Post: #1

Just read the following on CNN:

(CNN) -- It is about to get a bit more difficult to illegally download TV shows, movies or music online.

A new alert system, rolling out over the next two months, will repeatedly warn and possibly punish people violating digital copyrights. The Copyright Alert System was announced last July and has been four years in the making.

If you use AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner, or Verizon as your Internet service provider, you could receive the first of one of these notes starting in the next two months.

...full story here: http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/18/tech/web/c...?hpt=te_r1

Post: #2

Doesn't matter.

VPNs + Filelockers = win.

You cannot beat the internet.

Post: #3

I've downloaded shit tons of music off of soulseek. I wonder if they will be closely monitoring that one?

@Athlone, can you break that down a bit? I don't know shit about networking and security.

Post: #4

(10-22-2012 03:20 AM)Athlone McGinnis Wrote:  Doesn't matter.

VPNs + Filelockers = win.

You cannot beat the internet.

Very true. Viva la Pirate!

http://torrentfreak.com/how-to-make-vpns...re-120419/

We should designate this thread for tactics to download securely.

Post: #5

(10-22-2012 03:41 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  I've downloaded shit tons of music off of soulseek. I wonder if they will be closely monitoring that one?

@Athlone, can you break that down a bit? I don't know shit about networking and security.

Great request. Yes, Athlone, if you could do this I'd appreciate it---and probably a lot of other guys on this forum as well.

Post: #6

There's also a program PeerBlock which blocks government/adware/etc IP's, may be useful for aditional protection or if you're lazy and don't want to set up VPN.

Post: #7

Between failing hard drives and Cease and Desist letters, I stream everything nowadays.

Post: #8

Choosing the right VPN for you:

https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-provi...ly-111007/

Post: #9

Yeah, break it down Athlone. I've been torrenting for over 8 years now. I used to get nasty emails and notification from my ISP a lot, but when I started using IP blockers (most BT clients have one integrated now), I only got one notice in the past 6 years. This solution is not 100% of course, especially now when probably most users use peer blocking. I was thinking about getting a seedbox subscription, that should be pretty much 100% solution, anybody has experience?
Friend is using BTGuard (bittorrent anonymous proxy), but the speed is not that good, I think if I would pay for something on a monthly basis, it would be a seedbox.

Post: #10

(10-22-2012 06:38 AM)dragnet Wrote:  

(10-22-2012 03:41 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  I've downloaded shit tons of music off of soulseek. I wonder if they will be closely monitoring that one?

@Athlone, can you break that down a bit? I don't know shit about networking and security.

Great request. Yes, Athlone, if you could do this I'd appreciate it---and probably a lot of other guys on this forum as well.

Alright, I'll work on a short breakdown for secure downloading online. I'll try to list all the tools needed. Keep in mind that there is a lot I don't know myself, and I am still learning with time-what I present below represents the best of my current knowledge. Hopefully it is at least somewhat helpful.

1. The VPN-Long story short, VPNs work to hide your online activity, and can therefore be used to prevent surveillance by ISPs and the like. They're getting quite popular.

Some information with regard to setting up VPNs is available here and here. They'll cost you a bit, but if you're a frequent torrenter it may be worth the price. This is going to be a difficult tool for the media/government to restrict (many VPNs won't give them the IPs of their users and/or don't even track those IPs, thwarting many attempts to prove ongoing piracy much less prosecute individuals for it), so expect it to be an effective weapon for pirates for a long time coming.

2. The Cyberlocker (I called these "Filelockers" above). These are file-hosting services where users can upload content for storage and post download links (usually on forums or blogs-up to you to find those) for other users to grab that content. You pay the filehost a fee to upload the content, and downloaders pay for quicker downloading of the content (free downloading is often supported, but it is much slower). Some uploaders can also make money from filehosting depending on how many downloads they get.

Cyberlockers are a godsend for pirates because, unlike torrents, their usage is difficult (near impossible, actually) to track accurately. You as an individual can't be easily pinned down for filelocker use the way you could for torrenting or other peer-to-peer sharing.
The most effective means used by the anti-piracy folks to control cyberlockers is elimination-that is to say, taking individual cyberlockers offline.

There is a war being launched against cyberlockers right now and there has been a war against them for some time, but the reality is that they aren't going anywhere. Current attempts to strangle cyberlockers by restricting payment methods will only slow the industry down, not cripple it (new filelockers pop up every day, as do new payment processors-that, and one can always pay directly via credit card for downloading, a method that can't be easily strangled).

This reality requires that one be vigilant about which filehosts are up and down since the landscape changes so rapidly-a major filehost can be running well for a few months and then die very quickly. The filehosts I made heavy use of as recently as 6 months ago are no longer working, but they've been replaced quite capably by new cyberlockers which, I'm sure in a few months, will themselves be succeeded for the most part.

If you keep abreast of these developments (sites like TorrentFreak can help you stay up to date on which cyberlockers are around and which are on their way out), cyberlockers will be your best friend. They'll allow you to go to sites where movies/porn/music files are shared and download at your pleasure for a relatively small fee, without much fear of retribution.

3. Software. Here I want to mention ways to download music and streaming videos with ease and with virtually no chance of retribution.

I get most of my music from youtube. How? VDownloader.
My process is quite simple. I hear a song and decide I like it. I head over to youtube and find the song in full. I copy the link to the video and open Vdownloader. I then paste the link into the URL box VDownloader gives me (this will often be done automatically for me by the program). Then I set the conversion file to MP3, indicating that I only want the program to download me the audio from the video (read: the song). I click download, save the file to my music folder, and I'm set-I've got whatever song I want on my computer.

This is one of the most effective ways to grab music for me. The music I don't DL in this manner will usually come from cyberlockers (full albums can be found quite easily on sites like mediafire, etc), but this method takes care of 80% or more of my music downloading needs.

The firefox extension DownloadHelper is also a worthy addition to any pirate's arsenal, and can be found here. It will integrate itself into your browser and allow you to download any streaming video you play.

The most powerful software tool out there for discreet, safe downloading is probably Internet Download Manager. It essentially allows you to rip anything online, including streaming video and streaming audio. It isn't free ($24.95, I think), but it is a very worthy investment. It can also be pirated if you're savvy enough (that's how I got it).

That's a short workup. If I think of anything else, I'll add it here in the thread.

Post: #11

Do I need to be careful if I get full cds from blogs and forums who use sites like Rapidshare?

Post: #12

(10-22-2012 11:39 PM)houston Wrote:  Do I need to be careful if I get full cds from blogs and forums who use sites like Rapidshare?

No, you should be ok. The benefit of cyberlockers like rapidshare rests in the difficulty in tracking those who use them. The typical response of the anti-piracy brigade is therefore to attack the cyberlocker itself and sht it down, not to go after individuals (who they have no means of identifying).

If you can find the links, download them as much as you like. You're pretty much safe.

If you're torrenting those CDs, that's another much riskier story.

Post: #13

Update:

Net providers begin warning of illegal downloads

http://news.yahoo.com/net-providers-begi...nance.html

^Starts this week.

Post: #14

Even if you use a VPN or Peerblocker, wouldn't your ISP still be able to easily extrapolate that you're downloading something, based on your bandwidth usage? Or does it simply conceal all traffic?

Post: #15

(02-26-2013 03:34 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  Even if you use a VPN or Peerblocker, wouldn't your ISP still be able to easily extrapolate that you're downloading something, based on your bandwidth usage? Or does it simply conceal all traffic?

According to the article:

Officials involved in the effort acknowledge it's unlikely to stop the biggest violators. There are ways to disguise an IP address or use a neighbor's connection that is unlocked. Public wireless connections, such as those offered at coffee shops, also won't be monitored.

Post: #16

I work with computers as part of my job. Won't say any more than that, but here's a little more info for you guys. I assume most people on this board are pretty technically inclined, but if you're not maybe I can break this down a little. This link provides some more detailed info than the CNN/Yahoo stories.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/internet/...ix-strikes

Computerworld is a pretty reputable site, if I remember right, and here's the product it says they're using to watch for pirated content, a product called MarkMonitor:
https://www.markmonitor.com/download/ds/...Piracy.pdf (Note that the PDF claims the program monitors file locker programs. However, multiple sources in the computerworld article say that that functionality won't be used for this. It's torrents only.)

Here's how a torrent monitoring application works, simplified for non-techies.
1.) You download and run a torrent to download "Debbie Does DP 9."
2.) When you run a torrent, you're getting the data for the file from everybody else who is connected to that torrent. This means everybody else has to know your IP (A number that uniquely identifies your computer on the internet) to know where to send the porn.
3.) MarkMonitor downloads and runs the same torrent. When they do, they automatically get a list of every IP that is currently connected to it.
4.) MarkMonitor doesn't know what person is using that IP, they just know what it is. Only your internet provider knows. So they write down the IP and send it to your internet provider, with a note saying "He's been a bad, bad man."
5.) Your provider sends you to internet time-out.

As you can see, this is a fairly trivial process. No expensive hardware or giant databases required. So I imagine this is all they'll be doing for the forseeable future, and the Computerworld article backs this up. Now when you use a VPN, you're connecting to the torrent via a different IP. So your uh, viewing habits... can't be traced back to you. Instead of your IP, MarkMonitor will see the VPN's. There are ways to find out who was using a VPN at a certain point in time, but they're expensive, time-consuming, and difficult, and simply not feasible on a national scale. So if you're using one, you're safe.

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about this. Almost everybody with internet access pirates stuff, especially the people who pay for expensive, upgraded connections. If I'm a Time Warner customer, and they kick me off the internet, I'm going to stop paying 100$ a month for cable. And do you think the MPAA is going to pay them anything? Heck no. So that's 100$ a month they lose, and some other company gains. So they're doing the bare minimum required to keep copyright owners from going to congress and demanding a giant, expensive monitoring solution. Notice that even if you get six-strikes, all it does is slow your connection for 2 days. Then nothing at all happens. Not a thing. You're not banned from the internet, you're not fined, and the FBI doesn't come to your door and haul you away in the night.

So take a deep breath, 'cause nothing will come of this. You might get a nasty letter.

Just don't download "Debbie does DP 9" when you're on somebody else's connection, 'cause if they get that nasty letter they'll probably have some questions for you.

Post: #17

(02-26-2013 07:11 AM)Faust Wrote:  I work with computers as part of my job. Won't say any more than that, but here's a little more info for you guys. I assume most people on this board are pretty technically inclined, but if you're not maybe I can break this down a little. This link provides some more detailed info than the CNN/Yahoo stories.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/internet/...ix-strikes

Computerworld is a pretty reputable site, if I remember right, and here's the product it says they're using to watch for pirated content, a product called MarkMonitor:
https://www.markmonitor.com/download/ds/...Piracy.pdf (Note that the PDF claims the program monitors file locker programs. However, multiple sources in the computerworld article say that that functionality won't be used for this. It's torrents only.)

Here's how a torrent monitoring application works, simplified for non-techies.
1.) You download and run a torrent to download "Debbie Does DP 9."
2.) When you run a torrent, you're getting the data for the file from everybody else who is connected to that torrent. This means everybody else has to know your IP (A number that uniquely identifies your computer on the internet) to know where to send the porn.
3.) MarkMonitor downloads and runs the same torrent. When they do, they automatically get a list of every IP that is currently connected to it.
4.) MarkMonitor doesn't know what person is using that IP, they just know what it is. Only your internet provider knows. So they write down the IP and send it to your internet provider, with a note saying "He's been a bad, bad man."
5.) Your provider sends you to internet time-out.

As you can see, this is a fairly trivial process. No expensive hardware or giant databases required. So I imagine this is all they'll be doing for the forseeable future, and the Computerworld article backs this up. Now when you use a VPN, you're connecting to the torrent via a different IP. So your uh, viewing habits... can't be traced back to you. Instead of your IP, MarkMonitor will see the VPN's. There are ways to find out who was using a VPN at a certain point in time, but they're expensive, time-consuming, and difficult, and simply not feasible on a national scale. So if you're using one, you're safe.

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about this. Almost everybody with internet access pirates stuff, especially the people who pay for expensive, upgraded connections. If I'm a Time Warner customer, and they kick me off the internet, I'm going to stop paying 100$ a month for cable. And do you think the MPAA is going to pay them anything? Heck no. So that's 100$ a month they lose, and some other company gains. So they're doing the bare minimum required to keep copyright owners from going to congress and demanding a giant, expensive monitoring solution. Notice that even if you get six-strikes, all it does is slow your connection for 2 days. Then nothing at all happens. Not a thing. You're not banned from the internet, you're not fined, and the FBI doesn't come to your door and haul you away in the night.

So take a deep breath, 'cause nothing will come of this. You might get a nasty letter.

Just don't download "Debbie does DP 9" when you're on somebody else's connection, 'cause if they get that nasty letter they'll probably have some questions for you.

^Thanks for posting the article.

It was good to know the following since I mostly only visit streaming sites:

Quote:4. Switch over to a streaming site without downloading movies. ICE may take it down, but you won’t be targeted by the Copyright Alert System. Torrent Freak reported, “The copyright alerts only target a subgroup of online pirates, namely BitTorrent users. The millions of users of file-hosting services, Usenet and streaming sites are not going to be affected.”

Post: #18

Are you guys familiar with PeerGuardian?
Used to be paranoid as shit and used it all the time but quit because I never got warnings anyway.

Post: #19

Amazing how long censorship forces have been trying to make a dent in bittorrent. Morpheus was down in a matter of months. TPB is still online.

Post: #20

I thought I was bad for downloading full albums but I know people who are getting a few movies a week.