Hi: I was in the Thepiratebay page and a notice said: "Do NOT download any torrent before hiding your IP with a VPN". As I learn in Wikipedia this is a virtual private network. Can you tell me how could I proceed? Also, does it refer to the downloading of the .torrent file or to the file itself?

You need a good, paid vpn for 2 reasons.

1: So that your performance isnt rediculously terrible.

2: so they dont sell your info for profit. (should have been #1)

ps: you can set up a vpn tunnel yourself but you will need an additional internet circuit. This only really works for securly accessing the internals of your second circuit though, not hiding your ips from from monitoring.

I'd also recommend just being careful what you choose to download via torrent. I'm not sure that using torrent is a problem where you need to consider VPN, but instead if you choose to download content which you should not have.

Thankks a lot, well, what is the dangerous thing? To download the movie, let's say, or the .torrent file which lets you download the movie?

When I am on the road, I routinely use proxy servers that are accessed through VPN, because the WPA2 wireless encryption is really only designed to prevent unauthorized use of your bandwidth.

In short, VPN provides the software equivalent of "a secure router." It exposes a range of IP-addresses on the "remote" network, for which it serves as the gateway. Applications ... BitTorrent or otherwise ... do not perceive that it is there at all.

That being said, you simply shouldn't do anything illegal on a torrent ... such as downloading copies of a movie that you didn't buy. That's unconscionable. Someone spent millions of dollars to make the movie that you love. Hundreds of professionals worked on it for years. Don't steal "the movies that you love."

I just checked that. The "Do NOT download any torrent before hiding your IP with a VPN" message is a link to the homepage of a specific VPN business.

I wonder if they and TPB have a deal.

... "Marketroids" typically do not attempt to lay claim to "being subtle." They seem to be well-pleased to ply their trade through the use of very-bllunt instruments.

Nowadays many countries' governments fight against cyberterrorism for safe Internet usage and copyright protection. Hundreds of websites are blocked. So, what can you do to bypass such restriction? Use a VPN client. For me it’s a perfect and legal way to have an unlimited access to the Internet. I can connect to any appropriate server and select a proper IP address. This will allow me to unblock all restricted services and enjoy theirs content. There is a big number of special websites where you can read more about virtual private networking. Some of them do researchs and testings to make lists of the best VPNs for your requests, e.g. for torrents. Also there is an interesting article for people who want to know what is VPN and how to use it http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/in...ts-container-1

The dangerous thing is the illegal act of downloading it at all. They're warning you to protect yourself from identification by authorities that would seek to arrest you.

But since you're freely admitting on a very public forum that you're doing this, I'm guessing that's not a huge concern of yours.

I've seen that "hair splitting" question from a few weeks ago in response and haven't bothered responding, however I'll add my

@sf92, you KNOW that what you're asking is a judgment call about something that already is considered to be questionable.

This is like asking whether or not is it OK to do a borderline legal/questionable thing, but since you're not "technically" in violation of the law, then "What's the harm? Right?"

Fine, but some can say the old "Where there's smoke, there's fire.", analogy.

You have to decide your own moral compass in this world.

Downloading content which you have not paid for and is copyright protected, or downloading content which is illegal, are both illegal. Sounds as if you know this.

Questioning that possessing a download link to this type of content and whether or not that action is illegal is just insulting other persons' intelligence, in my humble opinion.

Go do what you were going to do anyways and don't patronize the world with your ingenuity.