Do I really need a VPN for pirating? (feddit.nl)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by VitabytesDev@feddit.nl to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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OK, so, I have a couple of questions:

What's the worst that can happen if I don't use a VPN while pirating?
Are free tier VPNs (like Proton VPN) good enough?
I don't want to pay much or anything for a VPN, is a way I can get a good free one, or set one myself somehow (I have experience with selfhosting) ?
If not, which cheap one do you recommend?

EDIT: I pirate mostly movies, and rarely some TV series.

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[-] buh@hexbear.net 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

The worst outcome of torrenting without a VPN depends on what country you live in. In the US, theoretically the worst thing that can happen is going to prison for many years and paying a huge fine, but as long as you’re not monetarily profiting somehow, realistically you’ll get multiple warnings to stop from your ISP and the government before it escalates to that point. The worst thing that can happen is your ISP cancels your service and blacklists you, which can be bad if they have a monopoly on internet service in your area.