Torrenting can be fun, but how much do you know about it? Are you using torrent platforms safely? Do you have a question in mind? Then you are in the right place! This guide contains all the basics about torrenting and more! Let us begin!
Torrents were and still are one of the preferred methods of downloading and watching movies. However, most torrent users are aware of the risk behind it. For those of you who are completely new to the world of torrenting and would like to know if it is safe to use, if it is illegal in most parts of the world, or if you can get caught seeding pirated content on torrent platforms, then this guide is it. for you.
What is torrenting?
In simpler terms, torrenting is the downloading and uploading of files, be it music, movies, games, or even software over the BitTorrent network. Users can download or upload these files from each other’s devices over the network. In short, there are seeders, which download content and then upload it for other users, and then leechers download that content.
Torrenting is a branch of P2P, short for Peer to Peer file sharing, and is one of the most popular forms. For it to work, you need a torrent management software and through it, you will be able to connect to the BitTorrent network. You can even download the same software for free on a couple of devices.
To explain the process a bit more, everyone who downloads and uploads the same content in the BitTorrent client is the same. All colleagues can download a file from multiple colleagues or users, even in one go. On the other hand, they can also simultaneously upload a file to many other users. Users can even distribute the load among several other hosts.
Torrent laws vary from country to country. However, because the laws and torrents are the downloading or seeding of copyrighted and pirated material, it is important that you understand everything about it in depth.
On the other hand, torrents do indeed come from some reliable sources, but you should be careful about the sources you get your content from. To begin with, Kickass Torrents used to be one of the most popular websites, but since the US government took down the owner for particular reasons, users searched for other trustworthy sites. Kickass Torrent alternatives.
It is illegal
You can’t really consider torrenting illegal as there are quite a few legitimate uses. As mentioned above, torrenting means downloading or uploading pirated content, however you cannot label it as “illegal” mainly because laws vary from state to state. To begin with, there are countries like Switzerland, Spain and Poland where torrents are allowed as long as it is for personal and non-profit use. Then you have countries like the Netherlands, Mexico, India, Greece, Brazil, Canada, or the Philippines, where torrenting is completely ignored. There are countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, France or the United Arab Emirates that allow torrenting, but you will receive severe fines for downloading illegal or copyrighted content. Other than that, we have countries where torrenting itself is illegal, unsafe, and completely closed, such as China, Malaysia, the US, South Africa, and a couple of others.
So is it legal or illegal?
Judging from the full scenario, the results simply boil down to the fact that torrenting itself is not illegal, but that approving downloading of over-the-counter copyrighted content is.
The sad reality is that even if you’re not really aware of which torrents are legal or illegal to download, you may find yourself on the hot end of the stick to go ahead with downloading. But again, this largely depends on the country in which you reside. However, there is a workaround for that, which we’ll get into in a bit.
The illegalities of torrenting are not clear, but is it safe? That is the question!
We now know that torrenting is illegal in most countries, while the laws in other countries don’t really pay attention to downloading copyrighted content. That being said, most users may not know what they are torrenting. So is it safe to continue?
Keeping the government and other state surveillance agents out of this for just a moment, have you ever wondered what the full role of your ISP is? In addition to logging your online traffic and browsing history, your ISP can inspect the BitTorrent network and catch you in it, halfway.
They are required to take immediate action against you, according to government rules in countries where torrenting is prohibited. The result or punishment ranges from heavy fines paid to the primary owner of the material, slowing down your speed, or legal action.
The quick solution to keep your digital life private and secure is to use a VPN. It may not be 100% reliable, as no software usually is, but it is one of the safest methods to safely download torrents. Here are some reasons why using a VPN is the best option for safe torrenting:
It can help protect your activities and your physical IP address from your ISP. The Internet Service Provider will only know that a VPN is being used, and that’s it.
There are torrenting websites that are completely blocked in most countries, and with that being said, a VPN will allow you to change your virtual IP address to access these services.
ISP speed and bandwidth limitation can be bypassed.
Choose a VPN that does not log user data, which is especially necessary when engaging in torrenting activities.