Before I say anything further, yes I know how much the recommended VPNs cost. I can read. Please do not interrogate me about it.

I’ve been wanting to get into torrenting for a while, particularly contributing to private trackers related to music (and to a lesser extent retro games, though I don’t have much original stuff to put there as it’s harder to find rare games than rare music). FMHY recommends RiseUp if I must get a free VPN while I’m working on my financial situation, though I’m not sure whether it’s been tested in court. What are my options, if any?

  • sureshot@discuss.online
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    3 days ago

    what is your budget? you say you can’t afford a vpn, most vpns are roughly 71 yuan or 10 USD per month, with the option to buy at a large discount if purchased for the full year. tell your budget in your local currency… 10 dollars per month isn’t very expensive, but these subscriptions do add up.

  • Rabbit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 days ago

    Mullvad is €5 a month for total of €60 for a year.

    Save up then torrent. If you live in the US you risk way more in fines than what €60 for a year of VPN would cost.

    • brainwashed@feddit.org
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      7 days ago

      You basically have 5 (?) devices there. Share the cost with 4 friends and it’s 1 Euro a month.

  • MBech@feddit.dk
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    6 days ago

    It’s really that important in the USA? Asking from Europe, where Ivve never even heard of anyone getting fined.

  • horse@feddit.org
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    7 days ago

    If you can share the cost of a VPN with one or more other people (most allow multiple devices to connect at the same time), it’ll be much cheaper. Or if you can’t afford that either, try to find someone who will let you use theirs for free. Maybe you can even find someone who isn’t tech savvy who will pay you a few bucks a month to cover the VPN in exchange for you downloading Linux ISOs for them.

  • Scrollone@feddit.it
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    7 days ago

    Honest question, why would you need a VPN if you want to download from private trackers?

    Usually, copyright owners target people on public trackers and on the DHT. Not a problem if you only get into private trackers.

  • hydrashok@sh.itjust.works
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    8 days ago

    If you don’t have the money for a proper VPN provider, you definitely don’t have the money for a legal defense if it came to that. Save your money and only begin once you can afford reasonable protections.

  • seathru@lemmy.sdf.org
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    8 days ago

    Use someone else’s wifi.

    I used to park my car in a Home Depot parking lot when I went to work with a laptop torrenting until the battery died.

    • RoabeArt [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      8 days ago

      I used to do that at the Burger King that was next to my old house. I’d prop my laptop up by the window the faced the restaurant and start downloading.

      Then at some point they added something to the WiFi that, after you’ve been connected for like 30 minutes, disconnects you. You wouldn’t be banned or anything, it would just cut the connection until you go back to the captive portal and click “I Agree” again.

      I feel like a lot of public WiFis these days have data caps and throttling to circumvent downloading.

  • Ilandar@lemmy.today
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    8 days ago

    RiseUp is slow and intended for activists and the politically vulnerable. It’s not for poor people who cannot afford a $5 a month VPN. You will be fucking over people with much more legitimate use cases than yours if you start using it for torrenting.