How do I hide my IP address?

I've been told they are clamping down on piracy in my country. How do I hide my IP address so I can't be traced? I know it can be done, it was explained to me briefly but if someone could go into detail, that would be great.

Don't pirate.

Especially not with BitTorrent. It is not meant to be anonymous.

That said, you can try throwing money at a VPN service but this will likely also seriously impede your speeds and it makes you inconnectible.

Isn't everything on uTorrent pirating?

No.

Just use a poxy server as well to act as your middle man so your real proxy isn't shown.

many proxies leak your real IP because UDP is not proxify.

http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?pid=374690#p374690

Hide your IP with anonymous proxy sites like urpal.net.

I've been downloading with Bit torrent and U torrent for 3 or 4 yrs. have my protocol encription enabled, but in those yrs. 3 times my IP [provider] has called twice and emailed me once warning me to get rid of my peer to peer[bittorrent] and to delete the movie I downloaded.All 3 times WARNERBROTHERS MOVIES.I DID WHAT THEY ASKED[threatened]because they said Warnerbrothers told them if I didnt comply,they would take the proper action,well this time my IP[provider]did it by email with threats from Warnerbrothers.THEY had torrent # and port # used and other things listed. I once again deleted all.My ? is does Warnerbrothers have a tracking system out there or what? Its always been a terrible cam copy.do you think its Warnerbrothers or my IP[provider]or both,and is there anyway I can change some settings to prevent this.I live in area where my provider is only game in area except AT&T and then you have to use usb connection and my son and daughter n law have all kinds of problems with it.I COULD set protocol to' forced' but this will slow down downloads,but if that would fix my problem I'd do it.Does anyone eles out there have any suggestions that will help because I love to download and watch movies thru D-LINK on my HDTV AND SURROUND SOUND.I dont feel Im hurting anybody,but would appreciate some suggestions SORRY I was so windy but I just love downloading movies and wonder with all the different movies I downloaded over the years why its always been bad cams and Warnerbrothers,no other movie makers.

tbone52, follow my link above.

Switeck,don't mean to sound dumb,but new to ansering.Do you want me to want me to click on-Have you tried Ultima's troubleshooting Guide?Or90#p374690- or what I DONT UNDERSTAND,JUST GOT BACK ONLINE AFTER LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO ANSER MY POST,AND CLICKING ON INDEX AND GENERAL AND OTHERS AND SEEING I DONT KNOW HOW TO USE FORUM YET.SORRY FOLLOW WHT LINK ABOVE?

This link, that I posted earlier on this message thread:

http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?pid=374690#p374690

Hi there. In all the years I have used the internet, this is my first foray into using the world of forums, so please pardon my naivety about the proper etiquette rules one should observe here.

My questions are similar to those of Calamity Jo's, so I hope this the the right place to ask them.

I, too, am deeply concerned about protecting my anonymity and avoiding confrontations with my ISP or legal authorities over a law I strongly disagree with, so I suppose what I am saying is that I want to be a pirate, too, but I also want to minimize my chances of getting caught.

So I'd like to find out some of the opinions of others who know more than I do about the true risks of seeding and uploading torrents to share. Your general thoughts about this would be appreciated, and then I'm also seeking specific answers about the effectiveness and functionality of P2P privacy services.

If they do work, are they worth paying for?

Do you have any recommendations about which services are worth checking into?

I recently tried one called "Torrent Privacy" that the TorrentReactor site has a link to. It appearred to me to do what it claimed it would and didn't seem to really effect my download/upload speeds, but I don't know if using it makes it harder for peers to find me (a seperate question).

Before I shuck out ten dollars a month to subscribe I want to learn more, thus here I am.

Thanks much for your time. Erik

http://dmca.cs.washington.edu/

In short, nothing will protect you.

If they want to falsely accuse basically anyone with an Internet connection...they can.

@ moogly that is why you pick a proper proxy not one in US or canada that might give your IP away. One has to have common sense when looking for secure proxy.

im still waiting for an RIAA lawsuit for file sharing Linux distributions

Hi All,

is does Warnerbrothers have a tracking system out there or what?

YES, they do, and a lot others, not mentioning GOVs around the world!

I suggest to try the PeerBlock software, which I do, and as far as I can see from the logs and it's immediate actions when it's running, it DOES block all of the sites it (YOU) have configred to be blocked.

It's easy to control but if you block too many IPs, you will render your browser useless, so it needs a little knowledge of what you are doing.

Here's a little description of Peerblock as it appears on the site:

PeerBlock lets you control who your computer "talks to" on the Internet. By selecting appropriate lists of "known bad" computers, you can block communication with advertising or spyware oriented servers, computers monitoring your p2p activities, computers which have been "hacked", even entire countries! They can't get in to your computer, and your computer won't try to send them anything either.

And best of all, it's free!

http://www.peerblock.com/

You could block all their ips and they can still get *YOUR* ip from the tracker.

7. Does this mean my P2P downloading is completely safe now?

Not necessarily. While many people do use IP Filtering software like PeerBlock to help "protect" themselves from being sued for copyright infringement, it is not 100% protection. In fact some people believe that using blocklists like this are completely useless. Others disagree, and believe that even if it's not 100% safe, it still lets them download files more safely. Sometimes they invoke the "Bear Principle": when running away from an angry bear you don't need to be faster than that bear . . . you only need to be faster than the guy next to you. However, as I seem to remember seeing on the old Peer Guardian site at one point:

The only way to be "safe" with P2P downloading is to not share copyrighted content!

PeerBlock is good at what it does - keeping your computer from "talking" with ip addresses on your configured blocklists. Everything else is up to those blocklists themselves. And heck, even if the blocklists provided 100% coverage of "bad" ip-addresses, and if blocklists were 100% proven to work, there could still be some bugs in the PeerBlock software that may prevent it from working correctly on your machine; we offer no guarantees that it works, and disclaim any and all responsibility for the consequences of your own actions online. If you're sharing copyrighted music/video files and get sued by the relevant organizations, it's not our fault. If you're stuck in a country with an oppressive government and are trying to get out your plans regarding the upcoming revolution, and those in power break down your door and haul you away, it's not our fault. If you're sharing some secret footage of Area 51 and the "Men in Black" come knocking on your door, it's not our fault!

If you choose to download copyrighted material from the Internet, be aware that you may be breaking the law.

Seriously people I don't think you are getting the message. BitTorrent is not meant to be anonymous, in fact this goes for most p2p systems.

PeerBlock/IPfiltering/PeerGuardian/etc can block gazillions of other peers yes, but that still doesn't protect you from the PTB harvesting your IP from the tracker and connecting to you from an IP you have not blocked to find out if you are really sharing on that torrent. You can't very well block the whole internet because then there would be nobody to download/upload from/to.

Proxies are often transparent, and even if they are not your IP could easily leak.

VPN services (should) route all your traffic and basically hides you behind the owner of the service but they cost money and provide limited bandwidth (=download/upload speed) and make you inconnectible.

Well it's worked so far when I used it but then again I change proxies every so often to be on the safe side but I choose proxies not listed in the US or Canada those most likely will give your IP to MPAA/RIAA for whatever reasons legit or not.

The best way to hide your IP is to build an elite proxy. You can build your own through a hosting company that offers Linux VPS hosting for about 15 bucks a month. I won't walk through the process here, but you can google and find what you need. Takes about 15-20 minutes to set it up with a low degree of difficulty. Forget about all the free proxy IPs you see out there... they're worthless and not anonymous since your IP can be leaked very easily with these. Once you create your elite proxy IP, plug it in firefox, utorrent or whatever and your good to go.

But just remember one thing... Just because you're surfing the net anonymously doesn't mean that you can get away with doing illegal things. The hosting company doesn't snoop around in your server, but the IP address they rent to you belongs to them. So if you're trying to do illegal things while using their servers and their IP address, they're not going to be happy. Worst case is they ask you to leave.. just move on to another host. This is the best and only way to truly hide your IP.

A US hosting provider is just as obliged to hand out your personal info when ordered to by a court as your own ISP. If the PTB want to sue you are screwed either way.

The only 'security' those 15 bucks a month provide are against your own ISP disconnecting you.

And even then it is kinda wasted because your ISP has to prove you broke the TOS before they can disconnect you and I doubt a mere warning from the PTB will count in the eyes of any judicial body. Especially since those warnings have proven to be false on more then a few cases.

I am appreciative of the many opinions expressed on using uTorrent and web privacy, but I must admit that I am still uncertain as to the effectiveness (or lack of) these pay services like BT Guard or TorrentPrivacy.

It appears the consensus view here is that they should keep my ISP from knowing if I am using some of my expensive broadband connection to upload/download files with uTorrent, but do little else to keep my P2P activities anonymous without blocking my ability to seed.

I suppose I need to explore the possibility of finding a service, if one even exists that isn't a scam, that I can first log into before doing anything at all on the internet if I want true privacy and the personal freedom to be left alone.

Other than checking out different music that I don't already have on CD and then returning the favor by seeding it back up for a time, my web pursuits are legal and ethical.

For me this issue is more a matter of principle that I don't believe it is right or moral for anyone to invade my privacy or track my activities for marketing, government surveillance, or any other reason; any more than I would want to have hidden cameras spying on me inside my own home without my knowledge.

Enough of my tirade and back to my question.

Does anyone here use a privacy service that they have any confidence in or can you tell me what things you think are important to look for before paying for one, should I decide to try one in the future.

Thanks again, Erik