Skip to main content

Torrent Protection



*UPDATE*

This has become, by far, the most popular post on my site.  Thank you for all of the interest.  In the time since I originally wrote this in 2007, the BitTorrent and Peer to Peer landscape has changed substantially.  PeerGuardian is no longer considered safe.  MoBlock does not work either.  For your own personal protection, I would recommend purchasing a VPN service or consider switching to newsgroups.  

PictureBitTorrent is under constant attack by governments, ISPs, and private industry groups.  Many want to shut down this invaluable tool completely.  ISPs have been throttling torrents slowing down your progress.  They don't recognize the advantages it carries allowing large groups to share data for free and/or open source software, indie artists, and other copyleft material.  Its tremendously easier downloading Linux or free indie artists now than it was ten years ago.
Unfortunately, it may be necessary to protect yourself when using BitTorrent.  Governments track users and private groups try infiltrating torrents.  My advice?  Use a combination of IP blocking and encryption.

Phoenix Lab’s PeerGuardian offers IP blocking.  This is an open source program built for Windows and designed to protect individuals from snooping governments and anti-P2P groups.  This will actually run on Windows 98 through 7 and Mac OS X 10.4.9 and later.

If you’re a Linux user like me, Phoenix Labs recommends MoBlock.   By default, they offer Tarballs but you can add their repo to your Debian based system by hitting up their Sourceforge page.  The SF DEB file supports Ubuntu 11.04 Natty.

The other part of protecting yourself is encrypting your torrents.  Most BitTorrent programs include an option for encryption.  Usually this is located under the options or preference menus.  TorrentFreak has a how-to for Azureus, Bitcomet, and uTorrent.

Why is all this so important?  As much as 25% of connected peers on major torrents can be anti-P2P agencies.  These groups work to pollute torrents with junk.  In turn,  you end up downloading a lot more than you need to.  By using MoBlock or PeerGuardian you can block these groups and help protect your personal privacy.  

I absolutely do not advocate nor condone the distribution of illegal material through BitTorrent or any other peer to peer file sharing systems.  I'm an open source advocate who believes the free sharing of knowledge will advance our civilization rapidly.  The free sharing of private property will just land you in jail or at least in court.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fedora 41 After Install Guide

    This getting started guide will help quickly set up Fedora 41 Workstation after a fresh install. This is my personal guide that has been revised through numerous Fedora releases and thoroughly vetted by the Linux community. The instructions here may seem familiar for those that referenced the  Fedora 40 Guide . Most instructions remain identical to past versions. I personally test these commands on my laptop and desktop. This guide is intended for the Fedora Workstation edition. The commands will work on the different desktop spins such as KDE and Budgie. Other Fedora editions such as Silverblue are not compatible. Fedora is a very popular Linux distro for  good reason . It is a favorite amongst developers and end users alike. Its also my current and preferred distro. Current Stable Release Fedora 41Workstation and other Spins were released as stable on October 29, 2024.  How To Use This Guide Open a command line, a la Termina...
Post a Comment
Read more

Praying Mantis Sees You

Shot with my Motorola Droid Turbo.  No touch ups but minor cropping.  Taken summer 2015.
1 comment
Read more

Phone Shopping

One of my ongoing quests is to build an Android ecosystem that allows for easy or even seamless transition between devices.  Those devices will include a phone (well, duh), tablet, watch, and laptop.  This is a fairly common combination of devices but like others, I have my own unique wants and needs.  To build the mobile ecosystem, its best to start with the core device: the phone.  How do I choose though?  This is when those wants and needs should be defined.   What am I looking for?  What will I use it for? Camera: I have kids so I require a camera with a fast shutter and wide aperture.  Telephoto helps too for soccer games.  A strong macro would help especially since I take lots of nature pictures. Strong signal: my classroom is an interior room in a concrete cinder block dystopian hole.  I need a phone that'll fry an egg with radiation to get service. Flat display Heat management Google Pixel 8 Pro  Pros Google is the primary f...
Post a Comment
Read more