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Is a VPN necessary for torrenting? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Alextheacceptable@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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I don't live in the US, so my ISP doesn't really seem to care what I torrent, but the megathread vehemently recommends to always use one. Since VPNs aren't cheap and I'm on a strict budget (wouldn't pirate otherwise), is it really that dangerous to torrent without one?

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[-] BarrierWithAshes@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

It (possibly) adds a layer of security. Of course you're just passing your traffic through them. Should they get summoned to court or ordered they could turn over your information and show you were trafficking through them. I'd say to read into how your nation persecutes copyright. How strict are they, how often have people been legally attacked cause of it, etc. If you're in Japan for example, I'd say 100% use a VPN. Copyright is extremely serious there.

[-] iAmTheTot@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

It doesn't add a layer of security, it adds a layer of anonymity.

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[-] great_meh@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago

Not necessary but really really really really recommended.

[-] JasSmith@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Just an FYI: for the cost of a VPN, you can buy a Usenet subscription. Depending on your content, you'll get far better speeds, far more privacy, far more content, and far more availability.

[-] Overzeetop@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I used to be all over usenet. Starting about 10-12 years ago most of the indexers turned to shit; either that or takedowns have eviscerated the back catalog of content from providers. I've yet to find a good tracker that can find anything (that's more than 12-24 hours old).

[-] JC@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

I use usenet, but I find that I have a lot of issues finding content in other language than English. Also, finding rarer content is harder too. So I also use torrents to complete what I can't find over usenet. To this day I would like to get content in French, but it's hard.
This means that I still need a torrenting setup with VPN.

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[-] BiggestBulb@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

There are a lot of self-hostable VPN services out there which are free. There is also Mullvad as previously mentioned and I myself use Nord (I don't necessarily recommend it for privacy, but it was convenient when I got it).

[-] dimspace@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Personally I just have a Real-Debrid sub for like 3 euros a month and do any torrenting via them.

Also useful for streaming just about anything in Kodi, and for downloading from file hosts

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[-] Jezebelley@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

Definitely should have one. Highly recommend Proton VPN personally. I love their software suite.

[-] KingPyrox@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

If using qBittorrent there is an anonymous option. Not sure if works well but I haven't received an ISP email in a long time since I set it

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[-] bob@lemmy.havocperil.uk -1 points 1 year ago

You all seem to be starting from the basis that downloading a torrent is illegal. It is not, it is only distribution/upload that's an issue. If you behave as a leech and kill it after you're done the worst you're going to get is a complaining letter from your ISP.

I torrent without a VPN and haven't had a single email from my ISP, but I presume it's because I'm a business customer.

[-] Sertou@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You should hedge this advise. It may not be illegal where you are, but it certainly is here in the U.SA. if you’re downloading “unsanctioned copyrighted material.”