’s).
A VPN won’t protect you from malware. The only thing it does is encrypt your traffic to/from the VPN server, and mask your WAN IP address. The encryption will help protect you from a hostile network, (like your work WiFi spying on what sites your phone is accessing) but it won’t stop you from downloading malware. The largest reason to use a reputable VPN is because you’re running all of your traffic through their servers. You want to know that they’re not just selling all of that data to the highest bidder; If you’re not the customer, you are the product. When searching for a VPN, you’ll want to find one that supports port forwarding, because a torrent can only connect if at least one of you has an open port. You don’t want to rely on random seeders to have open ports, so forwarding your own port ensures you can connect.
I have also heard uploading (seeding) is where you really get in trouble with the law in many jurisdictions, as opposed to downloading (leeching), so it’s important to know the laws that apply to you.
This part is largely correct, though it will depend on where you live. Generally speaking, uploaders are penalized more heavily than downloaders. The issue is that you can’t torrent without inevitably doing both. The torrent protocol literally doesn’t allow you to block all seeding. You can restrict it down to a tiny amount of bandwidth in your torrent client, but you can’t just outright disable it.
Killswitches are important as well whenever using a VPN. This helps prevent leaks. I have never seen a major VPN that did not have this feature baked in.
This is where things veer into the “dangerously untrue” territory. A VPN kill switch will not protect you from IP leaks. A VPN simply creates its own network interface, and tells programs to use it. But when that connection drops, there’s nothing stopping programs from just using your regular interface before the kill switch kicks in. You need to bind the torrent client to the VPN directly. This must be done directly in the torrent program, not from the VPN’s kill switch option. By binding the torrent program directly to the VPN’s network interface, the VPN won’t be able to connect unless the VPN is enabled.
You can check for IP leaks using a few different websites (Google it).
So there’s… Uhh… Quite a bit wrong with this
That’s because it’s garbage that was shit out by a LLM. The constant “I have heard…” for every statement is a thing deepseek does, and it’s bloody annoying.
I have also heard that you can bind your hypothetical torrent client to your hypothetical VPN network interface meaning it would be unable to even send out any data if the VPN was not connected.
Or in the case of docker use a prepackaged VPN+Torrent container or pipe all container network traffic through a VPN container like gluetun
I have also heard uploading (seeding) is where you really get in trouble
Which is interesting since modern web standards make it possible to exchange data peer to peer in browser. Isn’t PeerTube working this way? So you might not even know you are sharing. How does it work in such situation?
Distribution is the key here, which they can pinpoint to your IP. They can’t come after YOU specifically (usually) but they contact your ISP Who then sends you a strongly worded letter about stopping (usually). If this happens repeatedly they will often throttle your bandwidth or even cut you off. Again, usually. This is different everywhere.
Distribution is the key here, which they can pinpoint to your IP. They can’t come after YOU specifically (usually) but they contact your ISP
Germany:
Which in turn hands out your contact data. And Waldorf + Frommer will send you a form for a Unterlassungserklärung, which you are kindly asked to sign. Plus they will kindly ask for a few hundred euros.Who then sends you a strongly worded letter about stopping (usually). If this happens repeatedly they will often throttle your bandwidth or even cut you off. Again, usually. This is different everywhere.
Nope. Not the ISPs job here.
You’re right I forgot we were speaking about Germany specifically. Still, trying to keep things kind of broad and remind people to check their law regardless
My understanding was that Germany’s issue is with uploading as well, but I am not German and I am not a lawyer
Yes, broad is fine. It’s interesting to see the different approaches. :) I’m sorry if I sounded too harsh.
My understanding was that Germany’s issue is with uploading as well, but I am not German and I am not a lawyer
Lawyer? Me neither.
Indeed. Uploading is problematic, which includes p2p. Downloading not so much. Still illegal though.
There was the story about witcher and CD project who targeted illegal users. Understandably. So downloading isn’t exactly 100% safe. Or using the downloads…
Reputable VPN.
Strong anti-virus/anti-malware.
Common-sense when running cracks/keygens (are keygens still a thing?)
edit: a good backup plan, in case thongs go awry (yes, I see it. Yes, I’m leaving it.)
Got it, always back it up in thongs.
Beep beep beep beep
You can test a torrent client in ipleak.net
I personally ditched torrenting completly. Haven’t touched a torrent in literal years.
Usenet is the way for me. Still using via Mullvad nonetheless.
Haven’t touched Usenet since 2020 or so because it was cumbersome compared to torrenting, especially for software. Has it improved, or was I just on a bad indexer?
Didn’t try it for software, only Movies, Shows, Games, Audiobooks
I am on houseofusenet and the “should not be named” partner indexer that allows API access for *arr Software. Also i have drunkenslug
I rarely search for something manually, only games as there is no “gamearr” or something like that.
Usenet is generally better for 0-day and recent releases, but it doesn’t hold a candle to P2P when it comes to older stuff. What’s the max retention you get with the most premium plan with reputable providers these days? I think it was 13 years last time I checked. But aside from that, it’s almost always faster than P2P (unless you have a bad connection to the server from your location) and certainly more convenient in certain categories like movies and TV shows. I still use P2P for games, software, and music though.
Edit: Forgot we were talking primarily about security. Of course Usenet is better in that regard as well. The other replies explain why that’s the case.
Hm, so usenet might be a bad idea if I were looking for old RPG rulebooks and adventure collections for Das Schwarze Auge, for example? That’s too bad, I had considered signing up just for that, as the selection on Anna’s archive is most incomplete.
Sign up and test it.
I am with you here when it comes to older stuff
I have the fortune to be of the “Lan-party” generation and still have a big group of people i know keep ageold games, movies, etc. So if i need something i can usually get it from them… then it’s a matter of VPN into their network and use ftp.
But usually i don’t really look for old stuff. But thats a “me” thing. I know this will not work for everyone… also, yeah despite the retention being “only” 13 years, i do find stuff that got reupload quite usually.
I am searching for very old audiobooks and i still find most of them on usenet despite some of them being well over 20 years old now.
Speed is unfathomably fast though. I have a 1gbit/s connection at home and i can download with ~900 mbit/s through the VPN
Good advice, that I would definitely recommend in a place like Germany. But still: First rule of Usenet is to not talk about the Usenet. :D
@RandomLegend @therantechguy how can I try usenet?
You can come over to https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/c/usenet_invites and post a [W] for any indexer (popular ones are DrunkenSlug)
Otherwise if you want content in german language you can look up houseofusenet and see if you can register there.
Worth noting that DrunkenSlug is just the indexer. It doesn’t actually provide any of the Usenet access. Just like The Pirate Bay allows you to search torrents, but you need a torrent program to actually download anything. In order to actually use DrunkenSlug, you need a subscription to a Usenet provider.
It probably requires a subscription to a Usenet provider. ISPs used to provide this service in the states, but I haven’t seen that in a long time. Search for USENET PROVIDER or NEWSGROUP PROVIDER to find a service.
You’ll need a service that has ‘binary’ groups. It will also need to provide access to specific groups that people use for games. There are many, many binary groups, and not all providers give you access to all the groups (for good reasons). Something with ‘gamez’ or ‘warez’ in the group title is a good start.
You’ll need newsreader software. I used Forte Agent back in the day. I’m sure there are better readers out there now. It should have NZB support, and PAR file support is important (you’ll want to look up those terms to learn about them).
Usenet is more complicated than torrenting, but I wouldn’t bother with a VPN on Usenet. Since you’ll have a login for access, a VPN wouldn’t help. But in this case the law enforcement target would be the Usenet provider, not the users.
It costs money.
What are the advantages of usenet when it comes to your security? Given that you’re using VPN anyway. But with usenet you also need to find a way to pay anonymously for it, otherwise what’s the point?
The point is that you can download stuff without uploading it at the same time.
I don’t have to share copyrighted material in order to download it. That’s the big advantage.
To add to that: The “sharing” part is what’s prohibited in German law. (Remember: when torrenting you also upload chunks of the data to others.) The pure download is kind of a grey area and won’t be prosecuted.
Just wanted to point out that downloading is no longer a grey area since an EU ruling a couple of years ago. Streaming as well as downloading from unauthorized sources is plainly illegal - you’re right about it being very unlikely to be prosecuted for it.
Exactly - should’ve mentioned that.
That’s why i feel much more safe using Usenet. Also, the fractured nature of usenet makes it more resilient to prosecutors to actually pinpoint anything.
don’t torrent, use direct download.
Yes, there are entire companies full of lawyers doing nothing but sending out these letters to people who torrent. They also use harmless looking paid ads on piracy sites (including streaming and direct download) to place trackers on the site and track down users.
All of this can easily be circumvented by using a VPN or seedbox, as well as an adblocker.
Skill issue
and that’s why you should also have an adblocker installed
Yes, for example ublock origin.
You don’t know or understand what laws you may be in violation of. If you ask a lawyer they’ll advise you to stop doing crimes.
If you want to obscure your actions, switch to DoT or DoH and bind your torrent client or computer to a vpn with port forwarding. Don’t do just one. Use a paid vpn not owned by kape technologies because that umbrella company is an Israeli honeypot.
Turn off pex and dht and only use private trackers.
