Proxy or VPN or TOR? What is the most secure way?

I mean, I'm from the US and my ISP is one of the 5 unfortunately. So, I have to protect myself now. I'm currently using just public proxy.
What do you mean by this?
Why do you need to protect your self from? What does this mean?
If you live in the US, you’re subject to our stupid laws, but at the same time protected by them.
What are you doing that needs additional protection?
Dude seriously, which side are you on? While people from other countries, let’s say, Europeans, can download American intellectual properties as much as they want, why the hell can we not download any of our homeland properties. This is unfair to the US citizen, you know that right?
http://torrentfreak.com/dont-download-that-bro-youre-going-to-get-busted-130316/
In Switzerland, file-sharers can literally go nuts and pretty much download whatever they like. The overwhelming odds are that no-one is going to do anything, since monitoring file-sharers in Switzerland is banned.
Summary: Free-for-all.
In Germany the situation is very different. Internet subscribers can be held liable for almost everything that goes on via their connections, a situation which has attracted hundreds of thousands of troll lawsuits, not only from bottom-feeding opportunist purveyors of third-grade media, but also the major record labels too.
Summary: Consider everything dangerous and connected to a potential pay-up-or-else letter.
Somewhere between these two countries is the UK, where there is the occasional troll lawsuit, but only against those who have shared porn manufactured by a single producer. Personal file-sharing is being monitored by the major labels and movie studios for intelligence purposes, but no-one ever gets punished for doing so. �Strike� warnings will probably go out in the next few years, but nothing is imminent.
Summary: Overwhelmingly unlikely to get sued or busted for anything � movies, TV shows or music (mainstream or otherwise) � but file-sharers are definitely being watched.
The Netherlands offers a different position again. Downloading movies, books and music for personal use is legal, but downloading software isn�t. Adding to this complexity, file-sharers are not allowed to upload anything, which means that sharing copyrighted material via BitTorrent is outlawed. Troll lawsuits have not arrived in The Netherlands yet, but copyright watchdog BREIN has threatened to go after file-sharers if downloading movies and music isn�t outlawed.
Summary: Downloading movies and music is legal, sharing copyrighted material isn�t. Overwhelmingly unlikely to get sued or sued for anything, but this may change in the future.
As widely reported, France and New Zealand are �three strike� zones. Major music, movie and TV show rightsholders are heavily monitoring P2P networks for infringements and sending out warnings to file-sharers. In New Zealand the movie companies feel the process is too expensive for them and are currently sitting on the sidelines, but residents of both countries should be aware that on P2P networks such as BitTorrent they are definitely being watched.
Summary: Chances of being monitored sharing mainstream products are higher than they�ve ever been, but the warning system means that file-sharers will get a heads-up or two before the proverbial hits the fan. At a few hundred NZ dollars punishments are not particularly punitive but whether they offer a sort of perverse �value for money� or not depends on how much people download.
Of course the big one that most readers will be interested in is the United States, and it�s the country with the most complex situation. The risks and punishments are loosely split across product vendor lines.
First off, DMCA notices. Although mainly sent to sites to have content removed, these are also sent out by the major movie, TV show and record labels as a warning to Internet subscribers caught sharing their products. They should be taken seriously, but in the real world are largely toothless. It�s a heads-up that an activity has been monitored but as the particular download has probably long since completed, most people can simply ignore them. At this point it�s still unclear, but it seems likely that DMCA notices sent to individual Internet subscribers will now be replaced by alerts under the so-called �strikes� mechanism.
This six-stage warning system is being used by the major recording labels and the members of the MPAA. These companies� products dominate the music charts, movie theaters, rental stores and TV channels, so when looking at music or video featuring the world�s biggest stars, chances are those products are being monitored as part of six strikes.
Without going into the politics of whether the strikes project is fair, what it does provide is a warning mechanism. People can get caught sharing mainstream media many times before they face even the possibility of some kind of legal action. People shouldn�t be complacent though as that still might happen for the most persistent of offenders.
Six-strikes also removes most of the concern that a petty file-sharer will have his door kicked in by the authorities at 5am in the morning, but that�s still a possibility if the individual is involved in providing content to a well-run file-sharing release group or site. If people involved in this kind of activity aren�t already presuming they�re being watched, they should be.
But of course, the burning question is which content is being monitored? Which TV shows, which movies, which music albums? In the absence of any central source of information that question can only be answered accurately by rightsholders, but let�s try to solve this puzzle with what we do know.
For a moment let�s presume that the removal of links to illicit online content shares the same motivation as the monitoring of end users for the purposes of warning them. Google receives millions of takedowns every month and lists these in its Transparency Report, so a trawl through that database will show which content rightsholders want to protect. That�s not exactly a two minute job though, but there is an easier way.
To find out if a rightsholder is actively enforcing its rights by sending takedowns, simply search Google for any content followed by the word �torrent�. (Tip: �Game of Thrones� + torrent illustrates this perfectly)
Once the results appear, scroll down to the bottom of the page and see if listings have been removed and replaced with a line saying that the takedown notice can be found on Chilling Effects. The notices can be checked for a date to see if the monitoring is current or historical, i.e whether rightsholders used to be interested or still are. It�s not a guaranteed or fully comprehensive method of discovering what�s being monitored, but it should give a general idea.
While people might complain about �six strikes�, it is much, much better than the digital disease that spread to the U.S. from Europe in recent years � the detestable copyright trolls and their horrendous lawsuits. These people scan file-sharing networks for infringements and do not give out ANY warnings whatsoever before demanding huge sums of money to make supposed lawsuits go away.
Sadly, with these people the Google technique doesn�t work at all. These companies overwhelmingly make zero effort to take any content down since it�s in their interests for it to stay up � more content, more people to sue and receive settlements from.
Fortunately though (with a few notable exceptions � Hurt Locker, The Expendables), their content tends to flow massively from one direction so can be more easily avoided. It�s become evident that trolls love porn and as a result have targeted as many as 300,000 people in the United States in recent years. Amazingly and thanks to a frankly herculean effort, a list of movies recently monitored by trolls is available here. It�s not a complete database, neither can it predict which titles will be targeted in the future, but it�s somewhat of an eye-opener.
Conclusion
To pick a slightly unpleasant analogy, asking about the risks associated with downloading copyright material is a bit like wondering whether the guy or girl in the bar tonight is likely to result in a �good time�, or whether that will be followed up by call from the local clinic. We all know there are people who throw caution to the wind and �partner up� whenever they can, take no precautions and come out just fine. Equally, there are those who slip up just once and end up paying the price.
Just like in the �real world� it�s possible to reduce the risks to almost zero by using some sort of protection. Otherwise the outcome will always be unpredictable, but at least within the parameters detailed above.
So�.do you feel lucky?
Answer #7
Bro, don’t download bugged torrents and life is good. I live in USA, and I download/upload pirated stuff; host servers in US that run pirated windows and do more uploading and downloading of pirated stuff. Only difference is, I don’t download bugged stuff. Just download smart, and you can do anything you want with no worries.
What kind of problems are you having?
Answer #8
Bro, don't download bugged torrents and life is good. I live in USA, and I download/upload pirated stuff; host servers in US that run pirated windows and do more uploading and downloading of pirated stuff. Only difference is, I don't download bugged stuff. Just download smart, and you can do anything you want with no worries.
What kind of problems are you having?
My question is, IS IT STILL SAFE for me[YES, I live in the US, my ISP is comcast] to download copyrighted material through a filehost without protection such as proxy or TOR or VPN???? That’s all I wanted to know TBH.
Thanks for the support, since you are a vip member on this awesome site, I believe you. I stopped using torrents a long time ago and I’ve never gotten caught so far… I don’t have an immediate problem, but I’m just worried… because some people are claiming like this. What’s your opinion on this?
http://www.google.com?t=16944637&start=15
radios1 wrote: Select all
Don't give this a second thought, UNLESS you use torrents(P2P). the ONLY way the copyright agencies can get your IP address, and see what you upload/download is by setting up a honeypot, which they run, and log all IP addresses using it. filehosts, or other means of uploading/downloading are unaffected.
This is incorrect, i've worked at an ISP before, and i can tell you ISPs can do lots of CRAZY things!
Monitoring downloads from filehosts is way too easy for them to ignore..
Example:
They could monitor your download traffic with a database of copyrighted material byte signatures. And figure out that you're indeed downloading a particular movie, they could even tell what release of the movie you're downloading! Don't let your guard down!
There too many other easier ways too, it's not hard at all to monitor plaintext traffic!
radios1 wrote: Select all
it would be WAY too expensive and time consuming to do that to everyone!!
If hollywood is paying, it's not an issue. It won't be that expensive, as they could just monitor certain filehosts, not all of them.
And again!
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Make sure your torrent clients have encryption force enabled for instance!
And make sure you use services like [MEGA] instead of unencrypted hosts!
Use proxys/tor to access sites.
Use ssh tunnels/vpns to access non encrypted file hosts.
If you are in the US, the freedom country
Answer #9
If you just download, you don’t need a VPN/Proxy; if you use a VPN/Proxy, it just increases your anonymity (which, unless anyone is looking for you specifically, does not matter).
What exactly is your question again, you were asking which was more secure, but just to download? It don’t matter what type of proxy you use, just make sure if its a paid one, they don’t keep records; and personally I would pay with a 3rd party source.
Answer #10
If you just download, you don't need a VPN/Proxy; if you use a VPN/Proxy, it just increases your anonymity (which, unless anyone is looking for you specifically, does not matter).
What exactly is your question again, you were asking which was more secure, but just to download? It don't matter what type of proxy you use, just make sure if its a paid one, they don't keep records; and personally I would pay with a 3rd party source.
I thought many downloaders were thinking about the same thing as me, like Harper. If I just download[file hosts], there’s no chance of getting caught? Is that what you saying? I really am thinking seriously about joining a VPN network. I haven't use one before but with the new laws going into effect I really think I need to check one out. Can someone help me out with a few questions I have.....First when W-BB was on the blink a few days back I had to log on using a proxy. I found out when I went to download a file from a file host it wouldn't let me do it unless I logged off the proxy and used my regular ISP then I could download it. Does a VPN work that same way? Will I be able to download a file normally from a file host without logging off? That wouldn't make much sense if you had to log off to download. $40 per year do you think its worth the money?
Anyone that uses a VPN are you happy with what you get with the service? When you are signed on to your VPN does your computer function the same as always like with you ISP no issues like proxy's can give you sometimes. Any comments on this will be greatly appreciated............Thanks
http://www.google.com?t=16973013&highlight=
Answer #11