Is downloading of torrents safe while using a VPN service? Kees van Vliet 12 December, 2018 Nowadays, downloading movies, series, books and games is something that almost everyone does.
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India has included itself in the list of those countries where torrent downloading has been declared as a criminal act. The country has made headlines by implementing strict online restrictions regarding torrent downloading. In this situation, the role of the best VPN for torrents comes in handy. This is because a VPN will allow you to torrent safely and let download your favorite content from best torrent sites.
IS TORRENTING LEGAL IN INDIA?
Torrenting is not illegal in any country and that includes India, the reason we are saying this is that torrenting is nothing more than an efficient and quick way of sharing large files and this does not involve any legalities. However, torrenting for copyright material is illegal in India and in many parts of the world. Think of torrenting as ownership of a car, you might use it to run errands and other chores or you can use it to commit mass homicide.
- Tips 2: Using Private Torrent Trackers will give less possibility to be monitored. Solution to Download Torrent Safely: If you want download Torrent Anonymously, a VPN is what you need. Over hundreds and thousands of BitTorrent users have already using VPN to ensure privacy while Torrenting.
- Without a VPN, your IP address is exposed to other users on uTorrent. You can download many of the larger files in torrents, which helps keep the archive's.
- VPN is the Best solution to use uTorrent safe: VPN is the only way through which you can bypass your torrent related privacy. This could be done by purchase a VPN account from a reliable company who allow their users to download torrents while they do not keep the logs of their users online activities.
The point is torrents can be used responsibly as there are plenty of legal torrenting sites available on the internet. These sites only offer copyright-free material that is legal for public use. However, at this point, we should also address the elephant in the room and that is the illegal use of torrents. Yes, that is right, the majority of torrenters simply want free stuff and that means even if it is obtained from an illegal source.
Implications of Using Torrents In India
If you are confused or are reluctant to accept the fact that torrenting in India is illegal, then the Tata Teleservices (internet service provider) has made it very clear through their warning notice.
The above warning message should be enough to convince even the stingiest of torrenters. Part of the reason why torrenting is illegal in India is that the Indian cinema industry (Bollywood) has been booming since the recent past. Blockbuster Indian movies are breaking the charts with ratings and generating huge revenue that is on par with some Hollywood movies.
With so many amazing movies dropping in every so often, pirates also want to get in on the action. Illegally pirated Indian movies and songs are made public for anyone to view and download which does massive damage to the film industry since most of the potential revenue is wasted.
Since this issue of illegal piracy is unprofitable for Indian film and content producers, the Indian government has banned all torrent sites in their region in an attempt to get rid of content piracy and finally answering the prayers of Indian content producers.
The Indian government has taken a stern action (again) to stop online piracy and this time it’s the torrent users that have come under the cosh. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), along with multiple Internet Service Providers, have started blocking several torrent websites.
Websites blockages are not new in India but even more worrisome is the warning message being shown on these blocked torrent URLs. According to the message, anyone who views, downloads, exhibits or duplicates copyright content on these URLs can be ‘imprisoned for 3 years’ and also ‘fined ₹300,000 Indian Rupees’ under Copyright Act of 1957.
While this caution against the use of torrents in India seems harsh, there is also a lot of ambiguity surrounding the mentioned clauses. For starters, how will the government or ISP identify torrent downloader’s from other normal downloader’s? If someone accesses a torrent website by mistake, will they also be deemed criminals? How will the torrent users prosecute? Will the government handle the entire situation?
These are some of the questions that every torrent user residing in India would like to be answered. The situation is aggravated even more so as there are numerous other crimes committed in India that are gone unnoticed by the authorities.
Copyright Infringement Law in India
The Indian government has severely stricken its copyright laws in recent years. Before we delve into the copyright infringement laws, I think it is important that we first understand what the term “Infringement” means.
An infringing of intellectual property occurs when any individual replicates, distributes or publically uses any form of content be it music, script or any other for monetary and nonmonetary benefits without the permission of its sole proprietor.
As far as copyright is concerned, it is basically the right a person gets in return for exhausting their individual efforts into any project. This right is protected and backed by government authorities, therefore can be utilized to hold copyright infringers in the court of law for justice.
Indian ISPs are more vigilant than ever before, tracking and eliminating torrent sites from the region in an attempt to discourage the use of torrents and eradicating digital piracy.
Update: High Court of Bombay Provides Clarification Over Torrent Block
Amass the conflicting block over torrents in India and its accompanying penalties, High Court of Bombay has provided clarification that viewing pirated content won’t get users into trouble. The High Court has ruled that viewing a torrent magnet link, visiting a torrent website, or streaming content online will not result in fines or imprisonment.
The High Court of Bombay has also ordered all ISPs across India to change warning message. The initial message stated that viewing, downloading, exhibiting or duplicating content could lead to penalty and jail time. However, the new (changed) message now reads that ‘infringing or abetting infringement of copyright-protected content’ is punishable under this law.
How to Download Torrents Safely in India?
Torrent sites in India are blocked due to their copyright infringement act, which states that individuals caught pirating can be prosecuted under the Articles 63, 63-A, 65 and 65-A as dictated by the Indian constitution. Therefore, major torrent sites like limetorrents.cc, Torrenlinks.net and torrentdownloads.me are also presenting the warning message of copyright infringement we mentioned earlier in this blog.
Despite there being strict copyright regulations in India, there are still safe and surefire ways of accessing blocked torrent sites. Now there are proxies that are free and allow users to bypass geo-restrictions, however, they are not safe and we do not recommend them.
Therefore, the best option for any Indian torrenter is to use a reputable VPN service that is cheap and offers uncompromised privacy and security in the digital world. We are going to be discussing some of our favorite VPN providers that we feel you should definitely try.
PureVPN
PureVPN has to be the best VPN to torrent safely in India, because of the fact that it is ridiculously cheap and still offers top-notch privacy and security features through its 750+ servers. The best part about this provider is that it offers a money back guarantee, so if you end up not satisfied with their service you can get your money back.
NordVPN
This VPN giant has been dominating the industry for a long time now. NordVPN offers amazing amount of servers, which would wow any user. Their amazing security features and generous subscription plans makes it a compelling choice for any VPN user.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is a bit expensive option in our list, however, its price can be justified with their 24/7 customer support and revolutionary encryption protocols. They also offer a huge number of servers, which is great if you are looking to switch servers for any reason. This is one situation where expensive is definitely better.
IPVanishVPN
IPVanishVPN is one of those providers whose primary concern is customer satisfaction rather than revenue generation. IPVanishVPN offers dedicated torrenting servers, therefore, users who are opting for this service can expect to enjoy a smooth and safe user experience.
IvacyVPN
If you looking to protect your internet privacy by paying less than your lunch money, then IvacyVPN is perfect for you. This provider only charges $1.20 a month, which is by bar the cheapest VPN we have ever come across. However, you will get every security and privacy feature that you would expect from a more premium VPN service.
Extratorrent Blocked in India
Over the years, numerous websites have been blocked in India. These websites usually pertained to pornography but torrent websites have also had their share of blockages. In wake of recent events, the popular torrent website, Extratorrent.cc, has been blocked at ISP level in India. You can also unblock extratorrents in India by using the best free VPN services. Moreover, you can ready a detailed guide of Free VPN India as well.
Final Words
In a nutshell, the new blockade on torrents has got many internet users worried in India. Anyone found downloading and distributing copyright material can find themselves in prison for up to 3 three years and also fined 300,000 Indian Rupees in the process.
According to different sources, the warning message is being shown on multiple torrent websites such as torrentdownloads.me, torrentlinks.net, btstorrent.cc, and various others. While the message has created a frenzy among torrent users in India, Extratorrent has been blocked by ISPs.
But with a VPN service, you can become anonymous over the internet, conceal your internet activities from internet service providers, and use torrents safely in India.
BitTorrent isn’t the quiet haven it once was. These days, everyone’s looking to throttle your connection, spy on what you’re downloading, or even send you an ominous letter. If you use BitTorrent, you absolutely need to take precautions to hide your identity. Here’s how to do that with a simple proxy.
This post originally detailed the setup of a proxy called BTGuard. Since its original publication in 2011, we’ve changed our recommendation to Private Internet Access due to BTGuard’s slow speeds, bad customer service, and other difficulties. If you’re still interested in using BTGuard, you can find instructions on their web site.
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You have a few different options when it comes to hiding your BitTorrent activity, but we’ve found that a proxy is the most convenient and easiest to set up, so that’s what we’re going to cover here. We’ve talked about proxies a few times before, most notably with our original guide on how to set up BTGuard our guide to safe torrenting post-Demonoid. Unfortunately, BTGuard has never been a great service—it was just the most convenient. Thankfully, Private Internet Access—one of our favorite VPN providers—now provides a proxy very similar to BTGuard, but with faster speeds and better customer service. So we recommend using it instead, using the instructions below. If you don’t want to use a proxy, check out the end of the article for a few alternative suggestions.
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When you download or seed a torrent, you’re connecting to a bunch of other people, called a swarm. All of those people can see your computer’s IP address—they have to in order to connect. That’s all very handy when you’re sharing files with other netizens, but file sharers such as yourself aren’t necessarily the only people paying attention. Piracy monitoring groups (often paid for by the entertainment industry either before or after they find violators) also join BitTorrent swarms, but instead of sharing files, they’re logging the IP addresses of other people in the swarm—including you—so that they can notify your ISP of your doings.
A proxy (like Private Internet Access) funnels traffic—in this case, just your BitTorrent traffic—through another server, so that the BitTorrent swarm will show an IP address from them instead of you. In this case, Private Internet Access’ proxy server is in the Netherlands. That way, those anti-piracy groups can’t contact your ISP, and your ISP has no cause to send you a harrowing letter.
But wait, can’t the piracy groups then go to the anonymizer service and requisition their logs to figure out what you’re downloading? Theoretically, yes, but if you’re using a truly good anonymizer, they don’t keep logs, so there’s no paper trail of activity leading back to you. All the piracy monitors see is a proxy service sharing a file, and all your ISP sees is you connecting to a proxy service. If you encrypt your BitTorrent traffic (which we recommend), your ISP won’t even be able to see that you’re using BitTorrent.
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![Is It Safe To Download Torrent Without Vpn Is It Safe To Download Torrent Without Vpn](/uploads/1/3/3/2/133275789/404623313.png)
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Read more ReadSounds too good to be true, right? Well, there are a few downsides. Most notably:
- Anonymity isn’t free. Well, at least the ones worth using aren’t. Private Internet Access costs $6.95 a month or $39.95 a year. That isn’t very expensive, though, and it’s well worth it for the privacy you get.
- You’ll get slower download speeds. Running your connection through another server inevitably slows you down, though how much depends on what torrent you’re downloading, who from, and a lot of other factors. In my experience, more popular torrents stayed at their top speed of 3.4 MB/s (my bandwidth cap) with a proxy, while other less popular torrents slowed down from 1 MB/s to about 500-600 kB/s. Your mileage may vary. I lost significantly less speed with Private Internet Access than I did with BTGuard, though.
- Not every BitTorrent client supports proxies. uTorrent for Windows works great, but Mac and Linux favorite Transmission sadly does not support proxies. You’ll have to use something like Deluge instead (or try one of the alternatives listed at the end of this article).
- Nothing is foolproof. Using a proxy may bring you increased anonymity, but nothing is guaranteed unless you avoid BitTorrent entirely.
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Ready to get started? Here’s what you need to do.
How to Set Up the Private Internet Access Proxy
Setting up a proxy is actually very simple, and just involves signing up for a service and checking a few boxes in your BitTorrent client. We’ll be using Private Internet Access and uTorrent for Windows for this guide, but you can tweak things to fit your own setup pretty easily.
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Step One: Sign Up for Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access is primarily a VPN provider. We’ll talk a bit more about VPNs later in this post, but what we really want is the SOCKS5 proxy that comes with their VPN service. So, head to Private Internet Access’ web site and sign up for their VPN service. We recommend starting out with a monthly plan to see if you like it before buying a whole year’s subscription.
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Downloading Torrents With Vpn
Once you’ve signed up, Private Internet Access will email you your username and password. Log into the system with those credentials, and change your password from the client control panel.
Step Two: Generate a Proxy Password
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Your account credentials are only to manage your account—we’ll need a new set of credentials for the Proxy service. In the client control panel, click the “Generate Password” button under “PPTP/L2TP/SOCKS Password.” This is what we’ll be using to configure our BitTorrent client. Write down the username and password that appears here (it’s different than your regular account credentials) and move on to step two.
Step Three: Configure Your BitTorrent Client
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Next, open up uTorrent and head to Options > Preferences > Connection. Under Proxy Server, choose Socks5 under “Type” and enter the following information:
- Proxy Type: Socks5
- Proxy Host:
proxy-nl.privateinternetaccess.com
- Proxy Port: 1080
- Username: Your Private Internet Access Proxy username (from step two)
- Password: Your Private Internet Access Proxy password (from step two)
Check all of the other boxes under “Proxy” and “Proxy Privacy.” Your Connection preferences should look exactly like the image above.
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Step Four: See If It’s Working
To ensure that it’s working, head over to Torguard’s IP Checker. This site can tell you what your IP address is, and compare it to the IP address of your torrent client, which will let you know whether your proxy is working correctly. To test it, hit the “Generate Torrent” button, and open the resulting torrent in uTorrent. Then, go back to your browser and hit the Refresh button under the “Check IP” tab. If it’s the same as your browser IP—which you’ll see next to the Refresh button—then your proxy isn’t working, and you’ll want to double-check all of the above settings. If it shows a different IP address (which should be in the Netherlands), then Private Internet Access is successfully tunneling all your traffic for you.
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Other Ways to Anonymize Your BitTorrent Traffic
Be cool scooby doo episodes download torrent. A proxy like Private Internet Access is the most convenient way to anonymize your traffic, but it isn’t the only way. If you want to try something else, here are a few other tricks we recommend.
Use a VPN
A virtual private network (or VPN) is very similar to a proxy, but instead of rerouting just your BitTorrent traffic, it reroutes all your internet traffic. For some people, that’s a good thing—it gives you privacy all over the web. However, it can also be inconvenient, navigating you to different web pages for that VPN’s country or causing issues with streaming services. If you have a NAS, you can set up your VPN on it to route only your NAS traffic, which is a perfect option for downloading anonymously. VPNs are about the same price as most proxies, and I personally have found that I get better speeds with most VPNs than I do with a proxy.
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Rent a Seedbox
Unlike proxies and VPNs, seedboxes don’t route your BitTorrent traffic through another country. Instead, you actually rent a dedicated server that resides in that country, and do all your torrenting through that machine. They usually have insanely fast speeds, and if you’re on a private tracker, they’ll seed 24/7, giving you a great ratio. Once you download a torrent on your seedbox, you can just connect to it via FTP and download the file as fast as your home connection allows. Note that seedboxes also require a bit of extra setup, and some may require a little command line work to get running.
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Seedboxes are more expensive than proxies and VPNs, ranging from entry-level boxes at $10 or $20 a month to fast boxes with more storage at $50 or even $100 a month. But, it offers a lot of advantages over proxies and VPNs—if you have the money to spare and want super fast speeds and a good ratio, we highly recommend getting a seedbox. Providers like Whatbox, Feral, and Bytesized come highly recommended, but a bit of searching can provide you with a ton of options. Shop around and see which one’s best for you.
Ditch BitTorrent Altogether
Your last alternative is to try a new file sharing service entirely, like Usenet. It offers encrypted connections and doesn’t connect to peers, so others can’t track what you’re doing. It doesn’t always have the selection that BitTorrent has (depending on what you’re downloading), but it offers a ton of other advantages, most notably higher speeds and better privacy. Check out our guide to getting started with Usenet to see if it’s right for you.
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Images remixed from Simon and lynea (Shutterstock).