Sharing stuff thead

[KC Scott]

...

[PSUFAN]

Torrents. I search for them at isohunt.com, and I download them with µTorrent.

[ElTaco]

Any time you download shit from online, you stand to download infected shit. I would say you have 2 major issues you might run into:

RIAA/MPAA and their goons. In reality, I rate this as a small problem, but I'd still rather not get on their list, as a result, whatever download/P2P system you use, make sure it only runs when you are downloading stuff, and I wouldn't go sharing stuff you have, at least not from your home computer.

Infected files/Virus/fake files: On certain sites, the RIAA has done a bang up of a job of flooding sites/lists with bad files. They aren't infected, just not what you are looking to download. Even worst is when people upload infected crap with trojan back doors, viruses and worms.

What should you do:
Virus definitions up to date, actively checking files for viruses. I'd also throw in about 2 Adware/spyware checkers as well, one of which should actively be searching/blocking crap online.

Use Firefox or Opera or really almost any browser but IE. should help keep down any spyware as you go from site to site. most of the big ones aren't out to get you, but you never know where you might end up as you search for files.

Firewall. It may be useful to run a local firewall on the machine you use for this, even if you already have a firewall on your wired/wireless router at home. The reason for this is that you can use this to stop outgoing connections. This can help ensure you don't become a zombie machine or a file distributor for the P2P people. Not all firewalls do a good job blocking outgoing connections so if you do run one, make sure it will ask you to allow outgoing connections. These can be a pain to set up for the first few days, but once they are running, they are kind of handy. They are also handy if you think you may have a worm or spyware that you can't find with your antivirus/spyware software.

[Mister Bushice]

WHAT ET said.

and,

I've downloaded stuff and have not had any problems. I use avast, zone alarm pro, and fire fox. There have been some issues with corrupted files, but they don't do damage, they just don't work.

The biggest issues I've ever run into are the registration keys. They can be tricky to get working.

[KC Scott]

...

[Mister Bushice]

I don't think the RIAA has access to limewire. They have mostly gone after college networks, Kazaa users and high volume downloaders/sharers. They still barely scrape the surface.

As for bittorrent, according to what I've heard, you are getting pieces of files directly from multiple users, not from or through a single server, and the resident program is on your computer. Probably the only thing would be a spike in bandwidth from your provider, if they are linked in that way. I haven't heard that, though.

[PSUFAN]

I loaded a converter

I'm not sure what that means.

[BSmack]

I've downloaded in past from Winamp & limewire - tunes mostly without any problems.
I'll admit the RIAA thing freaked me out and I stopped, figuring it was just worth the .99 to get it from Apple.
Apple kinda pisses me off though, as their songs will only play in IPOD portables.

That's what they want YOU to think.

http://askbobrankin.com/drm_removal.html

If you can play it on your system, it can be recorded to any format you wish. At least for now.

But then amazon doesn''t have as much selection....

As for the bit torrents, I loaded a converter, but still wondered if there was any risk in my system being exposed.
I've got Symantec AV and the companies firewall on this box, so managed to avoid any problems on the redirect Trojan thingys even with running IE 7.0

Get Peer Guardian now.

http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/

Run Peer Guardian's P2P and Spyware filters. Update them frequently. In most cases, I'll also run the http filter. But that's not always an option since some trusted sites I'm visiting don't play nice with it. Eventually I'll make a full list of exceptions and run http filers 100% of the time. Definitely update those filters before each and every download session.

Of course you should also be running the latest versions of Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad Aware.

I'm not even sure what questions I should be asking :|

As for a site to download torrents, I'd start with isohunt.com as mentioned by PSU. IMO, if I can't find it on ISO Hunt, I probably didn't want it that badly to begin with. Always use due diligence when it comes to using a new torrent site. Not everybody plays nice.

Also, there's many private file sharing communities out there. An example would be http://www.tapecity.org/forums.php . These groups operate often as "legal" file sharing communities sharing only music that is not commercially available. But not always. An example would be the sharing group Oink that just got in so much hot water in the UK not long ago. Also, file sharing groups are always very ratio conscious.

[PSUFAN]

Itunes alternative:

http://www.floola.com/modules/wiwimod/

Floola will allow you to take songs off your ipod and save them as mp3 files that will play everywhere.

[Mister Bushice]

I have a file sharing question.

If I own a CD, an album, a 45, a cassette tape, an 8 track one of those home karaoke things, or one of those jukeboxes you can buy with songs built in or a Sirius/XM subscription where I can save entire blocks of music to a player, do I have the right to download another copy of any of those songs, since I legally have already bought them in some form already?

[PSUFAN]

I don't think so. Someone had to get it to market for you, possibly it was remastered, etc.

However, what if you download a song from ITunes, or EMusic, or Rhapsody? You've got it, who's to say that you can't convert it to another file format, or burn it onto a CD, or use it on another IPod, or Zune, etc.? I feel as if once I buy it, and it's on my computer/device, it's mine to repurpose.

[Mister Bushice]

So - If I have a sirius subscription and save a bunch of music to it, and later burn them to a CD thru a PC sync then the CD is damaged and I no longer have them on the PC, am I stealing if I then downlaod another copy of it? What right do they have to say I have to keep buying the same song over and over?

I don't think they could nail you legally unless you intentionally file share, or download something you don't or haven't ever owned, and downloading an MP3 of a song does not guarantee you are getting a newly "remastered" version. I would think bit rate would play a part there.

Also, sometimes I might download a song to check out a group, If I find out they suck, I delete it. Better than shelling out 15 bucks for a shit CD I will never listen to. If it's good, it's worth the purchase, but I usually only do that thru the bands website.

Remember before CDs when cassettes were the medium? People were recording their albums and sharing them. The Music industry took a major hit but were helpless to do anything about it, but they rebounded and fucked us all up the ass with the CD revolution.

[ElTaco]

If you already own it: They would be hard pressed to prosecute you for downloading a song you own already. Of course you can also just rip it off the CD, which is legal....for now, and will get you a better quality song then you can find for free most of the time.

I don't think a Sirius subscription gives you song ownership so downloading it, specially after you lose the song would still be illegal. also I'm fairly sure that unless you can prove that you own a copy of the song, which is hard to do if you don't have the media would basically mean you are SOL. I would also say that downloading some song or two would not get the RIAA after you because it wouldn't make any financial sense. If you look at their 'cases' they go after people who share music, not steal music. Their argument is that if you share it then they can get damages for an unspecified amount of people downloading/listening to the music (in other words the maximum the law will allow), which is how they get these ridiculously sums of damages they keep asking for.

I only talked about the RIAA/MPAA issue because it is there. in reality the chance of them finding you and coming after you is very very very small, but if you do stupid things, like share thousands of songs over high bandwidth from your home computer or privately owned server, I would say sooner or later you may come up on their radar. Granted, paying $3k is not that bad of a price to pay but if I'm not willing to pay for their shitty ass CDs, why should I pay them for their even shittier abuse of the legal system.

[Mister Bushice]

But then amazon doesn''t have as much selection....

As for the bit torrents, I loaded a converter, but still wondered if there was any risk in my system being exposed.
I've got Symantec AV and the companies firewall on this box, so managed to avoid any problems on the redirect Trojan thingys even with running IE 7.0

Get Peer Guardian now.

http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Run Peer Guardian's P2P and Spyware filters. Update them frequently. In most cases, I'll also run the http filter. But that's not always an option since some trusted sites I'm visiting don't play nice with it. Eventually I'll make a full list of exceptions and run http filers 100% of the time. Definitely update those filters before each and every download session.

I had no luck with those PG files. The one listed for NT would not open, because I don't have an NT system. The ones listed for x64 wouldn't open either, the other two are for older version of windows and the programmers source code. I got an error message both times when I tried to open the .exe file saying it was not compatable. I have win XP Pro.

[Sky]

I like bt, feel safer, even though I don't know why.

Love this site: Torrents.to

Its like kayak for torrents

[peter dragon]

I like bt, feel safer, even though I don't know why.

Love this site: Torrents.to

Its like kayak for torrents

was getting ready to post this site as well.. lol

BTW if anyone wants/needs an invite to Demonoid hit me up..

[verbal]

DiT posted a couple great links the other day:

http://www.phazeddl.com/
http://skillware.blogspot.com/ be sure to check the archives

And while I'd love to DL some of this shit, I'm not sure what, If any protection is needed / recommended to keep my shit safe.

Also, Bri put up a post a while back on Torrents, and while I found a site to download the torrent ap, A nagging voice told me I should ask what's the risk before I grabbed Alice Cooper's greatest hits.

Any advice?

Sorry you haven't really gotten jack shit for advice thus far. If you really want to download files and feel as secure as possible in doing so you need to stay the hell away from P2P networks, especially Limewire. Nobody seriously shares files in that manner anymore. Torrents are what you are after and there are a shitload of sites to choose from, 90% of which are shit. What I mean by that is that they usually direct you to a much better site anyway. The first thing you need to do is download uTorrent. This is the software needed to handle torrent files. Then there are only two sites you need for virtually anything.

http://www.mininova.org/
http://isohunt.com/

Most torrents will have comments attached and you can easily see what files are legit or not. The only thing I recommend is that you remove the file from your que upon completion. You can also allocate bandwidth to your downloads and uploads. So if your a real shit you can limit upload speed to 1kb a second which I do. I only shared this because I have a decent buzz going and it seems so damn simple to me. And I'm totally open to any debate on the issue.

[ElTaco]

Sorry you haven't really gotten jack shit for advice thus far. If you really want to download files and feel as secure as possible in doing so you need to stay the hell away from P2P networks, especially Limewire.

Hmmmm...

Torrents. I search for them at isohunt.com, and I download them with µTorrent.

Sure sounds like very similar advice and he beat you by a year.

[PSUFAN]

True dat. I second his recommendation of mininova.

[verbal]

Sorry you haven't really gotten jack shit for advice thus far. If you really want to download files and feel as secure as possible in doing so you need to stay the hell away from P2P networks, especially Limewire.

Hmmmm...

Torrents. I search for them at isohunt.com, and I download them with µTorrent.

Sure sounds like very similar advice and he beat you by a year.

El,

Yeah sorry I missed that. Nothing worse that being force-fed quality sites.

I use isoHunt primarily for movie downloads. axxo sure does upload quality dvd rips such as..

Taken (2008)
Pride and Glory

I watched these over the weekend.

[PrimeX]

axxo also got busted.

I NEVER use public trackers, as the RIAA ain't gonna find me and the uploads usually suck and aren't ripped securely in EAC.

I use Waffles, What.CD for music, TehConnection for movies, and Dime for Bootlegs. All PRIVATE invite only though and you have to build back ratio, all damn to perfect VBR and FLAC upload sites, and the RIAA is no mas there.

I've got over 2TB worth of perfect FLAC's and V0's from these sites going back to oINK.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Torrents? Phhhttt...How 2006...

Single download Megaupload links, bitches.

[verbal]

axxo also got busted.

Really? Looks like this was uploaded 2 days ago


oh yeah, what info shall I provide for invites?

[KC Scott]

Prime - you knew RIAA had moved away from going after individuals right?

They're now going to focus on the ISPs -and do a three strikes thing on cutting off internet service to anyone DL copyrighted shit.
It's already worked on a couple in Europe.

On the BT front - Pirate Bay is still in trial right now.

[PrimeX]

Torrents? Phhhttt...How 2006...

Single download Megaupload links, bitches.

Yeah, awesome if you want shitty bitrate music. Enjoy though.

Prime - you knew RIAA had moved away from going after individuals right?

They're now going to focus on the ISPs -and do a three strikes thing on cutting off internet service to anyone DL copyrighted shit.
It's already worked on a couple in Europe.

On the BT front - Pirate Bay is still in trial right now.

My home page in torrentfreak. I read it at all times. You should as well to better understand the weak "scare" tactics that will never work here in the US.

I pay for a work/home cable connection so I'm out of the range of a GB caps, and trust me, no matter what the RIAA tries, us pirates will find a way around it. There's already a new type of "torrent" BETA in the works that is fully encrypted. Sharing is not going away, it's just finding better ways to hydra and add security, if you know the right people and where to find the sites.

Also, as for your post on the three strikes thing, that's going after users who are stupid enough to be caught on swarms in public trackers. The suckers. They got lucky with oINK. The security now on the private sites mentioned above is beyond great, as is Gazelle.

I'm pretty sure I would have gotten a notice months ago as I seed over 12 GB a day and download around 50-75GB a month on my connection. Be it movies, music, bootlegs, etc. "Private, secure, encrypted". It's all good.

[KC Scott]

...

[PrimeX]

I'm not really familiar with those. Care to describe? I don't get much internet time anymore and my torrents work so great I've not even looked at alternatives. No need to when I can DL an album in 30 seconds or a movie in 4 minutes. Pretty satisfied here.

[Screw_Michigan]

Rack the return of PRime. If you could some how magically figure out how to fix my port forwarding so I can increase my uploads at Dime, I'd appreciate it. Other than that, go fuck yourself, you insensitive PRICK.

[KC Scott]

...

[PrimeX]

Nah, not for me. The sites I'm on only allow high quality, perfect rips and I'm a FLAC junkie, so I get all that I need.

[PrimeX]

Rack the return of PRime. If you could some how magically figure out how to fix my port forwarding so I can increase my uploads at Dime, I'd appreciate it. Other than that, go fuck yourself, you insensitive PRICK.

Are you using UTorrent?