Torrent vs. Direct Download security question


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Princess Sakura

New Member
Kouhai
I mostly use torrents for downloading files, but recently I've been considering using DD instead because I've read about certain anime companies who are using webcrawlers for torrents to send people Cease & Desist letters. (namely Aniplex titles).

When I asked on a different site about the DD method, they said that it's mostly safe since your ISP won't be able to pinpoint what you are downloading (other than you downloaded it from a http// site) unless they have the host server's logs of the IP addresses and what they downloaded.

What I was wondering is, does this hold true and would DD be the safer method with a less chance of running into trouble?

Also, is there any other company's unlicensed anime series that I should watch out for besides Aniplex? (or if there's any other company that has actually went after people for downloading unlicensed episodes?)

Thanks for any help.
 
QUOTE (Princess Sakura @ Feb 19 2009, 07:19 PM) When I asked on a different site about the DD method, they said that it's mostly safe since your ISP won't be able to pinpoint what you are downloading (other than you downloaded it from a http// site) unless they have the host server's logs of the IP addresses and what they downloaded.
Unless you're downloading using a secure & encrypted connection, your ISPs can log exactly what you're doing and where you're going at all times. They do not need the host's server logs to monitor your activity. All they have to do is use the same monitoring technology that corporations, governments and other security-conscious entities use.
 
QUOTE (Princess Sakura @ Feb 19 2009, 05:19 PM) I mostly use torrents for downloading files, but recently I've been considering using DD instead because I've read about certain anime companies who are using webcrawlers for torrents to send people Cease & Desist letters. (namely Aniplex titles).

When I asked on a different site about the DD method, they said that it's mostly safe since your ISP won't be able to pinpoint what you are downloading (other than you downloaded it from a http// site) unless they have the host server's logs of the IP addresses and what they downloaded.

What I was wondering is, does this hold true and would DD be the safer method with a less chance of running into trouble?

Also, is there any other company's unlicensed anime series that I should watch out for besides Aniplex? (or if there's any other company that has actually went after people for downloading unlicensed episodes?)

Thanks for any help.
This depends....any internet company could really track what you're downloading and the government could do the same. However, due to privacy rights they usually don't go into much detail. HOWEVER, this depends on where you live. In the US they don't track that often due to privacy rights in the Constitution and the relatively large population. Now for countries like East Asian ones, they tend to track regardless of population size since there is almost NO privacy rights. The government can do what they feel like if they feel if you're "hurting" the country whether economically or physically. And then there is the issue of ISPs placing a bandwidth limit on how much you can use a month, etc...

Assuming you do live in somewhere like the US and disregarding all the above, if you are torrenting from a private tracker then you're more or less safe. DDL is safe since most sites that host their own individual servers and even those public sites like megaupload refuse to reveal private information of their downloaders since it's in their privacy terms or whatever. This is similar to Youtube's legal case a few months back.

All in all, both torrents and DDL are about the same in terms of "safety." Both are as safe and unsafe as one another. If people really wanted to track you down, they could, but think about the time it would take. The only exception is when you begin "obvious illegal" downloading like US movies or music. These cases usually get cracked down faster. Not saying fansubs aren't illegal, but the chances of you getting caught for it outside of Japan, Singapore, and China (being the big 3) are slim since NO ONE CARES FOR IT!
 
Kit and Daft are more or less correct. It takes quite a while to track down somebody's ISP. In most cases this is instigated by a company that owns a copyright and theyhave to contact the provider of an ISP to begin proceedings to do anything about it. In the long run, unless an act is blatantly illegal (such as hacking, gross copyright infringement, etc) then a company is unlikely to pursue a case outside their own country as the cost of doing so is often greater than the loss incurred by the downloading.
 
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