VPN

[luckyluke]

Many of us are downloading via a torrent.

On each torrent one is advised to use a VPN,

there is also everywhere VPN advertising's.

What is the really risk of not using one?

I never read about someone being caught.

Maybe because everyone is using one,

or because...

[BritManToo]

Nothing in Thailand.

But in the UK you can get a warning letter from your ISP threatening disconnection.

[RichCor]

6 hours ago, luckyluke said:

On each torrent one is advised to use a VPN,

there is also everywhere VPN advertising's.

What is the really risk of not using one?

I never read about someone being caught.

You must not read much news. "Mom left with legal judgement after young son downloaded music", etc.

 

Sometimes it depends on what country you're in, other times what country you're from, on whether the laws of those countries affect you or are being enforced (usually instigated by an evil state-sponsored group [read: some corporate U.S. legal department]).

 

If the 'content' you are torrenting is 'protected' by 'copyright' or other distribution restriction, or otherwise deemed 'illegal' to transfer or possess then those laws may come into effect against you.

 

Seems the worst that I've ever heard happening here in Thailand is your content might be confiscated from you and run over by a steamroller?

[luckyluke]

8 hours ago, RichCor said:

 

 

8 hours ago, RichCor said:

Seems the worst that I've ever heard happening here in Thailand is your content might be confiscated from you and run over by a steamroller?

"Seems" and "might" 

in Thailand. 

I will take the risk. 

 

 

 

[torturedsole]

There's more than one use for a VPN and downloading torrents is just one.  

 

Our UK household is VPN enabled particularly as I have the VPN image flashed to my router (Linksys AC3200).  I also have the mobile VPN app for when I'm out and about.  There are some mobile apps that I use in the UK that don't provide full functionality because of UK copyright issues.  Easy, switch server to another country and issues immediately resolved.

 

I'm not a criminal but there's certain things that I say and do in cyberspace that I'd rather keep absolutely private.  No problem there either.

 

All our personal banking is carried out online and we add another layer of security to our online banking activities by turning on VPN.  The major UK banks already have excellent cyber security but no harm mixing it up a notch, particularly when using public WiFi networks.

 

 

[Sundown]

I can tell you how it actually works:

 

all the torrent websites suggest you to use a VPN because they link you to one that shares the revenue with them. It's just a good excuse to monetize a website. The perfect monetisation for a torrent website is scaring the user and directing him to buy an affiliate VPN. 

 

(You don't need a VPN for torrenting)

[farang51]

10 minutes ago, Sundown said:

You don't need a VPN for torrenting

It depends on in which country you are. You may not need it is Thailand (I don't know); however, in other countries, it is a good idea to use a VPN if downloading protected content.

[A1Str8]

It's intellectual property which you can download via torrent, so it's basically theft. Which is a crime. 

The reason you never really hear people getting caught because of this, is not because they use vpn. Most people don't use it due to being careless.

It is just that the cops are too busy with more serious cases, they can't be bothered investigating someone, who downloaded a music album. 

Just to be on the safe side, however it is advised to use vpn. Since that reroutes your internet traffic, your internet provider can't see what you're doing. So problem is solved. They won't report it, because they are unaware that it's happening.

[farang51]

50 minutes ago, A1Str8 said:

The reason you never really hear people getting caught because of this, is not because they use vpn. Most people don't use it due to being careless.

It is just that the cops are too busy with more serious cases, they can't be bothered investigating someone, who downloaded a music album. 

In most countries, it is not a case for the cops; the rightsholder has to sue themselves.

 

I rent out my apartment in Denmark when I am in Thailand for the winter. A couple of years back, after I returned home, I got a letter from a lawyer because my tenants had downloaded The Hateful Eight. I could prove that I was not in Denmark at the time of the download, and I didn't have a forwarding address for the tenants, so nothing more happened. As far as I remember, they asked me to pay about 11.000 baht if I wanted to avoid going to court and having to pay some 22.000 baht plus expenses.

[johng]

On 7/8/2020 at 3:55 AM, farang51 said:

As far as I remember, they asked me to pay about 11.000 baht if I wanted to avoid going to court and having to pay some 22.000 baht plus expenses.

So you didn't pay  and  nothing happened ?

[farang51]

38 minutes ago, johng said:

So you didn't pay  and  nothing happened ?

I could prove that it wasn't me that downloaded the film; I was in Thailand. After I wrote that to them (twice), they gave up.

 

If I had downloaded the film, I would have had no choice but to pay. The lawyer had the IP address and the date and time for the download; they got a warrant from a court to get my name and address from the internet service provider. I could have gone to court to claim that a neighbour must have used my connection, but I probably would have lost badly.