Let’s not turn this into what the Reddit subreddit of Piracy has turned into and that’s an endless sea of questions that are all the same - “Do I need a VPN?”.

And the loud and vocal answer to such a question is - yes. Yes you do need a VPN for pirating. Nobody gets a VPN for casual use and I’m under the impression that VPN services know a lot of people are going to be going to them for pirating and not just accessing content out of their country. And it’s for that reason, is why I’m skeptical on entrusting my activity with the bigger VPN names available.

I use ProtonVPN myself, by the way.

Pirating under your raw IP address, only will set you up to get pegged by your ISP whether it’s in a short time or a long time. I’ve only ever gotten one single ISP letter in my entire 26 years of pirating and it was simply because I downloaded without a VPN. Well I was also downloading off of someone else’s network to take the fall, but I was confronted about it either way.

And I’ve gotten away with so much pirating because of my careful cautiousness when it comes to pirating. That and this applies to the United States, but the statue of limitations is 3 years when it comes to copyright infringement. So, good fucking luck to any ISP or so that wishes to try and nail me for something I downloaded 10 years ago, but I digress.

But a large part of me avoiding so much does contribute to having a VPN. So, yes, VPN is required. Please don’t ask anybody in the pirating community 100 questions that are all just ways to ask whether or not you need a VPN. You do.

  • Nyxicas@kbin.melroy.orgOP
    1·
    2 days ago

    VPNs are not required. Instead of egressing on your ISPs network, you’re egressing on someone else’s network. It’s kinda like paying for a second ISP so you can egress your ISP to go encrypted to your other ISP. What does it accomplish other than putting you in another law jurisdiction?

    I…what?

    How am I paying for another person’s ISP when I’m mooching off of their network to pirate from?

    Okay, so the two examples you’ve provided about those VPN services, have nothing to do at all about piracy. One is about cyberstalking and the other was about a child abuse investigation. Those are arguably more serious than piracy in comparison.

    At that point do you think you’ll get some form of compensation from the VPN provider?

    The fuck are you on?

    • yeehaw@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      I…what?

      Look up how routing and VPNs and NAT work, then you may understand. VPNs existed in the business world long before consumers started becoming aware of them as “this lets me watch netflix in country X and pirate shit!” services.

      Okay, so the two examples you’ve provided about those VPN services, have nothing to do at all about piracy. One is about cyberstalking and the other was about a child abuse investigation. Those are arguably more serious than piracy in comparison.

      You’re missing the point. The point is that the “protection” doesn’t necessarily work, regardless of what you’re using it for, which undermines the purpose.

      The fuck are you on?

      If you are paying for something and you ultimately get busted and in financial trouble for using a service that says they’re going to shield you from this stuff, you don’t think you should get compensation? They aren’t delivering their end of the bargain.

    • CmdrShepard42@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      How am I paying for another person’s ISP when I’m mooching off of their network to pirate from?

      I’m not defending their argument but they’re saying that a VPN is like paying for a second ISP to hide traffic from the first not that you’re paying for someone else’s ISP like the seeder of a torrent.