
Young File-Sharers Respond To Tough Laws By Buying A VPN - webandrew
http://torrentfreak.com/young-file-sharers-respond-to-tough-laws-by-buying-a-vpn-120501/
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furyg3
I feel pretty double about VPN as a solution for masking my online activities.
My reasons for using a VPN break down into these (related) categories:

1\. Security. I don't trust this network at all, such as unsecured wifi in
coffeeshop.

2\. Access. This network has draconian restrictions I need to get around, such
as corporate proxy servers or country firewalls.

3\. Privacy. It's none of this network's business what I'm doing.

4\. Legal. I don't want to get in trouble here. Especially when traveling
where I don't know the laws, but increasingly in my own country. Hell, the
courts in NL haven't figured out if TPB is legal, how should I know?

VPN can solve many of these problems most of the time... but _always_ using a
VPN means that I have a single point of failure for all four of these.

~~~
supercanuck
Any recommendations on VPN Providers?

EDIT: I saw this further down: <https://www.getcloak.com>

~~~
Hates_
I use <http://www.goldenfrog.com/vyprvpn>

~~~
Terretta
A fair amount of research suggests this company subscribes to the GoDaddy
school of thought about your privacy.

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rickmb
VPNs aren't just used for file-sharing. One of the main reasons why people
outside the US (including American expats) use VPN services is to get access
to geo-tarded services.

~~~
mforsberg
As a swede I'd say most do it to hide their online activities, at least that
is the case with most the people I know using a VPN-service.

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jstalin
Almost all my traffic goes over a VPN these days. I don't do any file sharing,
but I just don't want my ISP keeping tabs on me. (Yes, yes, I know, a VPN ISP
can keep track too) It's so easy (and cheap) to set up a VPN or SSH tunnel
with your own server (or servers). My favorite site for finding a cheap
provider is www.lowendbox.com or www.lowendstock.com.

I have several VPN/SSH servers around the world for an average of $20-$25 per
year.

~~~
rfugger
Even better, if you're worried about privacy, you can pay for your VPN with
Bitcoin:

<https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade#Connectivity>

[https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade#Dedicated.2FVirtual_Server_...](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade#Dedicated.2FVirtual_Server_Hosting)

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losvedir
I've been using my Linode as a VPN lately since I do a lot of work in coffee
shops and it works great. More recently I've been using it here in Bahrain to
access sites that are blocked by the government (innocent ones that come up on
HN, dunno why they're blocked), and US-only sites like Pandora.

However, Linode is kind of expensive for this purpose only (I also host my
small website on it, though), and have been looking into maybe an AWS micro
instance which I can spin up when I need it, or possibly others.

Anyone have good recommendations here for VPNs that are fast, relatively
inexpensive, reliable, and other criteria that might be useful?

~~~
slig
I've been using PrivateTunnel for a while. Reliable and relatively
inexpensive.

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ef4
Since I have a bunch of EC2 nodes anyway, I route my own traffic through one
of them when I want a VPN (mostly for a little extra safety on untrusted
wifi).

It works great until you realize how much of the web blocks access from EC2.

~~~
tocomment
Why would websites block access from ec2?

~~~
burgerbrain
No idea. Last time I bothered trying Stack Overflow did though. (That was a
while ago, when it was still called that.)

~~~
simonbrown
It's still called stackoverflow (?).

~~~
burgerbrain
Oh. I thought they switched to stackexchange or something stupid like that.
Whichever, I don't use the site much.

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rlpb
My fear is that use of an anonymising VPN will in itself become cause for the
state to hassle you, and that this won't require any new laws to be passed.

~~~
tjoff
I'm more afraid that the use of a VPN will actually become less secure than
without using it. ISPs are governed by different laws ensuring your privacy
(to some extent). VPNs aren't subjected to those laws and can thus, legally,
sell you out long before your ISP ever could. Sure, the potential outrage for
such behavior is probably enough to convince most VPN services to never do it
(although a secret agreement with MPAA or similar is probably tempting for
many) - but you get _no_ extra protection against the law.

Since the moment someone has a warrant against you both the VPN and your ISP
are obligated to cooperate you really have nothing to gain, in theory, from
using a VPN in order to pirate.

There is one exception and that is if your VPN resides in a different country,
then filing a warrant is probably trickier but with time this hole will
probably be a lot smaller (at least within countries of EU etc.). And having a
VPN in another country is of course not the best thing you can do performance
wise.

That or the absurd idea that VPNs is to be criminalized. I wish it was a joke
but politicians are seriously considering it.

~~~
PaperclipTaken
I think a lot of it depends on which ISP you have, how much you trust your
ISP, and how much you trust your VPN. Many VPNs claim to keep no data at all,
which means that government intervention cannot reveal your Internet
activities, because there are no records. If you live in an area where your
ISP is required to maintain certain histories, and you have a trusted VPN in a
more relaxed country, it's easy to see how a VPN might be preferred.

~~~
JoachimSchipper
This works until your VPN provider gets an order "please start logging for
user PaperclipTaken and turn over all logs for the coming 30 days to
$BADGUYS".

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yason
This is obvious progress due to the lawsuits of recent years. File-sharing
will move over to take advantage of IP addresses of countries with relaxed
copyright legislation. If all countries implemented strict copyright laws,
there's I2P and other similar encrypted anonymous networks. People just have
to trade off transfer speed to get what they already used to have in the 90's.

I think that the fact people are willing to pay for a VPN just to get a
better, "pirated", product no thanks to MAFIAA aptly underlines the severity
of the challenges that content industry is facing.

Money is not the issue why those who have money do pirate content.

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dawson
I was looking into VPNs recently, when I remembered The Pirate Bay launched
their own early 2010. I considered signing-up until I found out Sweden is
following EU policy on data retention [https://blog.ipredator.se/2012/03/the-
question-of-data-reten...](https://blog.ipredator.se/2012/03/the-question-of-
data-retention.html)

Not that a VPN is 'safe', so I considered Tor, but then that's only as safe as
the exit node.

~~~
tehayj
If you are serious about this go for perfect privacy, mulvad or bwprivacy.to.
those are used by pros from the good and the dark side of teh internetz.

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bmelton
I suppose what's interesting about this to me is that the pirates are
presumably _paying_ for VPN service? Which means that I guess we've figured
out the threshold where they are and aren't willing to pay for things -- to
keep out of jail.

I should launch a Piracy as a Service app. Each month, you send me $100, and I
will send you back copies of hot movies of varying quality, but all perfectly
legal. You stay out of jail, I stay out of jail, and the pirates can rest
assured that they never had to actually pay for the media they're consuming.

~~~
w1ntermute
> Each month, you send me $100, and I will send you back copies of hot movies
> of varying quality, but all perfectly legal

Your snide comment is way off the mark. By your tone I'm assuming you're
staunchly anti-piracy and don't pirate stuff, so you don't have experience
with the actual quality of pirated media.

As a long-time pirate (10+ years), I can unequivocally tell you that pirated
media is _lightyears_ ahead of anything available legally. By using just _1_
(one) torrent site, I can gain access to pretty much _every_ single movie,
music album, video game (console or PC), piece of software (all platforms),
and book. The downloads almost always max out my connection.

As for quality - it's _better_ than if you buy the media. Netflix and iTunes
are just now bringing out 1080p content, and it's almost definitely going to
be compressed in a lossy way. I can torrent the original Bluray disc image
(~50 GB) if I want to, or get a high quality X264 compressed version to save
space/bandwidth. You're not forced to go with the one thing that's offered to
you. Both options have been available ever since Bluray (and HDDVD) first came
out. I've been watching 1080p content for years without ever buying a Blu-ray
drive or any other special hardware.

And the best part of all - both the downloading process and the files I get
are in standard & open formats that I can run & view on my Linux PC. What's
available for download is browsed via a normal web browser, the BitTorrent
protocol is open and has been implemented on Linux many times over, and I've
never had any issues playing back content once it's been downloaded - the
formats are open and are supported by a variety of open source media players.

Let me know when I can run iTunes or Netflix on Linux. I doubt it'll ever
happen.

Oh, and VPN services don't cost $100 a month. You can get them for less than
$20/month. When I was sharing a seedbox with a friend, it was $10/month for
unlimited data transfer and 250 GB of storage space.

~~~
paulhauggis
"I can unequivocally tell you that pirated media is lightyears ahead of
anything available legally"

I find this unlikely. Piracy is just a copy. It's not like anything new is
actually created in the process. You are getting a very nice duplicate of the
original.

You are part of the entitlement generation. Since you are so used to just
getting things for free, you will just keep making excuses to pirate when the
company doesn't give you exactly what you want.

This will have many consequences in the future, including:

1) Commercial software will only be serviced-based. So, instead of paying one-
fee for software, you will be required to pay for it every month/year. IE: the
"cloud".

2) Software developer salaries will be much lower. Although not directly
related to piracy, open source being so freely available means that businesses
only need people to do updates (software mechanics not engineers).

3) DRM and more protections schemes. DRM was a direct result of piracy, not
the other way around.

Continue to pirate all you want, but don't be shocked at the future you helped
create.

~~~
w1ntermute
> I find this unlikely. Piracy is just a copy. It's not like anything new is
> actually created in the process. You are getting a very nice duplicate of
> the original.

As unlikely as you may find it, it's a fact. Pirated media has none of the
restrictions that legitimately obtained media does. For example, I don't have
to worry about whether a new device that I've just bought will be compatible
with all the media I already possess - since it's not DRM-encumbered, I'm free
to do whatever neccessary to get the file onto the device.

Acquiring the media is the same - I can torrent music on my Linux PC, but I
can't download music using many legitimate sources.

> You are part of the entitlement generation. Since you are so used to just
> getting things for free, you will just keep making excuses to pirate when
> the company doesn't give you exactly what you want.

Wrong. I buy media when it's provided in a cross-platform and non-DRM
encumbered manner. I've purchased every single Humble Indie Bundle until now
(and paid more than the average), not only because Linux & Android versions
are available, but also because I can download the games from my web browser.
I haven't really played the games that much, but that's not the point.

When Louis CK announced his $5 comedy special that was available online (from
a web browser) in a non-DRM encumbered manner, I went and purchased it
immediately, even though I don't particularly enjoy his comedy, and did the
same with Aziz Ansari's comedy special as well.

------
jrabone
This is not going to end well. Back to the dark ages for strong crypto (ITAR
et al.)? Perhaps RIPA in the UK is already sufficient.

~~~
iwwr
It's an arms race. Technologists will find new ways to hide, while the rent
seekers experiment with new legislation.

------
pavelkaroukin
I believe many here have some sort of VPS or dedicated server. Just setup VPN
and use it. Just use it. Installing pptp server is very easy. And if you are
more determined - install OpenVPN - it allows compression and better security.

~~~
aw3c2
be aware though that, depending on your setup, you are basically telling the
other side "hi, I am the owner of this domain".

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ComputerGuru
The only VPN I know that explicitly guarantees no logging is the Swedish
vpntunnel.se

They operate many nodes, and they tell you that due to data retention laws in
the EU and USA, _your traffic with them or any other provider will be logged
for a period of time_ no matter what anyone says otherwise.... except if you
use their Swedish endpoints because, apparently, Sweden has no and is subject
to no data retention laws (yet).

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olalonde
Ironically, I recently bought a VPN in the UK to go around China's Great
Firewall. Luckily, I can switch to another location free of charge.

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excuse-me
Queue banning of VPNs in 3....2....1.....

There is evidence of links to terrorism. Well, VPN is 3 letters and so is IRA,
ETA and RAF so thats a link. Better throw child pornography and drug smuggling
in there as well

~~~
generateui
[Responses from the article]

> But then governments will replace VPNs

>> Then governments will be replaced

This is already becoming the true in Germany. ~10% vote Pirate Party in
Berlin, more states have similar voting numbers. PPDE is now the _third
largest party_ in Germany by member count.

~~~
ema
> PPDE is now the third largest party in Germany by member count.

According to their own wiki[1] they are number 7. Even if you count cdu and
csu as one party they are 6. place.

[1][http://wiki.piratenpartei.de/Mitglieder#Mitglieder_im_Vergle...](http://wiki.piratenpartei.de/Mitglieder#Mitglieder_im_Vergleich_zu_anderen_Parteien_.28bundesweit.29)

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horsehead
This is why you can't legislate the Interwebz very well. Legislation will
typically be ~5 steps behind technology (a rough guesstimate that has no basis
in research).

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gcb
Any law that is considered pernicious by the community suffers that.

Prohibition? Just drink in secrecy. Password to enter some clubs.

Of course, that's what criminals do too. The difference is the amount of
people doing it

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billpg
Won't the network just "interpret as damage and route around it" without
needing a VPN?

~~~
Atrus6
The VPN is the routing around the damaged network.

