Most trackers provide points for seeding torrents. Usually the amount of points depends on the size and the amount of torrents.
These points can be exchanged for “upload” (or other things like an invite), which helps with increasing the ratio.
BitTorrent v2 allows for per file hashing, which makes it easier to merge swarms. This could be used to keep individual episodes alive without splitting seeders between season pack and individual episodes.
But given how many tracker staff want to continue doing what they’ve always done, I don’t think it’s big enough of an advantage for them to allow v2.
Just wanted to point out that downloading is no longer a grey area since an EU ruling a couple of years ago. Streaming as well as downloading from unauthorized sources is plainly illegal - you’re right about it being very unlikely to be prosecuted for it.
The one and only a absolutely necessary precaution is preventing your torrent client from accessing the internet when the VPN is not running.
This must be done by binding your torrent client to your VPN network interface. [1]
A “VPN Kill Switch” or similar is not enough to prevent your IP from leaking to law firms.
It’s also a good idea to use a reputable VPN company like AirVPN, ProtonVPN or Njalla VPN.
I’m also german and I’ve been using torrents for years, so this definitely works well for me. A friend of mine’s brother received an “Abmahnung” from a law firm, as well as a more distant person ended up paying around 1000€. I feel like almost any german somehow heard of people getting letters.
wine-ge is patched wine which includes many patches proton has that make games work (well).
Also, the developer of wine-ge no longer has their focus on it, because UMU [1] makes it possible to use proton(-ge) directly. UMU is already included in Lutris, Bottles & Co., or you can use it standalone [1].
Really scummy on their part.
Anyone is free to build it themselves. Someone could even distribute their own build from the same source under a different name completely legally.
They bank on users being lazy and then pay for the convenience.
Just letting this pdf here about security of Seedboxes: https://media.defcon.org/DEF CON 31/DEF CON 31 presentations/Anon - Mass Owning of Seedboxes - A Live Hacking Exhibition.pdf
I could see the real source IPs for all other users in
lastlogs.
Accessing their web interfaces shouldn’t be a risk, as you’ve already paid them and thus left a paper trail. But the point about accessing the IPs from the last ssh (or sftp) logins might be worth using a VPN for. If another user is able to get them law enforcement could too (not that it’s likely).
If you set your torrent client to only use the VPN network interface, it’s much more likely to be CGNAT. In other words it’s been some other customer.
If you still use BitTorrent, I’d recommend switching to qBittorrent. The former is outdated and ridden with ads compared to the more performant qBittorrent.