No more torrenting starting Monday ....

[Bella]

Well, at least not without a VPN.

From Slashdot:

"Starting next week, most U.S. Internet users will be subject to a new copyright enforcement system that could force them to complete educational programs, and even slow their Internet speeds to a crawl. A source with direct knowledge of the Copyright Alert System [said] the five participating Internet service providers will start the controversial program Monday. The ISPs — industry giants AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon — will launch their versions of the CAS on different days throughout the week. Comcast is expected to be the first, on Monday."

More reading:
http://www.ibtimes.com/six-strike-policy-launch-scheduled-monday-feb-25-copyright-alert-system-could-hurt-open-wi-fi

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/02/22/2032225/copyright-alert-system-to-launch-monday?utm_source=slashdot&utm_medium=twitter

http://blogs.computerworld.com/internet/21817/six-ways-pirates-can-get-around-coming-six-strikes

Btw guys, what SHOULD I pick for a VPN? I'd like something that's highly secured and easy to set up, but I'm more-or-less ignorant on this matter, so all suggestions are very welcomed.

[Nichi]

I'd also like some feedback on a VPN. Easy to setup, secure, and undetectable by mom :\

[Chocofreak13]

i need help setting one up, too.... ;^;

[Paul]

My family is using Perfect Privacy at the moment. That service is quite expensive (150€/year) but you've got about 48 different VPN servers all over the world with support for every possible protocol (I'm using OpenVPN implemented on my OpenWRT router). The speeds are nice too, especially at the gigabit locations - I'm using a German gigabit server most of the time and can almost max out my connection at 1,5 MB/s.

For the setup: configuration for one PC is straightforward, the OpenVPN GUI-client handles everything for you. If you want to do it via router it's way more complicated, you'll have to find one that can run OpenWRT, then install the OpenVPN package - and edit a lot of config scripts which are pretty cryptic.

[NejinOniwa]

Holy fucking waddlesticks.

[Dr. Kraus]

They tried this in the '90s, when they start trying to fine the first people there is going to be a real big back lash. Just sit tight and be part of the backlash when it happens and then they will back off.

good luck.

[alfonso_rd_30]

Welcome to TELMEXland you guys

[Chocofreak13]

still gonna get the VPN set up. it can't hurt, anyway.

[Chocofreak13]

yosh, tomorrow i sign up for TorGuard. in case you guys haven't gotten around all this messy business yet, i've been walked through what to do.

http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-providers-really-take-anonymity-seriously-111007/

to give you guys a little rundown, downloadable VPNs' sole purpose is to route all traffic through a host computer (in this case, a laptop routing through a desktop constantly connected to the internet), thus rendering all public wi-fi networks as home networks. for our purposes, however, we want all public traffic to be rendered private, which involves going through a hosting service.

while free ones exist, i have it on good authority that they will kick you to the curb if they catch you torrenting. thus, we are left with paid ones, such as those in the list article above. after reading the entire list (well, 2 sections, the P2P Supporters and the General Use ones), i have come up with the winners (in my book anyway, you're better off sitting down with a nice hot drink and reading for yourself) based on proximity, jurisdiction, and amount of legalese used (the more they use, the less i like them, since it shows dishonesty and less ease of use). i ranked them according to price:

TorGuard - $6/m for Proxy Services only; $10/m for full internet encryption (20% off with coupon code TorrentFreak)
Faceless - $20/3 mos for Overall Services (proxy and internet)
BTGuard - $7/m for Proxy Services only; $10/m for full internet encryption (with discounts; may be more without them)
IPredator - $25/3 mos for Overall Services

Torguard is my choice since it's 1. best in cost and 2. based out of Panama with servers in Ukraine, Romania, and The Netherlands. Faceless is based in Cypress with servers in The Netherlands. BTGuard is based in Canada. IPredator is based in Sweden and seems to take much issue with legal bullying, making them tailor-made to our needs.

after signing up, you route your torrenter to work only through the proxy. after that, everything should be fine. and if you want encrypted browsing without paying, Russell was really pushing this browser called Tor that seems to have plenty of built-in security, and access to exclusive sites (unobtainable from other browsers). i'm not signing up for the full monty since i think the government has better things to do than watch an art student post about anime characters and share pictures of cats on facebook. that's your call, though, and if you're EXTRA paranoid you can pay in BitCoin (anonymous cash service).

it's not an ideal solution, but this isn't an ideal situation. and since we can't link ourselves directly to EVERY DAMN COMPUTER ON THE NET to get torrents from other people, this is what it is. and $6 isn't really that bad. i spend more on anime mags per month.

and just for the record, what kraus said came true. none of my torrents are working as we speak.

[NejinOniwa]

IPREDator was basically the TPB gang/The Pirate Bureau/Kopimists general answering the IPRED bill which caused extreme public outcry due to its possible implications on our national filesharing culture, and as a result got whacked down quite a few notches in terms of power. Thanks to that, most people are still safe to torrent whatever they wish, as long as they're smart about it - and since the lobbyists (who drive pretty much any enforcements of these laws - they sure as heck aren't going to be randomly acted on by cops or ISPs, the former having better things to do and the latter wanting no part of this surveillance bullshit and in many cases actively undermining IPRED enforcements by internal policy) know that file-sharing lawsuits become pretty damn high profile in general here, and the very last thing they want is a reprise of 2009 where we had instance after instance of copyright cases and laws stirring things up badly enough to break through the blockade on copyright-related news that the Old Media have, which in the end resulted in the Pirate Party taking 2 chairs in the EU parliament. Elections - both for the Riksdag and the EU parliament - aer next year, and if they were to stir up this honey pot again, they might run into yet another mallet to their collective butt-ugly faces. They don't want this, so they're staying as low as they can, hoping to undermine things slowly and surely like they always have - and unfortunately, that seems to be working well enough.

[Chocofreak13]

sooo....ipredator is a bad choice then?

[Bella]

Lemme know how TorGuard works out, that's one of the VPNs I'm considering.

[Chocofreak13]

i've gotten good remarks about it from Russell, and he's basically my go-to guy. :3
i'll let you know as soon as i can. -w-

[NejinOniwa]

sooo....ipredator is a bad choice then?

Not at all a bad choice - I don't have any personal experience to go from, but with that sort of people backing it up you can be damn sure they're taking it seriously and know what they're doing.

[Chocofreak13]

so, a good choice.

well, they were my top of the list at one point. but right now i need to balance cost. if in a month i am not satisfied with TorGuard, i'll switch to them. seems right to support the homeland anyway. -w-