Infringement notice on illegal torrent movie download in matter of days!

Lancerx on 11/08/2015 - 20:37
Last edited 12/08/2015 - 13:15

Hi all, got an infringement notice from my ISP netcube for the first time. Haven't downloaded movie for a while (mainly streaming from Kodi), one illegal download, then bang they got me lol. Content as below:

Dear XXXXX

Netcube has received a claimed infringement from the copyright owners of content you have allegedly downloaded as attached. The IP address provided by the complainant indicates that the conduct occurred over your Netcube Service.

As this type of infringement is taken seriously, it is our responsibility to advise you that Netcube does not condone the use of our internet services for activities which are offensive, illegal, or infringe on the legal rights of other persons. Such activities are expressly mentioned in our Terms and Conditions and these Terms and Conditions are a basis of which Netcube may suspend or terminate the services to you.

Within this claimed infringement notice it is alleged that you, or someone authorised by you, via your IP address has engaged in such activity. If you agree that you did engage in this activity, please cease it immediately. We also ask for you to stop future use and sharing of the exclusive copyright that is alleged to be infringed herein.

If you have any questions about this email or our Terms and Conditions, please contact Customer Service on [email protected] or 1300 58 68 78.

Please find attached the copy of the claimed Infringement.

Thank you.

Kind Regards,
NetCube Infringements Team
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 1300 58 68 78

FORWARDED EMAIL:

Dear Sir or Madam:

We are contacting you on behalf of Paramount Pictures Corporation (Paramount). Under penalty of perjury, I assert that IP-Echelon Pty. Ltd., (IP-Echelon) is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive copyrights that are alleged to be infringed herein.

IP-Echelon has become aware that the below IP addresses have been using your service for distributing video files, which contain infringing video content that is exclusively owned by Paramount.

IP-Echelon has a good faith belief that the Paramount video content that is described in the below report has not been authorized for sharing or distribution by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. I also assert that the information contained in this notice is accurate to the best of our knowledge.

We are requesting your immediate assistance in removing and disabling access to the infringing material from your network. We also ask that you ensure the user and/or IP address owner refrains from future use and sharing of Paramount materials and property.

In complying with this notice, should not destroy any evidence, which may be relevant in a lawsuit, relating to the infringement alleged, including all associated electronic documents and data relating to the presence of infringing items on your network, which shall be preserved while disabling public access, irrespective of any document retention or corporate policy to the contrary.

Please note that this letter is not intended as a full statement of the facts; and does not constitute a waiver of any rights to recover damages, incurred by virtue of any unauthorized or infringing activities, occurring on your network. All such rights, as well as claims for other relief, are expressly reserved.

Should you need to contact me, I may be reached at the following address:

Adrian Leatherland
On behalf of IP-Echelon as an agent for Paramount
Address: 6715 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, 90028, United States
Email: [email protected]

Evidentiary Information:
Protocol: BITTORRENT
Infringed Work: XXXXXX
Infringing FileName: XXXXX
Infringing FileSize: XXXX
Infringer's IP Address: XXXXXXX
Infringer's Port: XXXXXXX
Initial Infringement Timestamp: 2015-08-10T09:19:23Z

I knew the government has authorized companies to pursue copyright infringement, just didn't know it's that full on. I meant I downloaded plenty of stuff before this, never got caught. Did change to netcue as of this month. Could it be Netcube actively reporting users? Apparently this is just a warning, so guess I better be more careful in the future. Better VPN more then ;)

Has anyone else got it too recently? Do we get 3 strikes or something before court action or fine?

P/S THE MOVIE WAS NOT DALLAS BUYER CLUB (SHIT MOVIE ANYWAY)….AND I JUST DOWNLOADED IT 3 DAYS AGO..SHIT'S GETTING REAL GUYS!

Internet

Comments

        • shadowarrior on 12/08/2015 - 14:24

          They have been forwarding these emails for years. :)

    • marcozmitch on 14/08/2015 - 16:43
      -1

      I don't agree. Only because of the recent changes by the gov. The decision today on the Dallas movie was the company was seeking an unreasonable amount of money for settlement…

  • msmhw on 12/08/2015 - 09:52

    Just setup up raspberrypi with Kodi and throw it in the back of your TV and you are good to go :)
    It will cost you less than $60.

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 11:50

      problem with Kodi is you need a rather fast connection..I find at least 10mb download speed or above to get smooth stream….Hoping the NBN will help soon in my area

      • msmhw on 13/08/2015 - 10:33

        may be I am lucky, I get good connection but you should open all the necessary ports (and DMZ) for kodi IP, it should boost your connection speed.

        also if you are using WiFi make sure you have different channel than your neighbours.

  • PaKoRa on 12/08/2015 - 10:09

    use PeerGuardian and a BLM - BlockListManager - maybe from BISS/ or some other BLM to get updated IP lists that are honeypots etc.

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 17:32

      How does it work? Sound techy..

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 22:38

      Actually I think I know what you're talking about here…some people here recommended Peerblock..I presume it's the same thing?

      • IamEzza on 13/08/2015 - 00:04

        Yes, Peerblock is the successor to PeerGuardian on most platforms.
        It would be interesting to know just how effective it is at stopping them from tracking you

        • Lancerx on 13/08/2015 - 00:13

          Guess I could risk downloading the same movie again? lol

      • PaKoRa on 13/08/2015 - 07:39

        well it will not allow your comp/client to connect to know IP's that have been assigned for tracking/pinning folks… depending on how aggressive you set the blocklist even banks, gov sites etc… won't be reachable… also source IP packets from them can be made to be dropped…have a play with it… and make sure ozb is whitelisted ^L^.

  • onlyletters on 12/08/2015 - 10:18
    +3

    The main aim of these piracy emails is just to scare you, they really can't do anything other than this, they need to prove to the courts that you downloaded the full movie, they have only detected that you have taken a small part of it. They are primarily chasing the people who are distributing them for profit.

    The way they catch you; they will share the movie using the normal torrent methods, when you download it, they will pick up your ip address, add it to the list along with details like the movie title, time, date, ip address etc and then send an email to your ISP along with the thousand other people who did it at the same time.

    Imagine for a moment, you started downloading the movie, then stopped it after 10% then deleted it, they will still send you one of these emails for downloading it, then lets say they wanted to take you to court, they need full proof that you have a full copy, and for the thousands of people they have detected, most of them probably fit this criteria so they will need a warrant to seize your pc for evidence.

  • ozy on 12/08/2015 - 10:30
    +3

    I was getting these back in 2008..
    For it to go anywhere they'd have to prove it was you and not someone stealing your network lan/wifi etc.. Hell, I download torrents from hotel rooms / maccas / airports, that have free wifi! Are they going to fine them? I think not.

    They'll get your Mac address you say? It Can be spoofed, changed, and tech doesnt last long enough to have a raid on every house for downloading tv, music, software or movies, before the machines are replaced..

    FTP, Give me a platform to pay a subscription to get what i want, when I want and I'll pay you.
    Give me part of this (eg netflicks, apple tv, stan, etc) and we have no deal…

    • pernunz on 12/08/2015 - 11:03

      That raises an interesting point.

      If you have a spare bedroom listed on AirBnB, then are you liable for what your guests access/download over Wifi?

      • StewBalls on 12/08/2015 - 11:18
        +2

        Short answer, yes.

        However, as you'll note from some of the comments above, it's not always so black & white.

      • theworks on 14/08/2015 - 13:15

        It would have to be tested in Australian courts

  • sajidmib on 12/08/2015 - 11:13

    VPN is the answer

  • Doggiie on 12/08/2015 - 11:16
    +1

    I have always been told to ignore them. Your ISP does not have the right to disclose your address, though they do have the responsibility to forward the email to you.

    Back in the days when I was a big pirate (movies, games, songs, and everything digital you can think of) I would receive one quite often from TPG. If anything, I probably have 20 infringement notices so far, and no Police have knocked on my doors yet.

    Though with the laws changing, I don't know if my information is still valid.

  • Zondor on 12/08/2015 - 11:27
    -1

    TBH i'd change isp's if my ISP did that. I'm with club telco atm and they don't care about anything I do.

    I use a vpn mostly now but I've never previously received any notification.

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 12:21

      You reckon it's ISP eh? I had the same feeling…Happened just after I switched ISP too

      • kdtrey35 on 12/08/2015 - 14:47
        +1

        Got a couple notices when I was with TPG, switched to Telstra ( not because of this but its all we can get where we live) and haven't got any since.

    • jackary on 12/08/2015 - 18:54

      I received 2 with ClubTelco. Seems to be all ISPs these days :(

      • Zondor on 13/08/2015 - 08:32

        Strange that I've received nothing then :s

        None of my mates in SA have either on any of their ISP's.

        Perhaps it's a state thing?

        • jackary on 13/08/2015 - 09:55
          +1

          Couldn't imagine it being a state thing… I've always just put it down to a name being drawn from a hat.

          Needless to say I left ClubTelco.

        • Less Point on 13/08/2015 - 10:08

          Most ISPs deal with these emails in the same way they deal with the tonnes of spam they get.

          There is no legal requirement for them to pass on these emails to you. If it were ordered by a court then that would be a different story.

  • richox on 12/08/2015 - 11:57

    not much talk about seedboxes here - maybe an alternative for some who find VPN performance not so desirable. Probably more expensive, but if you pick your seedbox provider carefully should offer a very similar level of 'protection' such as it is.

    you need a VPN/seedbox that'll laugh off any DMCA from a yank company. some of them advertise they won't pass on details, but then fold and give it up. A mate recently got a notice forwarded on from GoldenFrog VPN service for some AAA movie… goldenfrog do a bunch of VPN and related services, most popular being VyprVPN. So they are not a good choice.

  • DarkOz on 12/08/2015 - 12:11

    I got a half dozen of these emails all at the same time from my ISP 2 years ago. The wife went cheapo and torrented some kids cartoon. I think one email per file that was downloaded separately.

    Nothing ever happened after that. We never got any warning email for any other cartoons that was torrented. We never intended to broadcast it in public anyway. It was only shown at home to the kids.

  • GameChanger on 12/08/2015 - 12:27

    Ignore it, don't reply as that admission of guilt lol

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 12:29

      No way..It's already in my junk…I'm just gonna pretend I didn't see it lol..but in all honesty, apart from tv shows, I hardly torrented movie, mostly already watched in cinema..let's hope I don't get done for tv shows now

  • tonyjzx on 12/08/2015 - 12:33

    i used to get them all the time with tpg, part of the reason why i left

    now with this current ISP havent gotten shit

    i alledgedly downloaded dallas buyers and didnt get anything

    if i do, i'll move isps

  • SLY JD on 12/08/2015 - 12:48

    Question regarding telstra air:
    If someone connects via your wifi for the service and downloads something illegal like OPs scenario, would that track to the owner of the router, or would telstra link that IP to whoever had logged into the service through that router at that time?

    • tonyjzx on 12/08/2015 - 13:25

      thats a defence, probably not a good one

      say router your router only had WEP and say you got hacked or have an open router

      • SLY JD on 12/08/2015 - 20:56

        I think you're addressing the issue if someone is one your wifi specifically. rather than through an ISPs service.
        I was aiming my question in the way of a service such as telstra air - where your wifi is used as a public hotspot for other telstra clients, but it doesn't go onto your quota, it goes onto theirs.

        Sorry if it was confusing, typing on my phone :)

    • jackary on 12/08/2015 - 18:56
      +1

      Actually, I would also like to know the answer to this question, bravo sir!

    • richox on 12/08/2015 - 20:54
      +1

      the answer probably lies in how your 'air' router allocates traffic. If the router gives me a unique IP then they might DMCA you, but you can get the router logs and perhaps flag it as none of your devices.

      • SLY JD on 12/08/2015 - 20:59

        Yeah it gets a little complex. Seems like people would have to go through a process of proving themselves innocent, rather then the issuer of the DMCA proving you guilty.

        As tonyjzx was saying, what's to stop me from claiming it was someone else on my 'air' service.

        • richox on 12/08/2015 - 21:02

          i think the onus would be on you - conclusively identify thru router logs (or other method) that torrent traffic by local DNS or by MAC addess was part of telstra air.

          remembering in the law the owner of the service is responsible for all the users s/he allows to use it! someone else and you cant identify them, its you budddddddy!

  • mishrael on 12/08/2015 - 12:58
    +2

    Best to have Peerblocker at a minimum.

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 13:14

      How's this work?

      • Cheap Rich Guy on 12/08/2015 - 15:08

        like a HOSTS file. Your network refers to the entries in the file before deciding whether to allow a connection.

  • centrelink on 12/08/2015 - 13:11
    -1

    There are no strikes. Its up to the pursuer on what action they want to take. If they want to bankrupt you they can do it if they feel like it. Considering you are probably not the only one who got caught, nothing will probably happen and will attempt to scare you to never do it again, which you probably won't seeing that you are an ozbargainer and probably won't ever pay full price to see moving pictures with sound.

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 13:14

      TV shows yes..cuz I can't stream from anywhere else..but movie I mostly just watch at cinema with friends

  • Aap Ke Papa on 12/08/2015 - 14:22
    +1

    I have noticed that if you download any CAM print. There are chances that you will receive an infringement notice. Try waiting for a DVD rip or a non torrent source such as NZB or a direct download

  • MementoMori on 12/08/2015 - 14:35
    +1

    This is nothing - wait until the TPP goes through… or you can vote for someone else.

  • KBZ on 12/08/2015 - 14:37

    Just use a VPN,I get my download speeds pretty much close to that without a VPN.
    The one I use is a bit pricey compared to others listed here but it's easy to set up and I have never had a problem with them you don't even need a real name address etc they even encourage it. AirVPN.

  • lost69 on 12/08/2015 - 15:07
    +3

    yawn. Anyone with a clue has long ago moved to dedicated servers (not semi's) built as seedboxes with private trackers (not IPT HA!) and anything pulled is encrypted and transferred via SFTP. Default settings are AES-256 which is what the US military uses with a SHA-256 hash. CAMs have nothing to do with it and Usenet is a joke. Just wait until you get something corrupted with the .par file missing. As for VPNs make sure they have posted a canary and have clearly laid out T+Cs.

    • jackary on 12/08/2015 - 18:59

      Ah I love my Kimsufi. But can you please explain to me why everyone hates IPT? I use a few private trackers, IPT being one of them, and can't quite understand it..

    • richox on 12/08/2015 - 20:59
      +1

      yeh man a dedi running as seedbox, and only feeding it with torrets from the holy trinity (and other top-tier) PT's, you are in the top 1% and well, well outside their target demographic surely.

      thats how i roll and i love it. plus you can stream off the dedi so you dont even need to have local HDD capacity if you dont want it.

      plus vibrant and active PT communities which are actually beneficial to engage with. top tier file assessment and reporting and realy interesting film and tv discussion

      loving it would never look back

  • oO0Dam0Oo on 12/08/2015 - 15:27

    Hope the porn industry doesn't crack down.

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 15:29
      +1

      That'd be the end of internet wouldn't it? lol

      • richox on 12/08/2015 - 21:26

        frequent takedowns and letters on new released AAA+ titles from brazzers, new sensations. so still a threat, albeit a minor one compared to mainstream

        not that i watch porn

  • [Deactivated] on 12/08/2015 - 15:28

    just ignore the email, easy

  • SnakeDoctor on 12/08/2015 - 15:56

    could check out TigerVPN - lite version (1 connection, limited server locations) currently going for US$29:
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/206236

  • Chef-Johnson on 12/08/2015 - 18:17

    I have had loads of these over the years (dating back 7 odd years), nothing ever comes of it, i wouldn't worry

  • hal9000 on 12/08/2015 - 18:19

    just get a seedbox, secure but much faster than vpn

  • BlazinPast on 12/08/2015 - 18:30

    Seems like most people with warnings are from TPG

  • AlisonP on 12/08/2015 - 19:44

    How would a "my WiFi has no password, I share it with my housemates and neighbours as I don't use 200 gb" defence go down in court? A smoking gun doesn't prove a murder, gunpowder residue does.

    • richox on 12/08/2015 - 21:30

      negligant. refer terms of service of your ISP I bet this is covered in detail and I bet you are responsible. They all offer support and testing to establish effective network security.

      to continue the gun metaphor, if you leave your loaded gun unattended on a public bench, and someone use it to shoots and kills someone else, you reckon you aint going to jail???

      • Less Point on 12/08/2015 - 22:18
        +1

        Your ISP's TOS is between you and them, not the copyright holder. It gives your ISP the right to cancel your service… that's about it. Why would they want to cancel your service? You are making them money and they couldn't give two shits about the content you are consuming as long as you aren't negatively impacting their network.

        Copyright infringement is a civil matter not a criminal matter anyway.

        They all offer support and testing to establish effective network security.

        No they don't.

        Telstra still ships routers with WPS enabled.

  • letthiswork1 on 12/08/2015 - 19:53

    Just FYI they have no jurisdiction here so they can't fine you. Hence why Dallas Buyers club is trying to hard to get progress in Australia.
    Some ISP's forward the infringements just to protect themselves but they actually have no obligation to do so.

    Just my 2c :)

  • Maltopia on 12/08/2015 - 20:46

    Serves you right for downloading porn -> Infringing FileName: XXXXX

    :D

    A mate of mine got two infringement letters about 12 years ago for downloading episodes of The X-Files which was not even running anymore. Another mate got a letter around the same time for downloading Spiderman comics.

    This was back in the days of Kazaaa and eMule.

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 21:09

      dam me if porn is regulated too lol

  • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 21:10

    On VPN topic, what are you guys using for torrenting or accessing Netflix USA? Just wanna see what are the common one people here use? *cheap is the key :)

    • Peteroz on 12/08/2015 - 21:35
      +1

      TunnelBear, you can start with a free option and 500mb traffic. It should give you access to USA Netflix. Once the movie starts just turn off the TunnelBear at that point and you still will be able to watch the movie till the end.

      https://www.tunnelbear.com

  • tassietigermaniac on 12/08/2015 - 21:57

    Ahh, good old DPI. Unfortunately IP-Echelon is the best in the world at tracing illegal downloads.

    TPG's abuse team also has to be very efficient to have that delivered to you so quickly. Always one of my least favourite jobs delivering those (different ISP though)

  • [Deactivated] on 12/08/2015 - 22:07

    relax i got one of those emails over 5 years ago.. its nothing new.. just ignore it

    in future use peerblock plus if you must torrent.

    but otherwise uses available forums for movies that host files on file storage websites …….(when you download its just you and the server where the file is) and no sneaky film studio can latch on and obtain the list of IP's like with torrents

    • Lancerx on 12/08/2015 - 22:16
      +1

      Hey mate, Could you please PM me your strategies if you don't mind. Cheers!

    • Wally on 13/08/2015 - 17:30

      Tell that to Kim DotCom~ ;-)

    • kdtrey35 on 14/08/2015 - 00:43

      As I recall most of the file storage websites cap the download speeds at around 50 KB/s for free accounts. Also considering that some of these sites have been shutting down lately (rapidgator, putlocker, ..) its not really worth it upgrade to a premium account.

  • AMLagonda on 13/08/2015 - 01:14

    Glad i got that deal with https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/

    Was still not that cheap but I really dont want these emails.

    And yer it downloads slower but I just leave utorrent on overnight.

  • DEvok on 13/08/2015 - 02:58

    Just ignore it and continue, they just try to scare you with these tactics, if anything where to happen most you would be fined is like $20, that's the price of a movie you would pay up for, the ones who are looking for trouble are the one seeding or distributing for self income. We are just animal price of grain, they have way bigger fish to catch, also this is Australia, we aren't USA, nothing will ever happen.

    • Roman Sandstorm on 13/08/2015 - 11:58
      +4

      You are mostly correct here. However…

      There is no 'fine'. You cannot be 'fined'.

      Some foreign copyright tracking company can send your ISP emails (and these may be forwarded on to you at their discretion), and they can say any bloody thing they want in those emails, and make any kind of demands they wish; and say, for example, that you downloading an episode of My Little Pony cost Sony Entertainment $14 million in lost revenue and that if you pay up a generous settlement amount of $123,000 within 21 days they will take no further action.

      Or some other similar nonsense.

      The copyright owner could launch a civil suit against you under the Copyright Act. It would cost them many $1000's. And, as I have said, Australian courts generally don't tend to award punitive damages, so their likely result (even if they could prove it satisfactorily) may be in the region of a few dollars. This is not going to happen.

      Further, the copyright owner cold attempt to convince the Federal police to prosecute you under the criminal provisions of the Copyright Act. This would only work if the AFP were convinced you were distributing and making a profit by such distribution. Again, this is not going to happen.

      What may happen, in a possible bleak 1984-ish near future, is that our legislators may be convinced to criminalise trivial copyright infringement such as personal piracy. When the government realises that their absurd site-blocking provisions simply don't work, and have unforeseen (to them at least) and unpleasant consequences, they may, under pressure from rights-holders, attempt to make individual-level piracy a criminal act.

      Again, anyone with any IT knowledge will understand that this likewise would not solve the 'problem', but a few high profile (and exceedingly expensive to the public purse) prosecutions may create enough fear, uncertainty and doubt as to reduce some casual and non-too-technical piracy. Maybe.

      However, even in my bleak scenario here, such legislation takes time to come about: years possibly.

      In the meantime, rest assured, no individual is going to be prosecutes under any criminal provisions unless they are distributing wide-scale for profit. And any civil action is likely to be greatly limited by the common sense Australian courts generally dispense.

      it is possible also, that some (fairly spineless) ISPs may kowtow to ridiculous pressure, such as the OP's letter, and attempt to restrict some of their clients. The simple option then, is to move ISPs.

  • tyler.durden on 13/08/2015 - 09:28

    was the movie this?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOW_azQbOjw

  • [Deactivated] on 13/08/2015 - 09:28
    +1

    mmmh. ip-echelon.com is not a rights holder.

    Net cube shouldn't forward this crap to anyone.

    • Lancerx on 13/08/2015 - 11:12

      Ip-Ichelon is a contractor to Paramount Pic who track pirates..

      • [Deactivated] on 13/08/2015 - 23:45
        +1

        If they're anyone but Australian Police they should be told to bugger off or completely ignored.

  • anawth on 13/08/2015 - 13:47
    +1

    IPMagnet is great for detecting your torrenting address too. Helpful to see if your VPN is set up correctly. http://ipmagnet.services.cbcdn.com

  • DealCatcher on 13/08/2015 - 14:14

    I do not download much, but when I do I use usenet. Can they track you down while using usenet too?

    • PAEz on 23/12/2015 - 00:09

      yes

  • Storm on 13/08/2015 - 14:31

    Just delete the file.
    No need to inform the isp etc.
    Get a VPN (PIA is what I recommend).
    If it's a movie you REALLY want to watch, go and watch it at the cinema (or via other legit means), and see it properly. Cams are crap and not worth the bandwidth… totally ruin the movie.

  • cdaddy on 13/08/2015 - 14:32
    -2

    Use a seed box wh n you get released from jail. silly OP

  • tyler.durden on 13/08/2015 - 16:53

    Anyone know what the movie was?

    Was it a movie with tom cruise in it?

    • Lancerx on 13/08/2015 - 16:59

      It's the movie where the mayor is an actor ;)

      • tyler.durden on 13/08/2015 - 17:02

        the mayor that can't speak english properly?

        I'll be back!

        btw how did find out the movie?

        The OP removed the file nfo, and file size.

  • Schezwon on 13/08/2015 - 17:03

    I can hear Nelson from the Simpsons. ..ha haaa

  • abh_gup on 13/08/2015 - 20:31

    Peerguardian vs Peerblock vs Btguard - google your choice. btw, what's a torrent?

    "Remember the court case of MPAA (or representative) against iiNet? iiNet won. There is no legal obligation for ISPs to forward such notices!"

    On another note, In Australia, Senator Ludlam is the only one up there who understands and supports torrents (legal use only!… but atleast someone out there understands these things!) https://www.facebook.com/SenatorLudlam

  • dbun1 on 13/08/2015 - 22:37

    Since the release of Netflix and Stan I haven't torrented anything

    • tyler.durden on 14/08/2015 - 01:14

      does netflix have other popular shows besides their own created ones?

      like GOT, walking dead, better call saul etc?

      • mirridon on 14/08/2015 - 10:31

        No. :(

        • tyler.durden on 14/08/2015 - 13:44

          then it is still not good enough.

          Sure it has some good shows, but not the most popular, most wanted ones.

  • drjamie on 14/08/2015 - 09:38

    Hi mate,

    You should use a VPN or an anonymous proxy. I use Private Internet Access VPN provider who provide an anonymous proxy as part of their service. It takes a bit of fiddling to setup, but essentially your torrent program will connect to PIA's proxy server and then make the requests from there… All your ISP knows is that the shape of your traffic is torrent-like, and they know you're connecting to PIA's server, but the content of the traffic is unknown. Won't get any letters that way.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/08/2015 - 10:30
    +3

    Slightly OT, but

    Dallas Buyers Club LLC will have to pay a $600,000 bond before it can obtain the names and addresses of Australians alleged to have pirated its film of the same name, following a Federal Court ruling on Friday.

    "I have concluded that what DBC proposes ought not be permitted," Justice Perram said in his judgment."

    SMH today

  • mirridon on 14/08/2015 - 11:27
    +3

    Okay, I've been reading this post, and lot of comments have really annoyed me, so let me chime in here. I'm sorry for the length. A VPN should not been seen as the solution to everyone's torrenting issues. I know a lot of people do not want to hear this or simply refuse to accept this fact.

    Holds red and blue pill in either hand. Remember: all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.

    There are two main concerns in regards to using a VPN service to hide yourself from the eyes of trolls (those who enter a swarm solely for logging the IP's connected). Firstly, you are entrusting said VPN with your data, everything passes through them. Free VPN's in this instance have be renown for selling data to the 'highest bidder', as in marketing companies who want to utilize said information to focus their product onto the bracket of people they target. Assuming your paid VPN doesn't do this, then great, and I know a lot of paid VPN's do not do this, but you've simply swapped your ISP to your VPN to entrust all your data. If the VPN is reputable, then there is little concern on this issue, but it's something to think about, who should you entrust your data to? are they reputable? Please consider the VPN's available.

    Secondly, and this is probably going to tick people off the most because it's the most concerning in my opinion. Those who think they're 100% safe using a VPN to torrent, are delirious. If you honestly believe by paying $10 - $20 a month for a reputable VPN will guarantee no law issues will arise, then you need to go explore some articles and facts about VPN's before you start parading the fact that you "have a vpn lolz can't get me, haha can't catch me Dallas".

    Let me dwell into this a bit more. Most VPN's provide statements on their website or in some form of writing that they DO NOT LOG. People see this and completely 100% accept this as the truth. HIDEMYASS also listed on their website that they 'DO NOT LOG', and although I'm glad they did get caught, LULZEC was taken out with the help of HideMyAss, who helped the authorities track them down. A lot of users were completely shocked, as they too believed no logging meant no logging. They later stated what I'm stating here, that all VPN's in some respect log and they if you believe that you are 100% free to do whatever you want under a VPN then there will be consequences. Even though on their website HMA noted they do not log, they did, they lied but not entirely. Generally, logging is worded in their TOS.

    Lets look at PIA for example. PIA have noted that they do not keep logs. Firstly, every VPN needs to keep some form of logging for abuse cases in general, for example those who DDOS or hack into their servers to protect their company, so that's just an outright lie to begin with. Also there is a 5 person limit per connection, how would they know how many times a particular service or user connected or how many users were using that service without some form of logging? Within their terms and conditions they note:

    " You agree to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in connection with use of this service. You must also agree that you nor any other user that you have provided access to will not engage in any of the following activities:

    Uploading, possessing, receiving, transporting, or distributing any copyrighted, trademark, or patented content which you do not own or lack written consent or a license from the copyright owner."

    [There is more. If you wish to read the full terms and conditions do so on their website, however for this point I'll narrow it down]

    Failure to comply with the present Terms of Service constitutes a material breach of the Agreement, and may result in one or more of these following actions:

    [more actions]

    Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as deemed reasonably necessary."

    Disclosure of what information? "SUCH INFORMATION"? I.e. copyright material distribution information. Common arguments against this include:

    "They don't keep logs, so if this were true then this would affect their industry"

    Ah no. I know it's hard to believe but people utilize virtual private networks legitimately. Which could include, hiding from online marketing, bypassing geoblock (grey area) or perhaps they just don't want every website to log their real IP and have access to their potential location. There are numerous reasons why people use VPN's.

    "They say they don't keep logs, why would they lie"

    You agreed to use their service legitimately. In their terms and conditions, which YOU ACCEPTED. It listed that the use of their service for illegitimate purposes would have consequences. You BROKE THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS thus any promises to you now are completely invalid.

    "Can you prove they keep logs?"
    Well apart from their terms and conditions which clearly states they will release this information, then no. Using PIA as an example it even says SUCH information, so specifically targeting said information. How would they release SUCH information if they never log? Which they have to because ALL vpn's log a little bit.

    "They couldn't afford to log everything"
    Exactly. HMA only logged on a court order. Who's to say an industry under law, couldn't do the same? Thus, the company would only log from point A to point B.

    Look, the bottom line is this. VPN's offer a barrier of protection, it isn't something that can't be broken down. People need to stop treating a VPN like the perfect defense for pirating. Let me make this clear though. IT IS 100% BETTER to use a VPN if you are distributing copyright material (I'M NOT CONDONING THIS), as the MPAA and the RIAA are unable to simply obtain your IP address and record it from a swarm. They instead see the VPN's IP address in the swarm, record it and find out it's actually a VPN. For them to then proceed to get information would be VERY HARD, super difficult, in which they don't bother. In fact, they will simply move onto the next case and try someone who isn't. Personally, I believe VPN's log in some respect. Will you still get caught torrenting using a VPN? Depending on your VPN's policy, probably not. Could I get caught torrenting via a VPN? Absolutely, but it minimizes the risk.

    I'm open to questions or comments about this issue. Right now, this is what I believe. If someone can 100% prove to me that what I wrote is incorrect, then don't waste your time arguing. Stating "cmon bruh they don't keep logs, they said they don't" without any information to back up your claims or proof apart from "what they said", then please don't reply to this. But I'm open to comments or questions, I will read everything, and if you have any proof that VPN's don't log. Then please post it, help people decide what's right for them.

    There are other ways to get content:

    Foxtel (yeah I know, expensive)

    VPN or DNS service + NETFLIX + HULU (With Showtime) is a super package that everyone should utilize. You can obtain all this from around $27 a month, which isn't too bad. I personally believe this to be the best legal choice. People should give this a shot, it makes obtaining content easier and faster if you have a nice connection. But for some, streaming just isn't viable right now.

    Buy TV or Movies from. Sony Store or Google Play or Apple iTunes or Xbox One (Microsoft store)

    So there are other methods of obtaining content legitimately. Granted it takes longer to get here in Australia due to licensing restrictions, so if you don't want to wait you can utilize the 'grey area' Netflix + hulu + showtime option.

    Overall, find what works for you. I believe if you can afford to pay for content you should do so. If you can't or need a cheaper option like a DNS service and hulu, then use that. If you are completely broke every week and can't afford anything, then I'll leave that up to you.

    • harkoliar on 14/08/2015 - 13:06

      Great post. Slightly off topic, how about your opinion with digital online storage like megaupload, upload.to, rapidgator. I noticed they haven't cracked down heavily on that yet compared to torrents. Is that only a matter of time?

      • mirridon on 14/08/2015 - 14:22
        +1

        MEGAUPLOAD now known as MEGA are completely different to torrents. Firstly, you're not sticking your IP out there in a swarm for the whole world to see. Those upload sites also work different. If you are referring to MEGA, it's a cloud based storage system which encrypts the data and stores the keys on your PC (to put it bluntly). By pasting a link you can access the files.

        What I believe you're talking about is streaming/downloading on demand sites like Upload.to now Uploaded.net. The risk's of getting caught watching or downloading movies is significantly reduced. Why? Your IP like I said before isn't out there to be collected. The distribution of content is also far more concerning than obtaining said copyright material. Generally the uploader gets hit hard, rather than the downloader. The copyright material is also much easier to get pulled. With torrents, anyone can create a torrent files, and if it gets removed, someone will just reupload it instantly, maybe even onto another site.

        Now to those who stream. Will you get caught? Honestly, probably not. In fact, it's far less likely than torrents. Is it possible though? Well anything is possible, but how likely is the real question. When Megaupload fell there was a stir in the uploading community that some users would fall too. As far as I'm aware (feel free to post cases) the MPAA wanted the data retention from megaupload to file lawsuit against uploaders, not streamers or downloaders. Could they have gone a different way and tried to pinch streamers? Maybe, but the site still hosted the files, and the users were not sharing said material, unless they posted links onto forums or websites. This was enough to deter the MPAA from even suggesting legal actual against streamers.

        The German owner of Uploaded.net was also fined for 100K in court as well on a side note.

        Is it a matter of time?
        There have been services that have the ability to distribute copyright material (although not used for those purposes at that time) since the internet was first established.

        Could these services be targeted?
        Sure. Let's say everyone was using streaming sites and torrents weren't as popular. The MPAA for example would target files on these sites instead, rather than torrents. I'm a strong believer that popularity of said sites has influenced a cause for concern against it. It just so happens that torrents are simply the easiest and most popular way as of now.

        Overall, the amount of public knowledge of such services is dangerous to those who use it. Why? You get people with little knowledge of the services, and companies posting record losses with record earnings, which sound stupid and don't add up. You also get users who abuse the system. Believe it or not the idea of torrents is to share it back with the community Shock, I think 90% of all users simply shutdown their program once the torrent is done.

        Torrents have too much public knowledge. It's free, and it's easy. It's so simple that almost anyone can access copyright material without much issues. This is why said companies attempted to get certain site be blacklisted on Google's search engine.

    • lost69 on 14/08/2015 - 14:29

      Completely forget running your own dedicated server which you can pay for with a prepaid single use credit card or use a VPN to sign up to a fake paypal address with fake photoshopped docs if ever required.

      • mirridon on 14/08/2015 - 16:22

        Don't forget a fake internet network account with a fake address. With a fake building, with fake wires that have fake people. If anyone ever came knocking there would be fake people that would answer the door.

    • yacman on 17/08/2015 - 12:42

      Unsure if you are still monitoring this but I did have a simple query, from reading EVERY post here, I have come to the conclusion something that I was previously unaware of and just wanted confirmation from someone as knowledgeable as yourself on the issue.

      It appears as though the idea of using a VPN significantly does reduce your risk because the way it is determined that you have obtained or distributed copy-written material is by having the copy-write holders or sub-contracted parties in the pool of seeders, that identify your IP and query with your ISP who you are.

      Previously your ISP to "do the right thing" would send you a warning E-Mail sometimes with ridiculous claims, but never followed this up because they were just appeasing the copy-write holder.

      After September in Australia the same process will occur however now the ISP will legally have to provide your information to the copy-write holder after (or on?) your 3rd warning, but these warnings must be provided withing 7 days from the infringement, be specific (time, file etc) and you must have received the warning (E-Mail) in that time (just don't open the E-Mail for over 7 days?) for it to qualify as an official warning towards the 3 strike policy.

      A VPN with PeerGuardian with good lists would make your identity harder to obtain in that pool and they would most likely target people who aren't using a VPN to send them a warning as it would be easier and less time intensive.

      If you are using a private tracker there's significantly less chance of being identified as they are harder to get into and once you are in you need to be very active, maintaining ratios and seeding a lot of data that people preventing copy write infringement wouldn't want to contribute so significantly to (presumably).

      Therefore using a program like a PeerGuardian with good lists and a private tracker would be the safest method if you were insistent on still torrenting in the future under the current proposed legislation?

      The reason this is new to me is because I thought with the ISP's having to be involved they would be monitoring the outgoing activity meaning that irrespective of any VPN etc, they would see what you see, (think of a tunnel, if your ISP were a helicopter above, there is one way in and one way out, a VPN can hide the path you take in the tunnel, but if your ISP is monitoring the information at the entrance of the tunnel it does not matter how it got there they know what it is and that it was you). Due to it not needing to be traced back to you, there really aren't any measures (I am aware of) that you could take to prevent them from knowing you are torrenting.

      Thankfully this no longer seems the case and therefore there are 2 methods above if you wanted to continue using torrents that are from what I can tell by all these posts quite plausible to significantly reduce your risk (but nothing is certain you won't be the 1 in 10,000 that they happen to single out).

      Could you clarify on my points and advise if my summery (interpretation) is correct?

      • mirridon on 17/08/2015 - 18:56

        Hello Yacman, I'll try answer what I think you're asking.

        Firstly, PeerGuardian really doesn't do anything. Those who argue, need to research the IP's that they are supposedly banning. The program relies on an IP block system that will stop 'Bogus' or 'Copyright' trolls. IP's renew all the time, and these copyright trolls simply change their IP. MPAA or RIAA can join the swarm using any ISP as a point of entry, and they will appear differently in a swarm, thus dodging the block, it is honestly a placebo affect that provides a false sense of security. The bluetack lists are also argued (check out Whirlpool) to be somewhat falsified. If you have a look at the amount of IP's theyare blocking vs the actual amount of ipv4 address space I think you'll see what I'm saying.

        Secondly, as long as the VPN is using SSL, and is therefore is an encrypted tunnel, your ISP cannot see what you are downloading. In fact, all they see is you connecting to the VPN, and the amount of data you're exchanging between the connection. The only way your ISP could monitor the connection is with a MITMA (man in the middle attack), and the connection needs to have serious encryption issues, with erroneous in the certificates. PIA for example wouldn't allow for such an attack.

        What I argue in my post is, you are simply exchanging your data information from your internet service provider to a virtual network provider, so who do you trust more? If both were to get a court order to release information in respects to collected data, what's the difference? I have argued that VPN's keep logs (view previous post), so to me personally, a VPN is just an extra layer of protection. If copyright trolls see your IP in a swarm, the IP would lead them to your VPN provider, not your ISP.

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