Got a letter from my ISP, now using Anonimizer

[RTRForever]

I've been using p2p for about 18 months, currently with BitComet. I found it provides the best speeds without port forwarding. With uTorrent I would get maybe 30-50k max on a 10 meg connection. BC upped that to a possible of 300k dl, 120 up on a good file.

Then I got a letter saying a developer complained that my IP was downloading their game. I looked into different solutions and after trying proxy services and other anon services I think I'll purchase Anonimizer. I realized that since every torrent client I've seen shows the addy of whoever you connect to all a producer has to do is have people share files to get addys of people doing the same.

I couldn't risk getting my conection cut off because Charter is the only broadband serving my rural area. Since I rely on Vonage I have to have a bb connection. They take advantage of their monoply by charging about $45 for 768k, $56 for 5 meg and $61 for 10 meg, and I've never gotten over 7.7 meg dl or 400k on a speed test. With a regular phone and dial-up costing the same at least I get a good speed surfing the net this way.

But I did have a problem being hijacked once a few months back, so the anonymous service adds a bit more security over my firewall. It was my ignorance to use an admin acct with no login that helped after they got past my firewall that hurt too. Luckily I was able to use Safe Mode to access my pc and find a new admin acct named ASP.net Machine A and delete it. Since changing to ZoneAlarms free firewall with the one click "Lock Internet" feature I haven't had anymore breakins.

Sorry I rambled away, I hope maybe something helped others who bothered to read.

RTR!

[shawners]

First of all.. use uTorrent but go to www.portforward.com
If you have 10meg pipe. I would suggest you use private bt sites for downloading as uploaders usually want the best ratio and wont cap their upload speed. Plus they will help you get past your firewall and with other help.
Plus it blocks out all the anti piracy companies bots from finding you and sending you out a Cease and Desist letter.. Private sites have 1 login, and only 1 IP address that can be assigned to a login, so a bunch of machines running on different ip addresses for torrents on one account cant happen.

If you really are worried. Try usenet. You sound intelligent enough to figure it out.. But then again you didnt setup a password for your admin account.

Im in the process of archiving all my movies so ill cut out =)

MyDVDs: Complete List (430)

.45 (2006)
10 Items Or Less (2006)
10,000 BC (2008)
12 Monkeys: Special Edition (1996)
1408 (2007)
21: Deluxe Edition (2008)
3 A.M. (2001)
3:10 To Yuma (2007)
30 Days Of Night (2007)
300: Special Edition (2006)
40-Year-Old Virgin, The: Unrated (2005)
80 Minutes (2008)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Across The Universe: 2 Disc Deluxe Edition (2007)
Aeon Flux: Special Collector's Edition (2005)
Afro Samurai (2007)
Air Buddies (2006)
Alien Vs. Predator: Unrated Collector's Edition / Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem - Unrated (2008)
Aliens: Collector's Edition (1986)
Along Came Polly (2003)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (2007)
American Beauty: Special Edition (1999)
American Pie: Unrated Collector's Edition (1999)
American Wedding (2003)
Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy - Unrated (2004)
Apocalypto (2006)
April Fool's Day (2008)
Are We Done Yet? (2007)
Arlington Road (1999)
Armageddon (1998)
Arthur And The Invisibles (2006)
Australia (2008)
Babylon A.D.: Raw And Uncut (2008)
Bad News Bears (2005)
Badder Santa: Unrated (2003)
Bambi II (2006)
Band Of Brothers (2001)
Barnyard (2006)
Because I Said So (2006)
Becoming Jane (2007)
Bee Movie (2007)
Believers (2007)
Bella (2006)
Bicentennial Man (1999)
Black Hawk Down (2002)
Black Irish (2008)
Black Snake Moan (2007)
Blades Of Glory (2007)
Blood Diamond (2006)
Body Of Lies (2008)
Boondock Saints, The (1999)
Borat (2006)
Bourne Identity, The (2002)
Bourne Supremacy, The (2004)
Bourne Ultimatum, The (2007)
bOver The Hedge (2006)
Breach (2007)
Break-Up, The (2006)
Brewster's Millions (1985)
Broken Flowers (2005)
Bruce Almighty (2003)
Bucket List, The (2007)
Burn After Reading (2008)
Cars (2006)
Casino Royale (2006)
Changeling (2008)
Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
Chasing Amy: The Criterion Collection (1997)
Chicago (2002)
Chicken Little (2005)
Chocolate (2008)
Christmas With The Kranks (2004)
Christopher Reeve Superman Collection, The (2005)
Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian (2008)
Chronicles Of Narnia, The: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: 2 Disc Collector's Edition (2005)
Chronicles Of Riddick, The: Unrated Director's Cut (2004)
Cinderella III: A Twist In Time (2006)
City Of Angels (1998)
City Of Ember (2008)
Civic Duty (2006)
Clerks II (2006)
Cloverfield (2008)
Constantine's Sword (2008)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Coyote Ugly: Unrated Extended Cut (2000)
Crank (2006)
Crash (2004)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Cruel Intentions (1999)
Curious George (2006)
Curse Of The Golden Flower (2006)
Da Vinci Code, The: Special Edition (2006)
Daredevil (2003)
Dark Crystal, The: 25th Anniversary Edition (1982)
Dark Knight, The (2008)
Darwin Awards, The (2006)
Day The Earth Stood Still, The (2008)
Days Of Darkness (2007)
Death Of A President (2006)
Death Proof: Extended And Unrated - Special Edition (2007)
Death Sentence: Unrated (2007)
Deaths Of Ian Stone, The (2007)
Definitely, Maybe (2008)
Deja Vu (2006)
Departed, The (2006)
Derailed: Unrated (2005)
Descent (2007)
Descent, The: Unrated (2005)
Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)
District B13 (2006)
Disturbia (2007)
Dodgeball: Unrated (2004)
Dogma (1999)
Domino (2005)
Doom: Unrated (2005)
Dreamgirls (2006)
Duchess, The (2008)
Dynamite Warrior (2006)
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: Limited Collector's Edition (1982)
Eagle Eye (2008)
Eagle Vs Shark (2007)
Elektra (2004)
Elizabethtown (2005)
Empire Of The Wolves (2005)
Escape To Witch Mountain (1975)
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
Facing The Giants (2006)
Factory Girl: Unrated (2006)
Failure To Launch (2006)
Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer - The Power Cosmic Edition (2007)
Farce Of The Penguins (2006)
Fifth Element, The (1997)
Fight Club: Special Edition (1999)
Find Me Guilty (2006)
Fletch (1985)
Flicka (2006)
Flushed Away (2006)
Flyboys (2006)
Fool's Gold (1991)
Forbidden Kingdom, The (2008)
Forgotten, The (2004)
Forrest Gump: Special Collector's Edition (1994)
Frailty (2001)
Funny Farm (1988)
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
Garden State (2004)
Ghost Rider (2007)
Girl Next Door, The (2007)
Girl Next Door, The: Unrated (2004)
Gladiator (2000)
Golden Compass, The (2007)
Gone (2002)
Good German, The (2006)
Good Shepherd, The (2006)
Goonies, The (1985)
Goya's Ghosts (2007)
Great Raid, The (2005)
Guardian, The (2006)
Hackers (1995)
Hairspray (2007)
Hancock: Unrated (2008)
Happily N'Ever After (2007)
Happy Feet (2006)
Hard Easy, The (2005)
Hatchet (2006)
Haunted Forest (2007)
Haven (2004)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
Hide & Seek (2005)
Hitch (2005)
Horton Hears A Who (2008)
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Hot Rod (2007)
Hounddog (2007)
Hunting Party, The (2007)
I Am Legend (2007)
I Spy (2002)
I Think I Love My Wife (2007)
I, Robot (2004)
Ice Age (2002)
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006)
Igor (2008)
Illusionist, The (2006)
Incredible Hulk, The (2008)
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008)
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade: Special Edition (1989)
Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark: Special Edition (1981)
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom: Special Edition (1984)
Infernal Affairs Trilogy, The (2002)
Interstate (2007)
Interview (2007)
Interview With The Vampire (1994)
Invasion, The (2007)
Iron Man (2008)
Island, The (2005)
It's A Boy Girl Thing (2006)
It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
I've Loved You So Long (2008)
Jane Austen Book Club, The (2007)
Jarhead (2005)
Joshua (2007)
Jumanji (1995)
Jumper (2008)
Jungle Book, The (1994)
Juno (2007)
Jurassic Park Trilogy (2001)
Just Like Heaven (2005)
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
King Of California (2007)
Kingdom, The (2007)
Kung Fu Fighter (2007)
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Lake House, The (2006)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
Last Legion, The (2007)
Last Of The Mohicans, The (1992)
Last Samurai, The (2003)
Leatherheads (2008)
Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Leon: The Professional (1994)
Let's Go To Prison: Unrated (2006)
Letters From Iwo Jima: Special Edition (2006)
License To Drive (1988)
Little Children (2006)
Little Mermaid, The: 2 Disc Platinum Edition (1989)
Live Free Or Die Hard: Unrated Collector's Edition (2007)
Long Kiss Goodnight, The (1996)
Lost In Space (1997)
Lost In Translation (2003)
Lucky Ones, The (2008)
Madagascar (2005)
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
Man On Fire (2004)
Manufacturing Dissent: Uncovering Michael Moore (2007)
Marsh, The (2006)
Mary Poppins (1964)
Matrix, The (1999)
Matrix, The: Reloaded (2003)
Matrix, The: Revolutions (2003)
Max Payne (2008)
Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
Meet The Fockers (2004)
Meet The Robinsons (2007)
Men In Black (1997)
Messenger, The: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
Mexican, The (2001)
Milk (2008)
Millennium Crisis (2007)
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (2008)
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
Mr. Brooks (2007)
Mummy Returns, The: Deluxe Edition (2001)
Mummy, The: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008)
My Life (1993)
My Mom's New Boyfriend (2008)
My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
Nacho Libre (2006)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
National Treasure 2: Book Of Secrets (2007)
Nativity Story, The (2006)
Natural, The: Director's Cut (1984)
Net, The (1995)
New World, The (2005)
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)
Night At The Museum (2006)
No Country For Old Men (2007)
Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
Number 23, The: Unrated (2007)
Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Open Season: Special Edition (2006)
Orphanage, The (2007)
Painted Veil, The (2006)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Parasite Eve (1997)
Passion Of The Christ, The (2004)
Pathfinder (2007)
Pathology (2008)
Patriot, The: Special Edition (2000)
Peacemaker, The (1997)
Perfect Stranger (2007)
Peter Pan: Platinum Edition (1953)
Phenomenon (1996)
Pi (1997)
Pineapple Express: Unrated (2008)
Ping Pong Playa (2007)
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - 2 Disc Special Edition (2006)
Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003)
Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1 (2007)
Planet Terror: Extended And Unrated - Special Edition (2007)
Played (2006)
Playing God (1997)
Polar Express (2004)
Pride And Glory (2008)
Princess Bride, The (1987)
Prom Night: Unrated (2008)
Punisher: War Zone - Special Edition (2008)
Pursuit Of Happyness, The (2006)
Quench (2007)
Quid Pro Quo (2008)
Quiet, The (2005)
Rails & Ties (2007)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Rambo Trilogy: Special Edition (1982)
Rambo: Special Edition (2008)
Ratatouille (2007)
Reaping, The (2007)
Reno 911: Miami (2007)
Rescue Dawn (2007)
Reservoir Dogs: 15th Anniversary Edition (1991)
Resident Evil Trilogy (2008)
Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)
Resurrecting The Champ (2007)
Return To House On Haunted Hill (2007)
Righteous Kill (2008)
RocknRolla (2008)
Rocky Balboa (2006)
Role Models: Unrated (2008)
Ruins, The: Unrated (2008)
Running Scared (2006)
Saint, The (1997)
Santa Clause 3, The: The Escape Clause (2006)
Savages, The (2007)
Saving Private Ryan: Special Limited Edition (1999)
Saw IV: Unrated Director's Cut (2007)
Saw V: Unrated Director's Cut (2008)
Scrubs: The Complete Fifth Season (2006)
Scrubs: The Complete First Season (2001)
Scrubs: The Complete Fourth Season (2004)
Scrubs: The Complete Second Season (2002)
Scrubs: The Complete Third Season (2003)
Secret Life Of Bees, The (2008)
Secret Of NIMH, The (1982)
Seraphim Falls (2006)
Serenity: Collector's Edition (2005)
Seven (1995)
Seven Years In Tibet (1997)
Shooter (2007)
Shrek Trilogy, The (2008)
Signal, The (2007)
Signs (2002)
Silence Of The Lambs, The: Collector's Edition (1991)
Simple Curve, A (2005)
Sin City (2005)
Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow: Special Collector's Edition (2004)
Smiley Face (2007)
Smokin' Aces (2007)
Son Of Rambow (2007)
Spider-Man (2002)
Spider-Man 2.1 (2004)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Spiderwick Chronicles, The (2008)
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones (2002)
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith (2005)
Star Wars Trilogy (2005)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Stardust (2007)
Starsky & Hutch (2003)
State Within, The (2006)
stGame Plan, The (2007)
Sting, The: Special Edition (1973)
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Stuck (2007)
Sublime: Unrated (2007)
Sunshine (2007)
Superman Returns (2006)
Surf's Up: Special Edition (2007)
Surviving Christmas (2004)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street - 2 Disc Special Edition (2007)
Swingers (1996)
Sword In The Stone, The: 45th Anniversary Special Edition (1963)
Take The Lead (2006)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby - Unrated (2006)
Teeth (2007)
Ten, The (2007)
Tequila Sunrise (1988)
Terminal, The (2004)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)
Three Kings: Special Edition (1999)
TMNT (2007)
Tombstone (1993)
Towelhead (2007)
Toy Story: 10th Anniversary Edition (1995)
Training Day (2001)
Trainspotting (1995)
Transformers (2007)
Transporter 2 (2005)
Transporter 3 (2008)
Transporter, The (2002)
Tropic Thunder: Unrated Director's Cut (2008)
True Romance (1993)
Truman Show, The (1998)
Twister (1996)
Ultimate Gift, The (2006)
Ultraviolet (2006)
V For Vendetta (2005)
Vacancy (2007)
W. (2008)
Walk The Line (2005)
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005)
WALL-E (2008)
Wanted (2008)
War Of The Worlds (2005)
We Are Marshall (2006)
Wedding Crashers: Unrated (2005)
Wedding Daze (2006)
Wedding Singer, The (1998)
Weeds: Season One (2005)
Weeds: Season Three (2007)
Weeds: Season Two (2006)
Weirdsville (2007)
Where The Heart Is (2000)
Wild Hogs (2007)
Wild, The (2006)
Willow (1988)
Wimbledon (2004)
Wire In The Blood: Prayer Of The Bone (2007)
Women, The (2008)
X2: X-Men United (2003)
X-Men: Special Edition (2000)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Zack And Miri Make A Porno: 2 Disc Edition (2008)
Zoolander: Special Collector's Edition (2001)

[notbob]

if you are paying 10 bucks a month, you might as well get netflix and rip some decent copies

[El Comandante]

Originally Posted by shawners

Im in the process of archiving all my movies so ill cut out =)

MyDVDs: Complete List (430)

....

You've just inspired me. I'm going to archive all 400+ of my DVD's and put them on ebay. I never watch them anyway. Maybe someone could open a video store or something (but then again why would anyone want to)...

[shawners]

Time involved in ripping is tough. Unless you can keep it as a DVD9 and burn it onto Dual Layer DVD's. Otherwise you have to encode and strip junk out. Blank out Bad cells, take out fbi warnings, other audio tracks, and to find out the video itself has to be compressed. Then you have to run it through your PC at least 4-6 passes to get a high byte rate. Its painful to do. 10meg pipe can aquire a movie in little more then an hour, 5 to unrar it, 6-10 to burn depending on burning speeds..

I never got a cease and desist from downloading MS games for the 360, of course you have to have your FW flashed to play it, maybe thats why MS isnt going after pirates and only ban them from xbox live if you play online before street date or play reviewed copies. Other game companies are losing tons of money and are employing methods to get ya.

[mountain_rage]

Originally Posted by shawners

Time involved in ripping is tough. Unless you can keep it as a DVD9 and burn it onto Dual Layer DVD's. Otherwise you have to encode and strip junk out. Blank out Bad cells, take out fbi warnings, other audio tracks, and to find out the video itself has to be compressed. Then you have to run it through your PC at least 4-6 passes to get a high byte rate. Its painful to do. 10meg pipe can aquire a movie in little more then an hour, 5 to unrar it, 6-10 to burn depending on burning speeds..

I never got a cease and desist from downloading MS games for the 360, of course you have to have your FW flashed to play it, maybe thats why MS isnt going after pirates and only ban them from xbox live if you play online before street date or play reviewed copies. Other game companies are losing tons of money and are employing methods to get ya.

The online play lock out is probably one of the most, if not the most effective anti piracy measure implemented by game companies. Blizzard realized this a long time ago with battle.net. Blizzards success is directly due to their quality, replay value, and ability to lock out pirated copies from playing online.

[RTRForever]

Thanks for the suggestion, and realizing my intellence doesnt extend toward technology much. My ISP doesnt provide equal up/down speeds, which I assume you refer to when you say pipe. The fastest ul/dl speed I've measured at any site is around 400kb up and 7.7mb down. I've never created a torrent, I tried briefly but gave up. Besides, most of my dl's are movies which come out much sooner elsewhere than the US. I just try to do my part by seeding over 100% of what I dl.
I used uTorrent first, and tried to forward my ports. But I allow my niece to leech from me through a wireless and that messed up her connection somehow. Anyway, with BC I can get local speeds up to 300k, even with Anonymizer. It seems to offer other privacy advantages beside just p2p so I think I'll keep using it. At $30 a year the price isn't to bad and it doesnt hurt my speeds too much as opposed to other proxy type programs.
If people are gifted enough to understand networking and can get invited to a private tracker then save your money. But for relatively ignorant people who want to protect themselves I think the cost is worth the benefit. Especially if you have only one choice (besides sat.) for bb service and cant risk being denied at the least, or prosecuted at worst.
Thanks for your recommendations, I appreciate the attempt to help. RTR!

[RTRForever]

Originally Posted by shawners

Time involved in ripping is tough. Unless you can keep it as a DVD9 and burn it onto Dual Layer DVD's. Otherwise you have to encode and strip junk out. Blank out Bad cells, take out fbi warnings, other audio tracks, and to find out the video itself has to be compressed. Then you have to run it through your PC at least 4-6 passes to get a high byte rate. Its painful to do. 10meg pipe can aquire a movie in little more then an hour, 5 to unrar it, 6-10 to burn depending on burning speeds..

Thats another reason I like dl'ing movies. I only choose the ones compressed to 700-800mb and have a DivX capable player. The results usually have huge letterboxes so another choice is reconverting them to dvd-vob files. I use Ultra converter (search TPB for 10-in-1 video converters, Ultra is by far the best IMHO) which makes a file about 1.5-2.0gb any player will recognize. To burn it and save disc space I merge 2 movies to a file and use DVD Fab (I bought it a long time back, when using the Netflix approach). I used to just relie on AXXO releases until he/she/they had a quabble with TPB. Now I read the comments and try to choose the best rips, never cams. Seems like FXG is offering the consistently best quality as quickly as possible.

Shawners: The online play lock out is probably one of the most, if not the most effective anti piracy measure implemented by game companies. Blizzard realized this a long time ago with battle.net. Blizzards success is directly due to their quality, replay value, and ability to lock out pirated copies from playing online.

I agree that blocking online play helps prevent some losses, but now there are servers who cater to such users. Personally I just play solo and download for myself and my younger nephews. I had to upgrade my card for the newest games. After endless hours of comparing cards/prices and capability I settled on a Radeon 4670. It has shader model 4.1, 512mb ddr3 and requires no extra power supply. For about $80 (shipped @ Amazon) it seems to provide all current and probable near future needs with low cost and no power supply upgrade. Hope that helps someone struggling to decide. RTR!

[RawringKevin]

Blizzard blocking out Battle.Net for people who torrent the game or DL somewhere was better because the Lan Servers Like VS or Garena block out Maphack and other kinds of hacks.