Sep 20, 2016, 07:42 am
OK.
Well, that would be my first question. The anti-sharing tactics of the movie and recording industries, and the appropriate defenses, are well documented but all I've ever heard of re. Daz and the associated sites is second hand scare stories. People posting that they have heard of uploaders "mysteriously" ceasing uploading. I would like to hear from anyone who has personally been put under any form of pressure (and I'd like to see the communications they have received; redacted to protect their identity of course; to see the actual nature of the threat).
Failing that, I'd like to see some reports in reliable news media.
Failing both, I'd seriously question whether any of you have anything to really worry about.
--
But for the sake of argument lets assume they really are out for blood.
One thing I forgot to ask, did you register on their site with the ISelf username?
I'm going to assume you have not. So, they cannot match the ISelf username to anything they have on record.
They cannot see the email address you have used to register here or on TPB, so they cannot match based on that. [Unless someone has asked ISelf here or on TPB to email them and you have done so and thereby given them your email address. If you haven't email anyone, don't ever do it. Conduct all communication exclusively via PM for your own protection.]
They cannot see the IP address(es) you have used here or on TPB. Even if you upload a .torrent file there, they cannot see the IP address used to upload it. But they could keep an eye out for new torrents, join the swarms quickly, note the IP address of the first seeder who shows up--which would presumably be you--and assume that the first seeder was the uploader. A VPN would mean that IP address would differ from the one they have on record from when you registered with them (so they wouldn't be able to match).
Even without a VPN, you could muddy the waters by uploading the .torrent file but not seeding it for the first day or two or even longer (some people would complain but they really have no legitimate basis for complaint and, over the life of the torrent which could be weeks, months or even years, a couple of days of non-seeding is immaterial, then super-seed (which makes you appear to peers to be a downloader rather than the uploader).
Something else that is worth mentioning is that you've used a number of IP addresses while you have been posting here, so even if you weren't using a VPN to seed it's by no means a given that the IP address you would be seeding from would match the IP address you used to register on Daz. Particularly if you avoid return there "naked" and logging in (which would give them a timestamped update on each new dynamic IP address you were using.
They might be able to make an assumption about your identity if you repeatedly downloaded something from them then uploaded it here a day later. Do that 3 or 4 times and they could probably be fairly certain.
Anyway, lets assume they've nabbed you to their satisfaction. i.e. that they've pretty damn sure that the Bill Smith who gave them his credit card details is the "ISelf" who is uploading all their primo stuff. What could they they do then?
They could and I guess they probably would ban you from their site. Meh. You could register again easily enough, just use a proxy or vpn to register and a different payment method.
They could contact you. They might do that, in which case they would threaten you. But remember that a threat is just a threat. Actually taking you to court is a risky, time consuming and expensive business. It is very very very very rarely done. I'd like to see any threat they made but I'd put money on any threats being empty. Designed to be as scary as fuck but ultimately nothing but toilet paper.
--
To cut a long story short, no, you don't "need" to hide your IP when uploading.
But doing so wouldn't cost very much, and it would give you peace of mind.
And the fact that you have already made an account with your IP doesn't really change anything either way.
Well, that would be my first question. The anti-sharing tactics of the movie and recording industries, and the appropriate defenses, are well documented but all I've ever heard of re. Daz and the associated sites is second hand scare stories. People posting that they have heard of uploaders "mysteriously" ceasing uploading. I would like to hear from anyone who has personally been put under any form of pressure (and I'd like to see the communications they have received; redacted to protect their identity of course; to see the actual nature of the threat).
Failing that, I'd like to see some reports in reliable news media.
Failing both, I'd seriously question whether any of you have anything to really worry about.
--
But for the sake of argument lets assume they really are out for blood.
One thing I forgot to ask, did you register on their site with the ISelf username?
I'm going to assume you have not. So, they cannot match the ISelf username to anything they have on record.
They cannot see the email address you have used to register here or on TPB, so they cannot match based on that. [Unless someone has asked ISelf here or on TPB to email them and you have done so and thereby given them your email address. If you haven't email anyone, don't ever do it. Conduct all communication exclusively via PM for your own protection.]
They cannot see the IP address(es) you have used here or on TPB. Even if you upload a .torrent file there, they cannot see the IP address used to upload it. But they could keep an eye out for new torrents, join the swarms quickly, note the IP address of the first seeder who shows up--which would presumably be you--and assume that the first seeder was the uploader. A VPN would mean that IP address would differ from the one they have on record from when you registered with them (so they wouldn't be able to match).
Even without a VPN, you could muddy the waters by uploading the .torrent file but not seeding it for the first day or two or even longer (some people would complain but they really have no legitimate basis for complaint and, over the life of the torrent which could be weeks, months or even years, a couple of days of non-seeding is immaterial, then super-seed (which makes you appear to peers to be a downloader rather than the uploader).
Something else that is worth mentioning is that you've used a number of IP addresses while you have been posting here, so even if you weren't using a VPN to seed it's by no means a given that the IP address you would be seeding from would match the IP address you used to register on Daz. Particularly if you avoid return there "naked" and logging in (which would give them a timestamped update on each new dynamic IP address you were using.
They might be able to make an assumption about your identity if you repeatedly downloaded something from them then uploaded it here a day later. Do that 3 or 4 times and they could probably be fairly certain.
Anyway, lets assume they've nabbed you to their satisfaction. i.e. that they've pretty damn sure that the Bill Smith who gave them his credit card details is the "ISelf" who is uploading all their primo stuff. What could they they do then?
They could and I guess they probably would ban you from their site. Meh. You could register again easily enough, just use a proxy or vpn to register and a different payment method.
They could contact you. They might do that, in which case they would threaten you. But remember that a threat is just a threat. Actually taking you to court is a risky, time consuming and expensive business. It is very very very very rarely done. I'd like to see any threat they made but I'd put money on any threats being empty. Designed to be as scary as fuck but ultimately nothing but toilet paper.
--
To cut a long story short, no, you don't "need" to hide your IP when uploading.
But doing so wouldn't cost very much, and it would give you peace of mind.
And the fact that you have already made an account with your IP doesn't really change anything either way.