With anti-piracy outfits and dubious law-firms policing BitTorrent swarms at an increasing rate, many BitTorrent users are looking for ways to hide their identities from the outside world. Here's an overview of five widely used privacy services.
The services discussed in this post range from totally free to costing several dollars a month. The general rule is that free services are generally slower or have other restrictions, while paid ones can get you the same speeds as your regular connection would.
VPN (paid / free)
Hundreds and thousands of BitTorrent users have already discovered that a VPN is a good way to ensure privacy while using BitTorrent. For a few dollars a month VPNs route all your traffic through their servers, hiding your IP address from the public. Some VPNs also offer a free plan, but these are significantly slower and not really suited for more demanding BitTorrent users.
Unlike the other services listed in this article, VPNs are not limited to just BitTorrent traffic, they will also conceal the source of all the other traffic on your connection too. Ipredator, Itshiddenand StrongVPN are popular among BitTorrent users, but a Google search should find dozens more. It is recommended to ask beforehand if BitTorrent traffic is permitted on the service of your choice.
BTGuard (paid)
BTGuard is a proxy service that hides the IP-addresses of its users from the public. The service works on Windows, Mac, Linux and as the name already suggests, it is set up specifically with BitTorrent users in mind. Besides using the pre-configured client, users can also set up their own client to work with BTGuard. It works with all clients that support "Socks V5″ proxies including uTorrent and Vuze. In addition, BTGuard also includes encryption tunnel software for the real security purists.
After these words of praise we're obligated to disclose that BTGuard is operated by friends of TorrentFreak, but we think that should be interpreted as a recommendation.
TorrentPrivacy (paid)
Torrentprivacy is another proxy service for BitTorrent users, very similar to that of BTGuard. It offers a modified uTorrent client that has all the necessary settings pre-configured. The downside to this approach is that it is limited to users on Windows platforms. TorrentPrivacy is operated by the TorrentReactor.net team and has been in business for more than two years.
Anomos (free)
"Anomos is a pseudonymous, encrypted multi-peer-to-peer file distribution protocol. It is based on the peer/tracker concept of BitTorrent in combination with an onion routing anonymization layer, with the added benefit of end-to-end encryption," is how the Anomos team describes its project.
Anomos is one of the few free multi-platform solutions for BitTorrent users to hide their IP-addresses. The downside is that it's not fully compatible with regular torrent files as Anomos uses its own atorrent format. Another drawback is that the download speeds are generally lower than regular BitTorrent transfers.
On the uTorrent Idea Bank, more than 1,600 people have asked for the Anomos protocol to be built into a future uTorrent build, making it the second most-popular suggestion overall.
Seedbox (paid)
A seedbox is BitTorrent jargon for a dedicated high-speed server, used exclusively for torrent transfers. With a seedbox users generally get very high download speeds while their IP-addresses are not shared with the public. Once a download is finished users can download the files to their PC through a fast http connection. FileShareFreak periodically reviews several good seedbox providers.
5 Ways To Download Torrents Anonymously [TorrentFreak]
notavirus started this thread
Another option: find someone still stupid enough to use WEP, crack their connection and leech away.
@not_a_virus.exe.vbs: In my case, someone who doesn't have any password protection on the wifi in my building. It's too bad it wasn't some ironic name like FORTRESS or something, instead just regular old LINKSYS.
@Kaiser-Machead v.2.1.1: rename it to fortress :)
@davepermen: Even better, IMPENETRABLE_FORTRESS
@Kaiser-Machead v.2.1.1: Really? Damn, that's like... well I guess they don't do a lot of online banking =P
JohnnyricoMC started this thread
Well, there's the option of only leeching and not uploading squat (since lots of countries only prohibit UPloading copyrighted content), but that's kind of a violation of the pirate code.
Well, you can always consider that code "guidelines". However, keep in mind that this kind of behaviour is very harmful to peer-to-peer. Especially on a system like the Bittorrent protocol.
@JohnnyricoMC: Yeah, by all means consider the "harm" to your fellow pirates, parasites, and other leaches... (grin)
@lhmlco: Yarr!
@JohnnyricoMC: lol brought back memories from the first Pirates movie.
@lhmlco: More of a thieves guild really.
Lula Mae Broadway started this thread
So basically if I'm paying a monthly subscription rate to hide my identity, I might as well pay that same $ to Netflix (which I already do), and go back to waiting for the stuff I like.
Or I could just buy things legally so the $ goes to the actual artists who create content... so they can keep creating more stuff I love.
Agree with the poster who said there must be a middle ground. I'm spoilled now by the access and speed of BT, but have always felt guilty about it and would happily pay a fee to larger organization for access. Sort of like how ASCAP aggregates royalties for songwriters.
@Lula Mae Broadway: There's more to piracy than movies/TV shows...
@Lula Mae Broadway: Well, in fairness, the cost of anonymous p2p is not as high as all the movies, music, TV, etc. Also, while some of the money goes to artists, most of it goes to industry leeches. I usually buy CDs from bands when I see them play nearby. They are cheaper and the money goes right into their pockets. For TV, I am stuck paying for DirecTV at the moment but would love to just go to a legit internet-only streaming solution if one existed and was not too expensive (~$10-20/month) .
As far as paying for access, there are already things like this for music. Zune Pass and others let you listen to anything at all as long as you are a subscriber. You even get some "for keeps" songs every month (10 I believe). For movies, there is Netflix and Hulu but they aren't so hot just yet. Too many restrictions on what they can carry but that's not their fault.
It's coming but it will take a while. Let's just hope it doesn't still end up costing $75-100 per month.
check out gaiamtv.com might be just what you are looking for in a streaming service.
akuma_619 started this thread
You forgot one thing. Use your neighbor's wifi to anonymously download torrents. If it is WEP protected use Backtrack to crack it. This gives you the most anonymity but some people might find this unethical and possibly illegal.
@akuma_619: Better stick to the legal way to download illegal torrents.
@akuma_619: No possibly about it, it's very illegal.
@akuma_619: best suggestion ive ever heard. no really it is.
@akuma_619: Please stop stealing my data infused oxygen and hydrogen please. Thanks.
Tills13 started this thread
What about Demonoid's private tracker?
@Tills13: That is not anonymous at all. I have an account there but so far I haven't even had to log on to grab a torrent.
@Tills13: Thats my last safe haven for torrents. Thank god.
@phiyuku: You do not have to have an account for anything on the homepage. It only blocks those who want to download older stuff
@phiyuku: Whoops, yes. I realized that after I posted.
Lula Mae Broadway started this thread
I thought Peer Guardian was sufficient - am I wrong?
@Lula Mae Broadway: No, PeerGuardian is long gone. PeerBlock is like a newly remodeled version with weekly updates.
@FrankAguilar: It's just the exact same concept. You're taking a chance anyways. Think the RIAA hasn't decided to try running their software from a home computer? You're still nowhere near safe.
stevieboy started this thread
Or you could just move to Canada.
@stevieboy: I live in Canada, and I've had a few emails from my provider telling me to stop downloading, because they got an email from CBS (twice) and Paramount (I was downloading CSI:NY and Transformers 2).
They haven't done anything other than that, so they obviously don't give a crap. Which is sweet.
@photophile: Ditto. One email for an episode of Dexter and another from Sony about something or other. Nothing else.
@photophile: CBS and Paramount do give a crap, there's just nothing (at the moment) they can legally do to you. Your ISP would give a crap if they got served with papers too.
@stevieboy: Nahs. I just hate it when neighboring Grizzlies ask me to skooch over a bit on the couch so they can watch The Jungle Book with me.
I mean, I love the bears, but their getting all weepy when Baloo gets shot drives me to drink.
izikavazo started this thread
I finally did it, mostly for my nerves.
Izod517 started this thread
I see a few comments here and there about PeerBlock and PeerGaurdian - both are nigh on useless at this point. Don't fool yourself into thinking either help at all.
@Izod517: I'm not dis-agreeing with you as I don't know whether they do or do not work, but can you provide reasoning to your statement?
@rocker9455: PeerBlock (PeerGuardian) don't work because they block "known" bad guys. P2P works in such a way that a law firm or a movie studio can set up a laptop at home, connect to the torrent of their choice, and track any IP address that attempts (or does) download and upload the torrent. They then have proof that you have illegally downloaded and/or uploaded their intellectual property.
Most people just don't seem to understand how BitTorrent and programs like Peerblock work. Most people think "Well the RIAA and MPAA can just log in from their home computers" but that's not even it.
Peerblock (Peerguardian) is a simple IP blocking firewall. It blocks connections. Nothing more.
BitTorrent broadcasts your IP to the swarm at all times. Peerblock does nothing to block your IP from being broadcast therefore it doesn't really do anything.
@Izod517: could you explain why they are useless please?
Wabbited started this thread
All those options just make a central point where all data is collected and only one warrant or nudge or hacker is needed to have a complete history on you (this is all assuming the companies in question aren't run for the purpose of gathering people's personal info in the first place).
And I bet they all require a traceable payment system too in case the records are for some weird reason not enough.
@Wabbited: not the onion router solution. Tor + torrents is still secure.
Hey, a name, TORrents. Get it?
@Wabbited: Some of these services have legitimate uses however. As a result, I think it would take a bit more effort for such details to be handed over, and not just a blanket warrant. The same way that Paypal has most certainly been used to pay for drugs and sex as some point, the authorities can't really issue a warrant for all of Paypals records to hunt down those uses.
Yes, it's not completely anonymous; however, it does give you a fair amount of anonymity and creates some resistance that will require more than a blanket warrant.
@spinnaker0: AT&T and Comcast have legitimate uses too. But if they get a valid subpoena from the RIAA that asks them who was using a particular IP address at a particular time, they will cough it up.
These services are vulnerable in just the same way.
@Wabbited: TorrentPrivacy does not maintain logs and they are not in a "cooperating" country. Good luck with your warrant.
Source: http://lifehacker.com/5617891/five-ways-to-download-torrents-anonymously
Source: http://lifehacker.com/5617891/five-ways-to-download-torrents-anonymously
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