Is it safe to download torrents? Legal and illegal aspects

Have you ever wondered if it is safe to download torrents? Is there any consequence to it? Is my privacy protected when I use torrent clients like uTorrent, BitTorrent or Vuze? Torrenting is the easiest and most effective way to get unlimited files for free. We download the most recent TV series, movies, songs, documentaries and books, among others.

In this article, we will discuss torrent downloads, the legality surrounding it, and whether your privacy will be violated on torrent sites.

The legal and illegal aspects of torrenting

Torrenting can be legal and illegal. So what is legal and what is illegal? When it comes to legal issues, especially when it comes to content, there's a term we can't avoid: copyright. As long as the content is copyrighted and does not belong to you, freely downloading it via torrent is totally illegal.

However, using a torrent client to download torrents is legal. You will not be committing any violation. This is because, through a torrent client, you could be downloading copyright-free files.

Is it safe to download torrents?

Copyright is a deeper issue that you need to consider whether you are using a torrent client or not. Different countries or jurisdictions have different laws regarding the theft of intellectual property. If something like music is copyrighted and you don't own the copyright, there is no legal way to download it. This applies to all other files, such as movies and games.

However, there are cases where the copyright holder decides to make their products free temporarily or permanently. In such a case, it will be legal to download your files. To be safe, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the copyright laws of your country.

Some copyrights have time limits, while others are for life. Copyrights for particular content can last up to fifty years, and then people can freely download the file without any legal repercussions. Some countries have lax copyright laws and people can download torrents without worrying about anything.

The privacy of torrents

This is another issue that most torrent users are concerned about. Since there is a fine line between legal and illegal torrenting, the last thing you want is to expose yourself. Will my identity be revealed to the relevant authorities? To summarize the answer, you are not completely anonymous on the torrent network. This is independent of how the system tries to perceive itself as protecting people's identities.

From a layman's point of view, torrenting should protect your privacy, since you'll be downloading data from a central server. Through the torrent system, you will basically download the addresses to a file. This means that the file is basically a list of trackers that have some hash codes. The process involves downloading small parts of the real world from different sources.

Can you get caught for torrenting?

This is the biggest concern of many torrent users. The possibility of being arrested by government agents. Truth be told, various government agents tend to poke around Torrent networks. They try to retrieve the IP addresses used by Seeders (uploaders) and Peers (downloaders).

Agencies may end up nabbing some suspects. However, only a small percentage of people end up getting caught. To be safe, avoid being an active contributor to the torrent community. You should also disable the initialization feature as this will prevent your PC from automatically uploading files to the torrent network.

Another way to stay safe is by using a VPN (virtual private network) or proxy to set up your torrent client. The method will automatically make your IP address anonymous.

All in all, torrenting isn't as bad as some people make it out to be. In fact, we don't compare it to hacking. If you are not sure about copyright issues related to a particular file, simply check the copyright laws in your country.

Worried about getting caught in torrents? You need a VPN, and here's why!

The world of torrenting is full of obstacles. You will often find torrenting websites blocked in your country, and receiving a cease and desist warning from your ISP is always a threat. Getting stuck torrenting can also force your ISP to cut off your connection to the Web.

That is why, due to the following reasons, we strongly recommend that you connect to a VPN to stay safe while torrenting.

●      A VPN will prevent the Internet provider from tracking your online activity. This means you won't have to worry about getting a cease and desist warning or any similar legal consequences of torrenting.

●      A VPN will unblock any website, including torrent repositories. This is especially important in countries where torrent sites are regularly taken down. With a VPN, you can connect to a server in a different country and unblock what was previously inaccessible.

●      A VPN will unleash the full power of your web connection. It's no secret that internet providers apply selective throttling based on the type of online activity they detect. Since VPNs hide your web traffic, you will be able to make your web connection faster and more reliable.

●      A VPN is an all-in-one solution! No need to spend hours trying to set up torrent clients or trying to create a solution to protect your torrent download. A VPN is the best and most effective way to protect your torrents.