American Internet service providers have become copyright cops for the MPAA and RIAA in what supporters call one of the most promising anti-piracy efforts in history. ISPs onboard for the multi-million dollar plan include Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Cablevision, Verizon and, of course, Comcast, which connects one-fifth of wired homes. The six-strike “graduated response” program focuses primarily on copyrighted content on BitTorrent, a popular peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing program that allows decentralized downloading by having users snag files from a number of sources or “seeds” across the web.
Three Tips on how to circumvent your cable company’s torrent monitoring
Mask your IP using a VPN service
The MPAA and RIAA scheme is to monitor open P2P networks and report IP addresses of those in the download swarm to the appropriate IS`Ps. The simplest way to avoid your IP being included is to mask your IP address through the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that doesn’t store the logs of its users. Popular P2P-centric VPN providers include BTGuard, Ipredator, StrongVPN and TorGuard.
Use a Seedbox for dedicated high speed access and storage
If speed is essential for your needs, seedboxes can provide users with anonymity by downloading files to a remote machine not attached to your IP address. Once the files are on the seedbox you can securely and privately connect via SSH or FTP services to download your files. Most plans start at around 1GB connection and offer storage from 1TB or more, popular seedbox hawkers include Superseedbox, Dediseedbox and Extremeseed.
Closed Torrent and File Sharing Communities
Because the MPAA and RIAA will be scanning open P2P networks and torrent sites like The Pirate Bay (and because they have to join the download swarm to see who else is downloading), private torrent communities are much less likely to be monitored.
To get into one of these sites, a member must invite you to register, so you literally need to know a guy. If you can manage, though, preferred sites include Demonoid, PassThePopcorn and What.CD.
All-but-forgotten utilities such as Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and Usenet are still hotbeds of file-sharing activity. The ever-growing Freenet project, which offers users the ability to share files, chat and browse anonymously, is another good alternative to BitTorrent and currently has around two million users. Streaming portals such as Hulu, Veoh and even YouTube offer full video streams of television and movies. And then, of course, there are the digital storage lockers such as MediaFire, YouSendIt and RapidShare, which allow users to simply upload and distribute large files without being tracked.
Why, even with legitimate methods for downloading files, you should guard your privacy from cable companies
The real problem here is that the RIAA, MPAA and major ISPs are serving as officer, judge and jury with essentially no checks and balances until you decide to pay $35 for a purportedly independent review board to look over your case (you get the money back if you win). Beyond that, these measures treat the use of BitTorrent as an expressly unscrupulous activity, which is no surprise considering Hollywood’s historical incredulity at tales of legitimate use and the ineffectuality of “piracy” on sales—even as individual artists and celebrities embrace the program’s distribution efficiency.
In addition, companies like Comcast are injecting JS into user’s browsers which leaves them potentially vulnerable to other JS injection attacks.
Disclaimer: This website does not condone the use of content piracy or copyright infringement.