Downloading torrents anonymously?? VPN's??

[GrassRoots]

I know someone who got in a bit of trouble for downloading a torrent and I don't want something like that to happen to me. Do VPN's work? Is there a particular one that anyone could recommend? Looking for something that's user friendly and works as needed with minimal set up. At this point I'm too scared to download any torrents until I get this figured out. I'm on a mac if that matters. Thanks guys.

 

[Fattie]

What are the details of this situation. Where did he download the torrent from? What type of torrent was it? Did they just come to his house with warrant or what?

 

[wisco61]

http://sourceforge.net/projects/peerguardian/

 

[RudeDog]

Don't think you can get done for downloading....only uploading.

If you are only downloading then you are not sharing.

Disable the uploading if your that worried about.

I download shed loads of stuff and not had any trouble whatsoever including viruses.

 

[GrassRoots]

He downloaded torrents from cheggit.net for a long time, adult files. He got a letter from his ISP that they got a request for his info through a subpoena and that if he didn't handle it legally they would release his info to the lawyer that was coming after him. And now he's got a lawyer coming after him asking for thousands of dollars to settle the matter.

I'm no expert on these situations but I do think you can, and he did get in trouble for downloading, not uploading. I saw the letter that he got from the attorney and it was saying something like your ip address was found to download a certain copywritten file that our client owns...etc...

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

A recent news article reported a 75 year-old woman being sued for downloading porn. She didn't have a password on her wireless connection and claimed young men living in the building used it. A lawyer was quoted saying she's still liable for not protecting her connection.

So it sounds like downloading alone could get one in a scrape.

 

[Snow Crash]

He downloaded torrents from cheggit.net for a long time, adult files. He got a letter from his ISP that they got a request for his info through a subpoena and that if he didn't handle it legally they would release his info to the lawyer that was coming after him. And now he's got a lawyer coming after him asking for thousands of dollars to settle the matter.

I'm no expert on these situations but I do think you can, and he did get in trouble for downloading, not uploading. I saw the letter that he got from the attorney and it was saying something like your ip address was found to download a certain copywritten file that our client owns...etc...

The burden of proof is on the accuser. If he runs a wireless network then he can claim it is just as likely that someone was sitting in their car near his house with a laptop using his wireless connection to download torrents from the internet. It'd be the same as charging a store owner for theft after someone else robs him.

For them to charge him with the download and the possession of the file they have to prove three things. One, that hardware owned by the user contains the copyright controlled media, or a ghost of the media to prove that it was the accused who did the downloading. Then they have to prove that the accused does not already own the media, as having paid for the license you are allowed to own the media in a digital format through fair use laws. Finally, torrents may be "borrowed" or shared between one individual and another as long as the digital copy of the media is destroyed 24 hours after acquiring it.

Think of it like this. If I owned Men in Black 2 and you wanted to watch it I could just let you borrow the movie. Essentially, with file sharing that is what you are doing, borrowing the movie for a little bit from a "friend you just met." If the movie is watched and removed then there is no breaking of the law from a licensing stand-point.

Basically, unless your buddy was a little less then smart about what he told them about his behavior then they have very little to pin on him.

 

[mygrow1900]

A recent news article reported a 75 year-old woman being sued for downloading porn. She didn't have a password on her wireless connection and claimed young men living in the building used it. A lawyer was quoted saying she's still liable for not protecting her connection.

So it sounds like downloading alone could get one in a scrape.

That attorney has some balls. He has to prove intent and compliance on her part or he cannot collect!

 

[GrassRoots]

My buddy is lawyered up now but his attorney says that if he did it he encourages him to settle. They would have years to take him to court if they wanted to and he didn't want this hanging over his head. His lawyer says he could wait and see what happens, it's possible that they'll never actually sue him but if he ends up going to court that the cost of fighting it could be very high and his lawyer is telling him that the settlement offer will never be any lower than it is now (which by the way is over 2 grand for one file). Google John Steele lawsuits. This lawyer, John Steele, has been and is doing this to thousands of people since the end of last year.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Two grand for viewing rights? Sounds like they're trying to imply distribution. If dude pays up, that should give him the right to distribute the torrent... for cash.

 

[Dojo]

I got a few emails from my isp bout downloading movies....fuck em

 

[GrassRoots]

His ISP sent him a certified letter that contained a copy of the subpoena. Seems more serious.

 

[Dojo]

I get papers all the time...Tis just ink and wood means nothing to me...for if my "crime" hurts no one is it really a "crime"?

Court costs for a little download of a 700mb movie?

Can I just ignore the notice?
You can, but then your ISP will be required to respond to the subpoena and release your personal information. If you do not take action the court could ultimately enter a "default judgment" against you, which means a ruling that you owe money to the company that sued you. A default judgment may be legally enforceable, and could be turned over to a debt collection agency or otherwise be used to collect money from you. It can also harm your credit rating.

My credit is fucked and I only use cash....I owe a couple thousand to magazine company , hospitals, credit cards...so keep sending your paper eventually youll get tired.

 

[tokinblackguy]

For Mac users: Use Transmission BT client, in preferences panel under peers, select "prefer encrypted peers" and also select "blocklist" and make sure to have a valid url for the blocklist file.

For Windows XP users: Use utorrent BT client in conjunction with PeerGuardian. You can also incorporate Blocklist Manager for a more complete list of blocked ip ranges. Use Comodo Firewall(great firewall by the way) and upon setup, select the option that let's you use their DNS servers instead of your own. Every now and then, unplug your modem for a day or 2 to try and have your ISP assign you a new ip. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, just gotta try it.

For Vista/7 users: same methods as listed above for XP, except use PeerBlock instead of Peerguardian.

Disclaimer: none of this is 100% keep you safe, but I figure the harder you make it to pinpoint you, the less likely they are to come after you. Been downloading torrents for close to 10 years and not once received any notice from anybody, not even an email.

There's also an option on utorrent I think that allows you to use a proxy server like Tor for inbound/outbound connections. Tor doesn't really like you using their bandwidth for torrents, and it's quite slow for downloading, but I would definitely use it for my outbound connections. Either don't share at all or limit your upload speed so that the Tor network isn't adversely affected.

Hope this helps

 

[LovableHuggable]

I get papers all the time...Tis just ink and wood means nothing to me...for if my "crime" hurts no one is it really a "crime"?

Court costs for a little download of a 700mb movie?



My credit is fucked and I only use cash....I owe a couple thousand to magazine company , hospitals, credit cards...so keep sending your paper eventually youll get tired.

Your "crime" of downloading a movie does hurt someone. It hurts the pocketbook of those who made it and not just the rich stars either. It hurts everyone single person and business in the credits.

If you want to download stuff then use something other than torrents. If you don't know then google.

 

[Dojo]

Besides that fact is that they got payed to perform thier duties to make the movie even exist in the first place. So im a criminal if any of these happen.

A. I dont pay nothing to see it at a friends house

B. A friend shows a movie to a group of people who never brought a copy to view

C. I wait till it comes out on TBS or some shit a couple years later and watch it

All those would hurt the credit peeps I guess....

 

[LovableHuggable]

You don't take possession of the content at your friends house, you don't take possession of content when a friend shows a movie to a group of people who never brought a copy to view, you don't take possession of the content when it comes out on TBS or some shit a couple years later and watch it. You take possession of the content when you download it to your pc and you do so for as long as you wish and can even duplicate it.

Now on the third one comes DVR. That should be interesting to see in court b/c then you kinda take possession of the content. You have the content but no option to save it forever or back it up supported by your tv provider. So you can only take possession of the content until you are forced to write over it. I've always pondered how this would be handled but never took the time to research it.

 

[joeuser]

I get papers all the time...Tis just ink and wood means nothing to me...for if my "crime" hurts no one is it really a "crime"?

Court costs for a little download of a 700mb movie?



My credit is fucked and I only use cash....I owe a couple thousand to magazine company , hospitals, credit cards...so keep sending your paper eventually youll get tired.

I was going to rip into you for being a leech...but I decided against it. Get your shit together...become a PRODUCTIVE member of society.

 

[CLOWD11]

I didnt think was an ethics debate about whether or not torrents are kosher.
Try this OP
http://www.bittorrent.com/downloads
Anonymous torrenting.

 

[Mukind]

It's like prohibition of anything that people want....just not possible to be effective. And if file sharing ruins mass media fuck it, Society will be better off.