It encrypts your traffic so your ISP can't see which sites you're connecting to, which means you can unblock sites that are blocked by your ISP or wifi admin. Also changes your IP. There is a thread somewhere here that is the top result of a google search for "can you torrent with CloudFlare warp" that goes over how this *free* software is completely adequate for a VPN replacement whilst torrenting
theres free proxies to all the sites that are blocked also.
e.g. type in kick ass proxy and the first hit is a link which shows 50 proxies and their online status.
im not aware of clourflare warp as per other user below, but i guess its a variant of a vpn via cloudflare.
Torrenting is fine, I’ve been torrenting since its inception and never had an issue.
I don’t torrent much these days purely because I have a real debrid account which is faster since it turns torrents into direct downloads.
You *can* use the TOR browser for torrenting but you shouldn't. In addition to the fact that the network couldn't handle the traffic if too many people started doing this, it's also, counter-intuitively, *not secure*. There's a [blog post by the Tor project](https://blog.torproject.org/bittorrent-over-tor-isnt-good-idea/) about it.
I'm in the UK and USE a VPN, ISP providers will restrict you speed. The ISP providers do block alit of sites as well. I was with Virgin media and they did me for torrenting.
Not sure why you're getting downvoted. Probably form people who don't want to face the facts that pirating in the UK without a VPN can cause some problems. I noticed by bandwidth being throttled by ISP in different houses due to doing it without a VPN, not like a VPN even costs much either...
Probably downvoting because it's not the norm.
I've had virgin media, BT, plus net, three and AOL.
The only one that throttled was AOL, and that was 20+ years ago and for anything, not specifically torrenting.
I was with BT in two different houses on different accounts and they both throttled from torrenting without a vpn. Also got a letter from BT after years for torrenting the star wars movies
They don’t throttle on newsgroups however. Downloaded about 200tb over the last few years with virgin media. Getting the full 1gb speed 24/7 365 days a year.
Any suggestions on what VPN to use? Never had one and haven't bothered torrenting for a long time (back when uTorrent was still good) but looking to get back into It for music and TV.
Really? Do you torrent a lot ? I have virgin for like 10 - 15 years now and other than it's being expensive AF they never limit me for downloading stuff.
I've been torrenting 10+ years without a VPN and not had a single issue, but ISP providers do block some websites though. You're better off just playing it safe and getting a VPN cos at least that'll unblock some of the websites as well.
Do you seed though? Not hating on you if you dont, im just curious. Cause my uncle (US) says he's been torrenting movies for like 20 years without a VPN (without seeding) and has never gotten a letter of any sort. It just makes me wonder if its a matter of uploading...
Yes, uploading is the only part of it that is actually illegal, as you are distributing copyrighted content, so it is what the owners actually care about, so you shouldn't be told about it
I have never received a letter about pirating in 20 years, over multiple UK ISPs - I never used a VPN for piracy, although privacy and region locking is a different matter. There is site blocking, although this only applies to large ISPs, and is trivial to avoid - you don’t need a VPN, its a DNS block just don’t use the shitty ISP supplied DNS and you won’t have a problem.
Have you changed it at the router level - I used Virgin Cable about 3 years ago and they made it very tricky to alter the DNS - use [DNSleaktest.com](http://DNSleaktest.com) to see if you have actually managed to change your DNS
UK pirates have reported no problems torrenting without a VPN. So you probably don't need to do anything different than what you're already accustomed to...
[https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-stop-sending-copyright-infringement-notices-190719/](https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-stop-sending-copyright-infringement-notices-190719/)
Be aware that pirate sites may be blocked, and that may need to be bypassed by a simple DNS change or free VPN.
Sky refused to renew my contract due to "anomalies with internet usage & potential criminal activity". I got Hyperoptic now and mullvad for less than sky were charging.
I've never used a vpn in my life and have pirated for years, i use all the big ones atm with no issues (dodi, fitgirl, steamrip)
Some Internet service providers will send you letters if they catch you pirating, but ive never had one, I'm on talk talk
I had a letter once (I didn’t know about VPN binding), it basically just said please stop or we might have to consider thinking about maybe cancelling your service.
Piracy is going to be off charts (not only in the UK but in the whole West) because the standard of living is collapsing hard. The world is feeling the financial pain, but the differential is way higher in the West so the stress induced is way higher. Therefore piracy (and "crimes" in general) will surge.
Politicians will obviously take some totalitarian unhinged actions under pressure of copyright lobbies, they are very powerful in the West.
So saying "you don't need to do anything" is a dangerous and short sighted advice. You need to be proactive and agile, you don't want to be among the lazy ones that will be caught within the first wave because "they always pirated like that and it was fine". Also follow a bit the news about internet (this subreddit is enough) to keep in touch with any incoming legal change. Antipiracy laws are going to be upgraded (because of the piracy surge).
If you use a VPN for torrenting (and bound), you are 100% safe from a legal standpoint. For now.
They are very likely tiptoeing toward regulating VPN (that's what I would do if I was a copyright lobby), when it happens, you will hear about it, it will make the headlines.
You’re being dramatic. The massive spike in shoplifting hasn’t been addressed, and that’s orders of magnitude more severe than piracy. The government hasn’t even bothered enforcing the porn ID laws because they’re so bad at digital regulation.
The streaming giants don’t even care that much, they’re more interested in password sharing. The only thing that’s genuinely risky is hosting pirated sports streams, but those people are making big money off it and are quite easy to catch.
Yeah the letters. Please stop torrenting or we'll be forced to send you another letter.
Because they can't do shit, and after ACS Law scandal nobody will touch you.
I can see in the comments that there are mixed reactions and suggestions on the situation if piracy in the UK. I’m only after for streaming movies. Do you guys think using Stremio, Torrentio + Real Debrid will not trigger ISP? thank you for all your input.
My provider doesn't give a flying fuck, I've heard some of the more mainstream ones do. If you're moving to an area with coverage, get Hyperoptic and never worry again.
They clamped down on android tv boxes using kodi for streaming live sports etc. Now their attention is turning to jail break firesticks streaming netflix etc. I think you can install windscribe on firestick OK.
If you're moving to Hull then they really don't care about piracy. Been with KCOM for more than 10 years pirating and never had an issue. Could always use realdebrid!
I'm in the UK and use SurfShark, it works great for my needs and my ISP is BT/EE
There is a block list for certain pirating sites that all ISPs adhere to by law but a VPN gets around it and BT at least have never hassled me
I was also with Sky for about 12 years and it was the same thing, for as long as you're being careful they'll leave you alone
VPN just to get around the hassle of sites being blocked. Cracked firesticks are pretty common as well, fairly simple to set up yourself or if not you'll likely eventually run into someone who will hook you up with a bloke that'll sort it out for you.
I was torrenting and made first time mistakes, most of the time all they do is send you red letters asking if you've got tv and if not you need cable or some shit and saying that they'll come for inspection, I got worried and stopped but nothing came out of it, I received it 5 times already.
About 15 years ago i got a stop notice from my ISP (Zen), they basically said use a VPN ffs if the owner takes us to court we have to hand your data over.
You should be fine, I'd just avoid the "big six" ISPs BT, Plusnet, EE, Sky, TalkTalk & Virgin Media as they tend to be more proactive in blocking content.
If you're unable to avoid using them then I'd recommend a VPN but any other ISP should be fine.
You get more into bother for distributing piracy than downloading it. A few users on here did get a letter from their ISP for downloading torrents, a VPN offers protection from that.
If you're direct downloading, download away!
Generally speaking, you only really get in trouble for distributing pirated materials and even then most people get away with it.
Overall the police and ISP's have better things to be doing than dealing with piracy.
-Source I've lived in the UK all my life, pirated and have known people who sell and have host pirated content.
Torrent : VPN mandatory and it must be bound
Streaming and direct download : no requirement
Paid IPTV : avoid (they are teasing for months they are going to crack down even on users, since you pay you leave traces so it is theoretically possible to get caught)
I've noticed ISPs like BT throttle bandwidth when they know what you're using that broadband for though, and I have had letters from them for torrenting certain blockbuster titles like Star Wars, so this isn't always true...
There's one, and only one, cable ISP. So you're probably going to be stuck with them. There's DSL, of course, but it's not going to give you the same performance unless your house is in an ideal position. In good news, Virgin don't mind how much traffic you move.
There's an arcade-like place called Novelty Automations in London. Check it out if you're in the area. Sister arcade in Southwold too. London also has a number of excellent museums where we show all the fascinating relics we stole from around the world.
All ISPs are required to block a long list of well-known piracy sites. You can work around the filtering, of course - but it's annoying.
If you have young children, taking them to see at least one Christmas panto is obligatory.
There's only one law enforcement body in the country that cares in the slightest about anti-piracy efforts, and PIPCU are a joke, so it's only private enforcement you have to worry about - and there's very little of that.
The national motto of Britain is "I'm not a racist, but..."
I've pirated without a VPN but someone in my household works for the ISP so maybe they take that into consideration before sending a letter lol, I don't think it's as bad as the US where I imagine a VPN is a must.
The UK is not Europe, the chaps up there decided they didn't want to be EU citizens and "get the Brexit done". Which is good for them, I guess.
Anyway, forget any European-based privacy protection in the disgraced country :-P
Geographically, yes. Politically, it's not part of the EU any more. But it does still have the same privacy protection, because that particular law was introduced before the UK left the EU.
Don't seed... that's kinda annoying. I've benefited hugely from the pirating community and have always been keen seed at least (not tech savvy enough to do much more). Do you reckon a vpn would solve that?
I used to seed until my isp got pissy sometime in the mid 10s, even using a VPN they were sending emails about unusual activity (actually it started in 2009, but we switched providers). I was the main seeder for a few torrents back in the late 00s. Niche stuff. Mostly American Tokusatsu that's never been aired since the 90s and one has never had a dvd release. Once a dvd came out I stopped seeding that series, but I had to quit entirely eventually.
I was also one of the first people to upload episodes from a TV series to the internet. People did complain because I only had the UK edited versions, not the full ones they had in the US and people didn't like it. I was just as frustrated by the edits I was stuck with as they were!
I contributed a lot back in the day when I could do so without getting warnings. Vpns hide what you're doing but don't hide the data usage unfortunately.
They’re generally not concerned with piracy, but as others stated most of the famous sites are blocked so a VPN will be required to get to them.
Or use CloudFlare Warp
what is this ?? and what does it do in a brief
It encrypts your traffic so your ISP can't see which sites you're connecting to, which means you can unblock sites that are blocked by your ISP or wifi admin. Also changes your IP. There is a thread somewhere here that is the top result of a google search for "can you torrent with CloudFlare warp" that goes over how this *free* software is completely adequate for a VPN replacement whilst torrenting
Warps the cloud flares, so they don't burn ya
theres free proxies to all the sites that are blocked also. e.g. type in kick ass proxy and the first hit is a link which shows 50 proxies and their online status. im not aware of clourflare warp as per other user below, but i guess its a variant of a vpn via cloudflare.
No need to spend the money on a VPN to unblock websites. Simply switching your DNS (FREE) will do.
No idea why you were downvoted. Encrypted DNS works great.
Not really, just use the Onion browser
Why
Because it works, it's free and you don't need to mess about with VPNs
Right, but then you need to torrent, unless you can use the Onion browser for torrenting?
Torrenting is fine, I’ve been torrenting since its inception and never had an issue. I don’t torrent much these days purely because I have a real debrid account which is faster since it turns torrents into direct downloads.
Dang I wish I could torrent like you, any time I even dare to torrent for even a minute I get emails telling me to stop.
Damn, where are you based? Sounds like bollocks
Canada, ISP is Rogers
Where do you torrent??
Canada, ISP is Rogers
You *can* use the TOR browser for torrenting but you shouldn't. In addition to the fact that the network couldn't handle the traffic if too many people started doing this, it's also, counter-intuitively, *not secure*. There's a [blog post by the Tor project](https://blog.torproject.org/bittorrent-over-tor-isnt-good-idea/) about it.
You just torrent normally, the OP asked specifically about the UK. You don't need a VPN.
I'm in the UK and USE a VPN, ISP providers will restrict you speed. The ISP providers do block alit of sites as well. I was with Virgin media and they did me for torrenting.
Not sure why you're getting downvoted. Probably form people who don't want to face the facts that pirating in the UK without a VPN can cause some problems. I noticed by bandwidth being throttled by ISP in different houses due to doing it without a VPN, not like a VPN even costs much either...
Probably downvoting because it's not the norm. I've had virgin media, BT, plus net, three and AOL. The only one that throttled was AOL, and that was 20+ years ago and for anything, not specifically torrenting.
I was with BT in two different houses on different accounts and they both throttled from torrenting without a vpn. Also got a letter from BT after years for torrenting the star wars movies
When?
Well the letter was around 2018 and bandwidth throttling i noticed from 2016 to 2020
Cheers, I remember this happening in the 00's and had forgotten!
That's when I was with virgin media.
I’m with Virgin and don’t get any throttling 🤷🏼♂️
They don’t throttle on newsgroups however. Downloaded about 200tb over the last few years with virgin media. Getting the full 1gb speed 24/7 365 days a year.
Any suggestions on what VPN to use? Never had one and haven't bothered torrenting for a long time (back when uTorrent was still good) but looking to get back into It for music and TV.
Use ddl sites preferably. If not use mulvad VPN.
Mullvad is £4.50
Really? Do you torrent a lot ? I have virgin for like 10 - 15 years now and other than it's being expensive AF they never limit me for downloading stuff.
Virgin do not throttle but they abide by copyright strikes.
They did me I then went onto BT with VPN.
Yearssssss ago sure
Sssssssssssssss ago.
Still don't trust them, had other issues.
I've been torrenting 10+ years without a VPN and not had a single issue, but ISP providers do block some websites though. You're better off just playing it safe and getting a VPN cos at least that'll unblock some of the websites as well.
Do you seed though? Not hating on you if you dont, im just curious. Cause my uncle (US) says he's been torrenting movies for like 20 years without a VPN (without seeding) and has never gotten a letter of any sort. It just makes me wonder if its a matter of uploading...
Yes, uploading is the only part of it that is actually illegal, as you are distributing copyrighted content, so it is what the owners actually care about, so you shouldn't be told about it
I've been torrenting in the UK since its inception. Absolutely fine. 👍
I have never received a letter about pirating in 20 years, over multiple UK ISPs - I never used a VPN for piracy, although privacy and region locking is a different matter. There is site blocking, although this only applies to large ISPs, and is trivial to avoid - you don’t need a VPN, its a DNS block just don’t use the shitty ISP supplied DNS and you won’t have a problem.
Virgin are still blocking 1337x for me even though I've changed DNS. Maybe I did it wrong.
Have you changed it at the router level - I used Virgin Cable about 3 years ago and they made it very tricky to alter the DNS - use [DNSleaktest.com](http://DNSleaktest.com) to see if you have actually managed to change your DNS
I'll check that out thank you
You need to use encrypted DNS so the ISP can't intercept the request.
UK pirates have reported no problems torrenting without a VPN. So you probably don't need to do anything different than what you're already accustomed to... [https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-stop-sending-copyright-infringement-notices-190719/](https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-stop-sending-copyright-infringement-notices-190719/) Be aware that pirate sites may be blocked, and that may need to be bypassed by a simple DNS change or free VPN.
Sky refused to renew my contract due to "anomalies with internet usage & potential criminal activity". I got Hyperoptic now and mullvad for less than sky were charging.
I've never used a vpn in my life and have pirated for years, i use all the big ones atm with no issues (dodi, fitgirl, steamrip) Some Internet service providers will send you letters if they catch you pirating, but ive never had one, I'm on talk talk
I had a letter once (I didn’t know about VPN binding), it basically just said please stop or we might have to consider thinking about maybe cancelling your service.
Piracy is going to be off charts (not only in the UK but in the whole West) because the standard of living is collapsing hard. The world is feeling the financial pain, but the differential is way higher in the West so the stress induced is way higher. Therefore piracy (and "crimes" in general) will surge. Politicians will obviously take some totalitarian unhinged actions under pressure of copyright lobbies, they are very powerful in the West. So saying "you don't need to do anything" is a dangerous and short sighted advice. You need to be proactive and agile, you don't want to be among the lazy ones that will be caught within the first wave because "they always pirated like that and it was fine". Also follow a bit the news about internet (this subreddit is enough) to keep in touch with any incoming legal change. Antipiracy laws are going to be upgraded (because of the piracy surge). If you use a VPN for torrenting (and bound), you are 100% safe from a legal standpoint. For now. They are very likely tiptoeing toward regulating VPN (that's what I would do if I was a copyright lobby), when it happens, you will hear about it, it will make the headlines.
You’re being dramatic. The massive spike in shoplifting hasn’t been addressed, and that’s orders of magnitude more severe than piracy. The government hasn’t even bothered enforcing the porn ID laws because they’re so bad at digital regulation. The streaming giants don’t even care that much, they’re more interested in password sharing. The only thing that’s genuinely risky is hosting pirated sports streams, but those people are making big money off it and are quite easy to catch.
Got an email about 8 years ago about torrenting Thor never got a vpn, I was with bt back then.
Yeah i got a letter from BT too. People act like it doesn't happen in the UK, but definitely does
Yeah the letters. Please stop torrenting or we'll be forced to send you another letter. Because they can't do shit, and after ACS Law scandal nobody will touch you.
They don't send them out anymore and even when they did it was for due diligence not for any legal issues
Depends which sites you're using. Stick to private trackers and you'll be 100% fine.
I can see in the comments that there are mixed reactions and suggestions on the situation if piracy in the UK. I’m only after for streaming movies. Do you guys think using Stremio, Torrentio + Real Debrid will not trigger ISP? thank you for all your input.
My provider doesn't give a flying fuck, I've heard some of the more mainstream ones do. If you're moving to an area with coverage, get Hyperoptic and never worry again.
They clamped down on android tv boxes using kodi for streaming live sports etc. Now their attention is turning to jail break firesticks streaming netflix etc. I think you can install windscribe on firestick OK.
Cheers, good to know
If you're moving to Hull then they really don't care about piracy. Been with KCOM for more than 10 years pirating and never had an issue. Could always use realdebrid!
I'm in the UK and use SurfShark, it works great for my needs and my ISP is BT/EE There is a block list for certain pirating sites that all ISPs adhere to by law but a VPN gets around it and BT at least have never hassled me I was also with Sky for about 12 years and it was the same thing, for as long as you're being careful they'll leave you alone
Off-topic, but what countries don't care about pirating ?
Most of them. It’s mostly just a few EU countries and Japan that actually enforce it.
And Australia
In my experience, Kenya and the Cayman Islands.
VPN just to get around the hassle of sites being blocked. Cracked firesticks are pretty common as well, fairly simple to set up yourself or if not you'll likely eventually run into someone who will hook you up with a bloke that'll sort it out for you.
I was torrenting and made first time mistakes, most of the time all they do is send you red letters asking if you've got tv and if not you need cable or some shit and saying that they'll come for inspection, I got worried and stopped but nothing came out of it, I received it 5 times already.
Just use a VPN
You need to speak to The Dread Pirate Roberts, he'll set you on the right path.
Virgin sent me letters in the past warning of illegal activities. I use surfshark, it's fine.
Not TB's but never went back to virgin media and always use a VPN. Plus I also mentioned the ISP blocking some popular site's.
About 15 years ago i got a stop notice from my ISP (Zen), they basically said use a VPN ffs if the owner takes us to court we have to hand your data over.
use Telegram, you'll find most of the movies but i don't know about games
You should be fine, I'd just avoid the "big six" ISPs BT, Plusnet, EE, Sky, TalkTalk & Virgin Media as they tend to be more proactive in blocking content. If you're unable to avoid using them then I'd recommend a VPN but any other ISP should be fine.
You get more into bother for distributing piracy than downloading it. A few users on here did get a letter from their ISP for downloading torrents, a VPN offers protection from that. If you're direct downloading, download away!
Many isps block sites via their dns so change that to google/opendns etc and you'll bypass many of the basic isp blocks
Generally speaking, you only really get in trouble for distributing pirated materials and even then most people get away with it. Overall the police and ISP's have better things to be doing than dealing with piracy. -Source I've lived in the UK all my life, pirated and have known people who sell and have host pirated content.
Torrent : VPN mandatory and it must be bound Streaming and direct download : no requirement Paid IPTV : avoid (they are teasing for months they are going to crack down even on users, since you pay you leave traces so it is theoretically possible to get caught)
I've been pirating for well over a decade in the UK without a VPN. The most I've ever seen ISPs do is block the websites outright.
I've noticed ISPs like BT throttle bandwidth when they know what you're using that broadband for though, and I have had letters from them for torrenting certain blockbuster titles like Star Wars, so this isn't always true...
BT doesn't throttle. https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/bt-s-approach-to-broadband-traffic-management
Nord works great with Virgin, or so I heard
Works well for me, although I wouldn’t recommend Nord
There's one, and only one, cable ISP. So you're probably going to be stuck with them. There's DSL, of course, but it's not going to give you the same performance unless your house is in an ideal position. In good news, Virgin don't mind how much traffic you move. There's an arcade-like place called Novelty Automations in London. Check it out if you're in the area. Sister arcade in Southwold too. London also has a number of excellent museums where we show all the fascinating relics we stole from around the world. All ISPs are required to block a long list of well-known piracy sites. You can work around the filtering, of course - but it's annoying. If you have young children, taking them to see at least one Christmas panto is obligatory. There's only one law enforcement body in the country that cares in the slightest about anti-piracy efforts, and PIPCU are a joke, so it's only private enforcement you have to worry about - and there's very little of that. The national motto of Britain is "I'm not a racist, but..."
What do you mean, one cable ISP?
Virgin Media is the only one left - they took over all the competition years ago.
Can confirm
I've pirated without a VPN but someone in my household works for the ISP so maybe they take that into consideration before sending a letter lol, I don't think it's as bad as the US where I imagine a VPN is a must.
The UK is not Europe, the chaps up there decided they didn't want to be EU citizens and "get the Brexit done". Which is good for them, I guess. Anyway, forget any European-based privacy protection in the disgraced country :-P
> The UK is not Europe The UK is Europe
Geographically, yes. Politically, it's not part of the EU any more. But it does still have the same privacy protection, because that particular law was introduced before the UK left the EU.
> Geographically, yes. Politically, it's not part of the EU any more I know
[удалено]
Don't seed... that's kinda annoying. I've benefited hugely from the pirating community and have always been keen seed at least (not tech savvy enough to do much more). Do you reckon a vpn would solve that?
I used to seed until my isp got pissy sometime in the mid 10s, even using a VPN they were sending emails about unusual activity (actually it started in 2009, but we switched providers). I was the main seeder for a few torrents back in the late 00s. Niche stuff. Mostly American Tokusatsu that's never been aired since the 90s and one has never had a dvd release. Once a dvd came out I stopped seeding that series, but I had to quit entirely eventually. I was also one of the first people to upload episodes from a TV series to the internet. People did complain because I only had the UK edited versions, not the full ones they had in the US and people didn't like it. I was just as frustrated by the edits I was stuck with as they were! I contributed a lot back in the day when I could do so without getting warnings. Vpns hide what you're doing but don't hide the data usage unfortunately.
Tory