Any way to share a torrent set to private at TPB?

[gesserit]

I was trying to re-post a torrent here which was originally posted on another site, but got the "the torrent you are trying to upload has the private-bit set" error.

Now, since the existing torrent is public in every other way (the other site is public, the trackers are all public, et cetera) and has a very healthy swarm, it would be preferrable to have the TPB version join that swarm, instead of me initial-seeding the same content all over again.

Is this possible somehow, which is to say, is there a way to "un-set" the private-bit in the existing .torrent file, or to re-create the .torrent file with public settings and get the same hash value?

[NIK]

No, there is no way you could upload that torrent file to TPB.

Un-setting the private bit would change the torrent hash.

As you're a trusted uploader, you could create a torrent of that torrent file and upload that to TPB, as long as you make it very clear in the torrent description what you have done and why. But people will hesitate to download a torrent of a torrent, and they won't seed it for long at all--so you will have to keep it seeded yourself for as long as you want it to survive).

As you're saying it is already popular, a properly public version would likely be even more so. I'd recommend you recreate it.

[gesserit]

Okay, that answers that.

Thanks for the interesting suggestion; I was actually already considering that the other day as a way to "circumvent" another one of TPB's limitations (the beloved "upload error 4"), but wasn't sure how that sort of thing would be regarded by staff and never pursued it. Can I take what you said above to mean that this is permissible (for badged members, at least) in unusual circumstances like these?

In this specific case, I think I'll go with the re-initial-seeding option, as I expect that no matter how well I explain the torrent-within-a-torrent approach a non-negligible number of downloaders won't get it, with lots of resultant whining in the comments.

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ETA re your edits: Yes, I realize that the seeding of a torrent indexing a .torrent file would be an issue, but as the bandwidth demands would be tiny, that'd be a burden I'd be willing to bear, in a situation in which all other options would be even more unpalatable.

[NIK]

Can I take what you said above to mean that this is permissible (for badged members, at least) in unusual circumstances like these?

Yes.

Torrents within torrents are harder for everyone to vet (both moderators and potential downloaders) so they're always subject to a degree of suspicion and they're never going to be welcomed with open arms. But they're tolerable if:
- you're a trusted/vip/well established uploader,
- you have a legitimate reason (sharing an outsize torrent or a pre-existing private torrent being the only two I can think of),
- are upfront about what you're doing and why,
- and, very importantly, don't make a habit out of it,
...then you shouldn't have any problems.

[gesserit]

Thanks again for the clarification!