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Does a vpn really matter when torenting? Do people care? (leminal.space)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by GrumpyCat@leminal.space to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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I know this is a dumb question... But i cant really aford a vpn like at all, is it possible to torrent without using a vpn in the USA or will i get in some trouble and go to jail if i torrent without a vpn?

The reason i cant get a vpn is because im just broke and im young enough to live with family so i cant really get a job.

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[-] bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 week ago

If they have the rights to distribute it and can seed it, than what is the crime? I would have to imagine that if a studio wants to limit the spread of pirated material, hiring a firm who will distribute and spread the content the studios are looking to limit is counterproductive. IANAL but i think that if a studio were to take someone to court for piracy and it was discovered that the studio (or a hired firm) was legally providing the content to the defendant, it would be a huge hole in the case, and be grounds for dismissal.

[-] emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago

Im not suggesting they upload it, but they literally do seed torrents to get a list of all clients who connect to them and download, because the torrent is still an unauthorized distribution for everyone else. I think it totally should be considered illegal, but thats how theyve been doing it for years.

https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-helps-to-expose-copyright-troll-honeypot-130604/

[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

but they literally do seed torrents to get a list of all clients who connect to them and download

Actually, if I recall correctly they tend to seed only partial files because what they actually want to hit people with is distribution. If I understand the legal situation around it correctly, the act of downloading is much harder to pursue in civil court as opposed to damages for distribution. Because they need to prove that you're not just downloading it for yourself but distributing it to others, hence sitting in the swarm and logging IPs of anyone who sends data to them.