How Anonymous Am I?

[CaseySimplified]

I have been using bittorrent to download stuff for a while now. I just got to college and heard that it is a lot easier to get caught on a university network then at home. So I've trying to find a way not to get caught while downloading stuff at college.

Could anyone tell me how anonymous am I from getting caught with the precautions I am currently taking while downloading from bittorrent?

I use PeerGuardian for Mac OS X on the default settings and lists.
I use Azureus and use the Level 1 list in the IP Filter option.
I only download torrents from private bittorrent sites.

I know that it is impossible to have 100% anonymity while downloading stuff from bittorrent but is there anything else I can do to lessen my chances of getting caught by the big wigs?

Does anyone know of an free internet proxy for Mac OS X that would change my IP address? Would using a different IP address even lessen my chances of not getting caught? I know about Tor but I have heard that you should not use the Tor network for downloading from bittorrent.

Any insight you guys my have would be greatly helpful! Thanks in advanced!

CaseySimplified

[Mels_Smileys45]

Its really impossible to stay anonymous but with the state of the economy I would say that the resources of the law enforcement agencies are stretched already without worrying about arresting college students for sharing files. As far as the major studios go, Im not sure they even bother sending letters anymore. If they do, I never here about it.

I think as long as you stay away from posting pre releases you will be just fine.

[drtoker]

I think a majority of college people that got letters were using public sites or semi-private sites. Not to say your 100% safe by any means, but I would feel fine dling from closed private sites at a university.

[CaseySimplified]

Mels_Smileys45: posting pre releases? I don't understand. Pre releases like down try to download or upload a movie that is still in theaters? I don't upload anything onto bittorrent sites if thats what you mean. When you say that major studios don't send out letters anymore do you mean that don't bother trying to catch people that download illegal copies of their movies?

drtoker: what are semi-private sites? thepiratebay.org is a public bittorrent site, correct? I thought a site that you have to register and sign in to to download torrents are private. Am I wrong? Do you know of any good fully private bittorrent sites that I can sign up for?

[drtoker]

Public: Open for signup most of the time, or no signup required
Semi-private: Open for signups once and a while, registration required to download
Private: No open signups (at least for a while), either no new members allowed, or an invite is required to join.

If your on a site where anyone can download or signup, wheres the protection? The idea is to have a closed community where all the members are responsible for who they invite into the group.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions...

[Mels_Smileys45]

Actually there are no private sites. All sign up new members at some point. Some send invites which are traded to other people no one knows or they have open sign up days. Whether private or public sites ate more safe is up to debate. As far as I know more people have served TIMED using private sites while public sites usually just gets you a letter in the mail.

[CaseySimplified]

Actually there are no private sites. All sign up new members at some point. Some send invites which are traded to other people no one knows or they have open sign up days. Whether private or public sites ate more safe is up to debate. As far as I know more people have served TIMED using private sites while public sites usually just gets you a letter in the mail.

I thought I was safer to use private sites since it is harder for the **AA and MP** to gain access to those sites and see who is downloading illegal items. Are you to say that I am actually safer to use public sites since if or when I get caught I will just get a letter in the mail rather than a jail sentence? Also, if I am on a university network how are they able to trace the downloading all the way back to me? Aren't I protected against the university trying to see what I am doing since I have the edu block list on peer guardian?

[CaseySimplified]

Public: Open for signup most of the time, or no signup required
Semi-private: Open for signups once and a while, registration required to download
Private: No open signups (at least for a while), either no new members allowed, or an invite is required to join.

If your on a site where anyone can download or signup, wheres the protection? The idea is to have a closed community where all the members are responsible for who they invite into the group.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions...

Okay so my idea of a private site was completely wrong. For some reason I thought if you had to sign up for a site to download the torrents it made it safer. But it makes sense that it would be no safer than a public site since anyone can join at anytime. Do you have any suggestions for private bittorrent sites?

[drtoker]

Actually there are no private sites. All sign up new members at some point. Some send invites which are traded to other people no one knows or they have open sign up days. Whether private or public sites ate more safe is up to debate. As far as I know more people have served TIMED using private sites while public sites usually just gets you a letter in the mail.

Source?
This is the first I've heard that opinion, and I've only seen letters sent to huge private sites like torrentleech for example, but again, only letters. I've NEVER seen anyone serve time for downloading anything. Its a fine, never jail time... But I've never seen or heard of anyone on a private site actually get sued either, unless they were the original uploader that started the torrent, and that only applied to sites that were busted (oink for example).

None of the regular users at oink have been sued or prosecuted, only the admins and uploaders (not seeders, uploaders).

[CaseySimplified]

So regardless of whether I use a public or private torrent site as long as I do not download pre-releases and do not initially upload anything on to these sites I should be (mostly) in the clear?

I have heard that the only people getting letters are torrent sites, initial uploaders, people that download pre-releases, and people that download all day everyday. Is this true?

[drtoker]

I download all day everyday, and seed 24/7. I download pre-releases often as well. I've never gotten a letter or anything. I only use private (closed) sites with small userbases (less then 10k members) and newsgroups. I live in the USA as well. I also upload to a few sites that allow user uploads. Never pre-release stuff, mostly older stuff thats hard to find, legally or not.

Am I 100% safe? No. Do I feel safe? Yes.
I have several friends doing the same as me, all in the USA, none have recieved warnings or letters for the years we've all been torrenting.

Also, Yes, a lot of 'private' sites were open for signups at one point or another, but most of the sites I use have been closed for years, and only have invites. Some have even removed invites for most of that time. All sites I belong to make you responsible for who you invite. If they cheat, or don't use the site, they will be disabled, and the inviter could be disabled as well. All of these things make the site safer IMO.

[CaseySimplified]

How would I go about becoming a member to one of those private (closed) sites you speak of, drtoker?

[Mrs Robinson]

Hi Casey,

Remember me...






..I now know that you use BT.



Sorry, joking aside, you are pretty safe using bit torrent unless you are an original uploader of pre-relaese material.

If you want to make it really expensive and time consuming for the bad guys to find out who you are is to use anonymous p2p.

I agree with mel that private sites are the wrong way to go as they are really not that private.

[drtoker]

Mrs Robinson:
You are aware that people using public sites are still recieving warning letters. True, they may not be prosecuted, but the ISP can still cut service for violation of the TOS.
I STRONGLY advise against using public sites if you live within the USA.

[wapazoid]

As long as you're registered to an assigned ip address, I'm afraid there isn't much anonymity to be had. Proxies, ip blockers and even ssl encryption won't exactly cloak your activities. Using P2P apps these days is far riskier than it used to me. I recommend you use a fair amount of caution.

[infringer]

wow the index looks bear somehow I found my way here though anyhow good to see some folks are still around...

-infringer-

[Mels_Smileys45]

wow the index looks bear somehow I found my way here though anyhow good to see some folks are still around...

-infringer-


Welcome back.

[mfgbypooter]

Is he really back? where's his other 49 posts?

*

[Anchoret]

As long as you're registered to an assigned ip address, I'm afraid there isn't much anonymity to be had. Proxies, ip blockers and even ssl encryption won't exactly cloak your activities.
Have you found PeerGuardian2 to be ineffective?

How much does having a dynamic IP help?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

[mountain_rage]

Dynamic IP would help a little, but most service providers keep records of their users IP association.

Peerguardian is useless and only gives you a sense of security. They would have to find an algorithm that can actively identify the media croonies for it to do anything. Even that would only work if they exibit a specific, measurable patern.

[Mrs Robinson]

As long as you're registered to an assigned ip address, I'm afraid there isn't much anonymity to be had. Proxies, ip blockers and even ssl encryption won't exactly cloak your activities. Using P2P apps these days is far riskier than it used to me. I recommend you use a fair amount of caution.

Anonymity is not about hiding ip address but about preventing snoopers from knowing that it is YOUR ip address that is uploading and downloading. Very important to realise this. Dargens and other p2p programs such as MUTE breaks this link.

I don't know where this untruth originates from that it is impossible to download incognito probably the RIAA.

Anonymous p2p does work providing you've got broadband cos with normal p2p you don't max your connection so there is spare capacity for proxy chains.

Just my 2 cents - I know I going to get neg repped for this but someone has to say it.

The RIAA can't always have it their own way.

[Feather]

Dynamic IP would help a little, but most service providers keep records of their users IP association.

Peerguardian is useless and only gives you a sense of security. They would have to find an algorithm that can actively identify the media croonies for it to do anything. Even that would only work if they exibit a specific, measurable patern.

any piece of software is not bullet proof. with this line of thinking why not just get rid of antivirus software get rid of your firewall get rid of your spyware detector and your malware detector because none of them are 100% fool proof. But if you combined all of them and configure them correctly and keep them updated regularly you have some sense of security.

[mountain_rage]

any piece of software is not bullet proof. with this line of thinking why not just get rid of antivirus software get rid of your firewall get rid of your spyware detector and your malware detector because none of them are 100% fool proof. But if you combined all of them and configure them correctly and keep them updated regularly you have some sense of security.

Because virus scanners, spyware scanners and firewalls work with algorithms that detect patterns rather than just by a name or number. If a virus scanner did work like peer guardian it would be useless too. Can you imagine if all someone had to do to beat a virus scanner was change the name of the file, it would be a totally useless scanner. Its really simple for someone with money to change their IP address, and their are millions of combination's of IP's. What people using peer guardian are telling me is that they can identify the IP address of copyright police, and protect you by blocking them, before I download any content from them. So unless they are tracking a download pattern, which I doubt they can, peer guardian will continue to be useless and only a safety blanket. Sure it makes you feel safe but does piss all, and only make idiots think they will never be caught. Mute and Ants have promise once connection speeds improve, but you do open the risk of being associated with child porn if it starts being popular on the networks, because you would be identified as one of the mid points. Still we haven't seen how that would play out it court, from what we have seen just regular filesharing can't be successfully prosecuted.

[wapazoid]

Anonymity is not about hiding ip address but about preventing snoopers from knowing that it is YOUR ip address that is uploading and downloading. Very important to realise this. Dargens and other p2p programs such as MUTE breaks this link.

I don't know where this untruth originates from that it is impossible to download incognito probably the RIAA.


Any software application designed and openly advertised to share pirated content over the internet through a network of users can be infiltrated and monitored. 100% anti-snooping claims is relatively specious. It's important not to be nieve these days.

The risk lies within the application's overall popularity. Download and upload at your own risk is my 2 cents.

[mountain_rage]

Any software application designed and openly advertised to share pirated content over the internet through a network of users can be infiltrated and monitored. 100% anti-snooping claims is relatively specious. It's important not to be nieve these days.

The risk lies within the application's overall popularity. Download and upload at your own risk is my 2 cents.

Yes but mute works on an interesting principle which may leave you free from lawsuits under current laws. Unlike other p2p apps, it sends files between users through a unaffiliated 3rd party. The interesting thing would be whether or not a 3rd party can be responsible for the acts of the people sharing the files. Judging by the laws that protect ISP's I find it hard to believe that you could be sued for it, as you are simply acting as a service provider with no requirement to monitor the files that pass through your service. Even if you could, you only have one part of an encrypted file and could not identify the file even if you wanted to.

[notbob]

on a college network, you can get in trouble regardless of what you use. why? because it is a private network run by your school, and not owned by you. if they want to sniff packets, they can. if they want to throttle you, they can. i wouldn't worry about getting sued or arrested half as much as i would worry about the campus IT people seeing traffic and booting you off the network for breaking the acceptable use policy that they made you sign early on in the year

[heliozoa]

Because virus scanners, spyware scanners and firewalls work with algorithms that detect patterns rather than just by a name or number.

I should learn more about how blocklists are compiled, but they could also watch for patterns. The arrant logging firms go into a torrent with many peers at once, every peer with a similar address. Also if it wasn't that obvious, you can always try to find suspicious behavior.

Anonymous p2p works great in Japan, they also have fast internet there...
but MUTE, Ants-P2P etc. are just too slow to go mainstream.

Also, Yes, a lot of 'private' sites were open for signups at one point or another, but most of the sites I use have been closed for years, and only have invites. Some have even removed invites for most of that time. All sites I belong to make you responsible for who you invite. If they cheat, or don't use the site, they will be disabled, and the inviter could be disabled as well. All of these things make the site safer IMO.

All those private bittorrent trackers are relatively big community portals. They are exclusive and want their members to be paranoid about inviting people, which makes a mixed feeling about them. This is not what file-sharing was about.

If real investigators want to get it, this doesn't stop them.
But what it really does is keep people out. If it isn't generally available, secondary problem.

[Feather]

Because virus scanners, spyware scanners and firewalls work with algorithms that detect patterns rather than just by a name or number. If a virus scanner did work like peer guardian it would be useless too. Can you imagine if all someone had to do to beat a virus scanner was change the name of the file, it would be a totally useless scanner. Its really simple for someone with money to change their IP address, and their are millions of combination's of IP's. What people using peer guardian are telling me is that they can identify the IP address of copyright police, and protect you by blocking them, before I download any content from them. So unless they are tracking a download pattern, which I doubt they can, peer guardian will continue to be useless and only a safety blanket. Sure it makes you feel safe but does piss all, and only make idiots think they will never be caught. Mute and Ants have promise once connection speeds improve, but you do open the risk of being associated with child porn if it starts being popular on the networks, because you would be identified as one of the mid points. Still we haven't seen how that would play out it court, from what we have seen just regular filesharing can't be successfully prosecuted.

I will give you the fact that firewalls run strictly on algorithms. But virus scanners and spyware scanners run also on definitions. If these are not kept up to date by a qualified group of people then they are useless. Same with the ips used by peer guardian. all are needed for a feeling of safety but you should never expect to be invisible at anytime.

[Mrs Robinson]

on a college network, you can get in trouble regardless of what you use. why? because it is a private network run by your school, and not owned by you. if they want to sniff packets, they can. if they want to throttle you, they can. i wouldn't worry about getting sued or arrested half as much as i would worry about the campus IT people seeing traffic and booting you off the network for breaking the acceptable use policy that they made you sign early on in the year

Notbob where did you buy your tin foil hat from...I'd like to get one.

Anon. p2p like Ants and Dargens use end to end encryption so can't be packet sniffed. Also, they spoof SSL on 443 so to any admin look like normal web traffic not p2p. With friend to friend s/w like Dargens you connect to a few share with many so these would be difficult to infiltrate. Anon. p2p has an overhead which makes is slower on slow connections but it is just as fast as BT on cable and dsl.

This is not an ad for anon. p2p I'm just saying technically it works there is a big BUT, it lacks content and is geeky but if you connect to mates you can share your content privately without being watched by admins, ISPs and other organisations.

Peer guardian is also useful because organisations like the RIAA go for the low hanging fruit e.g BT movie cams and DC hubs. They are not going to keep changing their ip address to catch people not everyone reads websites like Zeropaid.

In the end whatever you do online as long as it is not criminally illegal you are probably safe. What application you use is dependant to your attitude to risk. We are all different that's why the world needs more than 2 (BT and emule) p2p networks.



Ez

[Feather]

Nicely said

[notbob]

there is no real anonymity. encryption means little when it's part of a public program that anyone can use. ip blockers are meaningless window dressing. if someone can connect to you, you are not anonymous, no matter what you believe. you have an ip address, and it is available to someone

you can bounce off proxies, but they just slow you down, and aren't yet practical for p2p. wait till everyone has 10MB connections(if that ever happens) then anonymity will become practical. at this point, all you have available are toys, most of them useless