https://iknowwhatyoudownload.com to see what your ip has downloaded.
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bro there are kinds of games and pornography that I never heard about, I don't think this is accurate.
i have it too maybe shared ip addresses. or some other reason.
Wow, OK. How does this work? Does it monitor swarms and log the IPs?
i think they monitor the DHT network and torrents.
go through all the tests on this link: ipleak.net
If you see your ip address anywhere then revise your setting
PS: don't forget the torrent leak test, there is one
Ah, thanks, that is a great tool
hey Op - I went through the same journey as you recently.
I found the exact same guide you linked - but here's what I found on my journey from knowing literally nothing to having it work.
firstly that guide is a bit outdated and very terse, in fact most of the guides have at least one thing that's outdated and several things not explained
Here were my learning steps:
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getting confident with the Linux command line enough that "chmod" and "chown", user:group, rm, nano, and other basic commands weren't foreign to me
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getting confident enough with docker and docker compose that I understand what a container, image, compose file are and how to both manipulate them and exec commands inside them
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understanding the basics of what a VPN is and does so the terms proxy, reverse proxy, port forwarding, DNS aren't alien to me
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understanding the basics of Linux file management including dotfiles, fstab, mounting, blkid, and as mentioned chmod and chown
none of this is particularly hard to grasp once you've grasped it but most guides you see and people you meet along the way will assume all of the above is second nature to you. at first I would pull my hair out seeing suggestions like "have you shelled into the container to curl your public IP?" like what the fuck does that even mean
I started with VPN as thats the important protective part. I paid for Mullvad because its fairly cheap and stuck with it all the way. First I used their GUI app and then later I switched to Tailscale and ran it as an exit node.
I also found guides like YAMS (Yet Another Media Server), dockSTARTer, Trash Guides and the Servarr wiki and would jump between them, Uninstalling, reinstalling, going down paths that didn't work and formatting my raspberry pi and starting from scratch several times. It took me about 6 weeks to skill up to the point where I'm confident knowing about all the parts of my setup.
I'm happy to answer all the questions I can (bear in mind I knew nothing about this a few months ago, but my newbie perspective could help because I know what it's like to not really know what half these terms mean)
PS:to specifically answer "what do these tools do"
- Ombi (optional) – allows other people (or yourself if you like) to select requests for things to download (tv shows and movies)
- qBittorrent - the torrent download client, takes a torrent from Prowlarr (see next point) and downloads it to your storage
- Unpackerr (optional) - if it happens to download as a rar or zip file, unzips it for you
- Prowlarr (replaces Jackett) – takes requests from Ombi (optional part) or Radarr/Sonarr/Lidarr (usually de rigeur) and uses trackers to find torrents. Trackers are services that take "I am looking for this movie" and turn it into "here is the torrent". Prowlarr is where you manage the Trackers
- Radarr (movies), Sonarr (tv), Lidarr (music), Whisparr (porn), Mylar (comic books), and Readarr (books) are part Ombi (find me this movie) but when qBittorrent has finished downloading and Unpackerr has unzipped it, puts tv shows together into series/seasons, handles the meta data, organizes everything for you and talks to the other apps so your library isn't just a /downloads/ folder full of random crap, also sometimes you'll download episodes 1 and 2 from one source, 3 and 4 from another, Sonarr gives you a UI to group them all together.
- Jellyfin then let's you watch these on your TV
Thanks for your answer. I'm well versed in Linux and Docker due to heavy personal and professional use. For me it is a I-cannot-know-what-I-don't-know situation. Your explanations of the tools helps quite a lot. When I have enough time again (maybe at the weekend) I will setup Mullvad and some of the mentioned tools, without loading first. Then, when I'm sure bout the setup I can start
A VPN is a great start, but there's a few things you can do to make yourself a bit safer.
I like Mullvad for it's client that allows me be in a lockdown mode where access to the internet can only go through a VPN. It's a killswitch and you're going to want one no matter who provides your VPN. The reason you want a kill switch is because your computer may otherwise connect to your home or office network and leak your IP address.
If you torrent you'll want a torrent client like qBitTorrent because under advanced settings in that program you can set it to only work on your VPN's network interface. This adds a second wall of protection to make sure you don't leak your IP address.
At this point your ISP isn't going to know any much more than you're using a VPN and torrenting, but that's all. And you're probably good right here, but there's more you can do if you're really worried.
By tweaking some wireguard settings in the Mullvad client you can even obscure your torrenting traffic altogether. At that point your ISP won't have much more to report than that you're using a VPN.
You'll then want to test your VPN is working well with your torrent client by using Torrent Tracker IP Checker or something similar. Verify that your IP is what it should be.
And if you're feeling extra motivated, doing all of this on a separate computer running linux would be ideal so that you can ensure no software running on your rig deanonymizes you, and can keep it locked when not in use.
Thanks, that are some good tips, I will make sure to follow. I'm planing to set up a VM in my homelab for this.
I've not gotten into self-hosting yet, but as someone who has gotten a Filesharing-Abmahnung amounting to roughly 1700€ I can tell you what I would do. All of this is of course purely theoretical.
Regarding torrenting and piracy, it is my understanding that German law (same with most other countries) has yet to find a decisive answer. But, to keep yourself safe, so far the consensus is as follows:
- Don't use torrents.
- If you use torrents, never upload. ('Tis a trap, see below)
- If you use torrents, use a VPN.
Now let's put this into practice, with examples for each use case. Our goal here is to never break existing German law. The further you go away from option one, the higher the risk of breaking the law.
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Don't use torrents. If you never interact with anything regarding torrents, you cannot be sued for torrenting, and that's really the only issue in Germany. As far as I'm aware, you're not liable if you simply download or stream something from a website freely accessible on the internet. Examples are streaming sites like Aniwave or download (DDL) sites like DDLbase.net. Hell, you could click on one of them and watch something right now. No one cares. To make this a bit more organized one could even use Cloudstream, which is an app that can aggregate "streaming websites" through external add-ons and it gives you a beautiful UI for it. Available for Linux, Windows and Android.
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"If you need or want to use torrents, never upload." is what I thought, because it sounds reasonable, right? If you look around on the internet (and in my personal use case) the courts and attorneys that send out these Abmahnungen always seem to take issue with you sharing and uploading files. And mostly music, not movies or TV series. By uploading you're sharing files that do not belong to you. So, if you deactivate uploads on your torrent client, you're done, right? If you don't share, you aren't technically breaking the law, right? Wrong. And for two reasons: (1) The process of downloading something always includes uploading some information about the download. So while you might be able to stop uploading files, you can't stop the upload of other information needed for the correct download of the files. Which leads us to the second reason: (2) These attorneys don’t care what information you’ve uploaded, how much you've uploaded, what parts you’ve uploaded or how long, they just care that they caught you participating - in any way, shape or form - to their tracked torrent. You participated, you necessarily both downloaded and uploaded something, you broke the law. If you want to make sure you don't upload nor download anything, use a Debrid service like RealDebrid which downloads it for you. Of course you're only using it to torrent Linux ISOs for you, so you're not really breaking the law anyway.
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Now correctly: If you use torrents, use a VPN. You either relegate it to someone else (a Debrid service or a seedbox like Ultra.cc) or you do it yourself by using a VPN. You're not breaking the law by connecting to a VPN or a seedbox.
Now, to the point that you're probably most concerned about. "What if one day sharing Linux ISOs becomes illegal, what if the program or kill-switch fails, what if the VPN actually does sell my data, what if the police use brute-force and physically take the datacenters, what if X or Y protection fails?" Enter layered protection. For example:
- ~~Use a VPN, but also never upload. This way, even if your program accidentally uploads a file, it doesn't matter because your VPN is there.~~ Use a VPN, but also use a Debrid service like RealDebrid that downloads the torrents on your behalf. This way, even if your Debrid service sells your IP, it doesn't matter because your VPN masked it. It is highly unlikely that both fail, and even if there's still a risk, you're statistically in a much better situation than you were before. You're basically doubling your chances of success.
- Use streaming and DDL-websites, but use a VPN too. Let's say your VPN does sell your data and everyone finds out that you, you, did a thing. It doesn't matter, because you were just browsing streaming websites, and no one cares about those.
P.s. This approach doesn't replace using good tools to keep you safe. Similarly, it doesn't matter if you have 5 locks on your front door if they're all made out of chocolate. Use a good VPN, use a good torrent client, use good trackers, etc. And lastly:
Don't stress too much.
A friend of mine uses NordVPN, has a kill-switch on the VPN and uses Stremio with a Debrid service to make sure he never uploads nor downloads any torrents on his server, and paid for it with a Paysafecard that isn't digitally tied to him. Is this perfect? No. He is the farthest away from option number 1 and is exposing himself to risks. He can theoretically be identified if you look up the security footage of where he bought the Paysafecard. NordVPN has not been proven to be as secure as Mullvad, has no diskless servers and the clients aren't open-source. He paid the VPN with his credit card. The single kill-switch can fail. He is still dabbling with torrents by using a Debrid service. He is using public trackers. But remember: The FBI or in your case the Bundesnachrichtendienst will not invade Panama to shut down your VPN, then threaten the developer of your favourite streaming client to install a backdoor to see that it's really you that is pirating this show right now, and then come knocking on your door because you pirated KissXSis or the latest season of Game of Thrones. You're simply dealing with copyright trolls and to quote someone else in this comment section: "Trolls will look for the best return on their trolling". As long as you take just two good precautions, you will be safe from most adversaries. And that's really all you can and want to achieve.
Edit: corrected the "upload" parts. Thanks @[email protected]!
It's not possible to 'not upload'. While you are downloading, you are simultaneously uploading. If a rightsholder or copyright troll is monitoring a torrent, they don't care home much you have downloaded or uploaded. If you're in the swarm, that's good enough.
That explains how I got caught🤣
Jokes aside, being part of the seed is all they care about, even if you're just leeching? The wording in those letters sounds like they take issue in you uploading and sharing that file back.
But I've checked, you're right. In their communication they don't provide anything that proves that you uploaded a file or that you've done that for a set amount of time, they just use your IP address and time as proof.
So, to check if I got it right: "Never upload" is simply not possible because (1) the process of downloading something always includes uploading some information about the download and (2) copyright trolls don't care how much you upload, what parts you've uploaded, what information you've uploaded or how long, they just care that you're participating in the process of downloading a file, and that always includes uploading some information. They simply persecute torrenters because unlike with streaming websites, with a torrent they can easily monitor in real-time which IP is connected.
Yeah, that basically it. If you download the torrent, your ip is visible, they don't care if you upload or download. As far as they're concerned, if your IP is there, they'll snatch it and send you a letter.
This. If it has to be torrents, then do it via a Debrid service such as Real Debrid. They do the torrenting, while the user only downloads the cached data. That's how I understood it at least. Stremio + Torrentio via Real-debrid is what I'm using for streaming high quality shows and movies.
I'm in Germany as well and have been using premiumize me for over 10 years and haven't had a problem. You basically have them download the torrent and then you can ddl it from them. It also works with stremio, so you don't even have to bother downloading movies or TV shows(if you watch them in English). This setup has me covered for 95% of the stuff I need.
The complete guide to building your personal self hosted server for streaming and ad-blocking,
More like: the complete guide to the overbloated Docker world of *arr stuff that most people don't need and other absurdities.
Bind gluetun with torrent client for a real kill switch. If you trust your VPN provider then you should be safe. Mullvad is probably the most reputable provider, but since they removed PF I moved to airVPN. I dont live in germany tho 😜
There are other alternatives to torrents, but private trackers should be more safe than public ones. You need invite or pass the interview for most private trackers, but I guess you know that already
Whats the benefit of doing this VS using qbittorent binded to the ProtonVPN app so it stops if the vpn disconnects?
Maybe nothing if that app is acting like a real kill switch. Otherwise, bad kill switch might leak your IP when disconnecting frim VPN or simmilar. Binding qbit and gluetun makes it impossible to leak, but there might be more good alternatives. I was just following what most people recommend tbh
Ah, thanks. I will definitely look further into that. Doing things in Docker containers is something I already do for many other self hosted services
ProtonVPN all the way ;)
A VPN is just a relay. Copyright trolls know you are uploading because you are connected to the swarm. Whatever IP address the swarm sees, the trolls will also see.
You can make it harder on them by selecting a VPN provider that doesn't log. You can make it harder for them to put pressure on your VPN by selecting an endpoint in a location unfriendly to trolls. Make them cross multiple jurisdictional boundaries if they want to get to you.
Trolls will look for the best return on their trolling. If they ever decide to come after VPN providers, they will probably target the one with the largest number of pirates in their jurisdiction. Consider a VPN provider outside Germany and the EU. South American or Asian VPN providers might be good choices for you.
Look up I2P
Side note: I have had a bad situation where the enemy fleet caught me, and I stopped doing torrents and started using DDL with a VPN. I have a hunch because some attorneys are laying out traps in torrents, DDL might be safer rn. I have read on a few sites that this might be the case, and I have been sailing a lot smoother since then as well.
So take that for what you will, and also if anybody can confirm if DDL with VPN is as safe as it's been for me, please do, because I'm curious.
Laws depend on where you live, but in plenty of places its more or less completely legal to download pirated files, its almost universally illegal to upload them, when torrenting you are doing both.
What, they gonna be the defendant and the plaintiff?
I don't know what type of traps OP means, unless it's software, then that's possible.
Sorry to hear that. How exactly are these traps made? Is there some code executed on your side, which reveals your true IP? Or how are they doing it?
They appear as torrent peers I think and log when they get a connection to share parts of the file to their system. I assume then they look up the IP and they try to find out if they got an IP from a known VPN provider or a private one. And then they send out the papers.
Note: In the paper it only says that they have evidence that my PC shared parts of that file 3 times in quick succession and that's it, the rest is my deduction / educated guess.
We also have that in France.
Some peers on torrents are indeed tracking uploaders. Here you receive a letter saying which file you shared and when.
Blockbusters are the most likely to be tracked.
For me I avoided that system with alldebrid's sort of seedbox. And direct download with alldebrid.
Here as far as I know, a datacenter IP is free to download anything and everything on torrents... Which it then uploads to DDL sites for me. And since they can't don't track DDL it's safe.
I should also note that that was in Germany, and unfortunately I can't tell you which enemy fleet burnt down my sails but let's say it was one of the big ones.
Though that shouldn't help them if you are using a VPN, right? Then they cannot see my private IP, only the VPNs IP.
I assume so. A lot of this is guesswork because obviously they won't straight up tell us.