vpn?

[Ncage1974]

Guys i'm looking into a VPN for anonymizing my torrenting traffic. Making a choice is really hard and the question in the end is really how much does it help? I've read a story recently about one of them "HideMyAss" that actually turned one of their users in. OK i think its great and everything that your traffic from your PC tothe VPN will be encrypted and your ISP can't do any "deep packet analysis" on your connection but what stops RIAA/MPAA/ect from sending a subpoena to the VPN provider and finding out your real IP? Especially if your using either a VPN provider that is located in a country with strong influence from RIAA/MPAA/ect like the US or their servers are located there? I'm sure most if not all of them could link one of their IPs to your IP even if the don't explicitly log traffic. Now i can see it being "less likely" if your ip origin is coming from a country they they aren't going to mess with (say China) but its still possible.

For example one of the strong recommendations i got was StrongVPN which is located in the US and all their servers are in US & Canada which means your ip would be US (which i think would be bad) and Canada (which i'm not sure of).

Am i off base here? Please correct me if i am.

Also of course on top of that you don't want anything that slows down your traffic.

Some that i've been looking into include:

Air VPN

StrongVPN

ibVPN

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks,

Ncage

[ciaobaby]

If the operators of the VPN are based in a country where piracy laws are fully complied with, they HAVE to comply with any legal notice to provide their user connection logs..

[Ncage1974]

If the operators of the VPN are based in a country where piracy laws are fully complied with, they HAVE to comply with any legal notice to provide their user connection logs..

So your saying try to choose a VPN provider based in a country with lax data retention laws (which i'm sure US/EU would not be one of them) and in that case StrongVPN would probably be a bad choice (US). Course i'm not really up on each countries data retention policies. I would also think if their servers were located in the country (even if they were based) then they would still have to abide by the data retention policies.

[OakAshandThorn]

I am researching the same issue, and have been doing a great deal of scouting. Here are some of the articles I have found that have been helpful. The Reader Comments are probably more informative than the articles themselves:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120314/13415618108/isps-will-start-acting-as-hollywoods-private-online-security-guards-july.shtml#c1933

http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-bittorrent-crackdown-may-target-private-trackers-121106/

http://www.techdirt.com/user/jdoe668

http://torrentfreak.com/5-ways-to-download-torrents-anonymously-100819/

http://makingwindowseasy.com/2010/09/06/anonymous-bittorrent-with-anomos/

http://broadband.mpi-sws.org/transparency/glasnost.php#tests (checks to see if your ISP is throttling your traffic)

http://bestvpnforyou.com/vpn-reviews/airvpn-review/

http://bestvpnforyou.com/vpn-reviews/airvpn-review/

https://airvpn.org/faq/

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/

http://bitcoin.org/

http://www.weusecoins.com/getting-started.php

http://lifehacker.com/5875899/what-are-magnet-links-and-how-do-i-use-them-to-download-torrents

One thing I have really found helpful is go to the site of the VPN you are interested in, sign on with a user name and password, and start reading the Forums. I can quickly tell whether the service is any good or not. If a lot of users are complaining about the service, then skip it. If the forums show a really satisfied user base, with quality admin feedback and support, then it is probably a good choice.

Based on reading the Forums, I defitnitely would NOT go with Torguard.net. Very angry, disatisfied user base, bad reviews.

On the other hand, I am thinking of using AirVPN for opposite reasons.

Finally, for any service that you may be interested in, Google the service name + reviews. That's how I found a lot of very helpful info on each.

Also, if you pay for a service with Bitcoins, there is no paper trail showing that you purchased the service, which adds a further layer of anonymity.

AIRVPN is, at present, my top choice. Happy customer base, great tech support on the Forum,, and excellent reviews.

Let me know what you find out, and if you have any recommendations for me based on you own research.

My ISP is ATT, which signed onto the 6-Strike program, so I've gotta sigh on with something pretty soon

Happy Trails!

[BTLizzle]

Most VPN providers will hand over logs and records if even nudged by copyright trolls. That's why your focus should be not on picking a vpn from a country that may not comply. You should be focused on finding a vpn provider that doesn't keep logs. The U.S. is actually one of the few countries that does NOT mandate data logging.

Torguard vpn is terrible, I just tried it out recently. It was beyond belief bad.

If you're looking for an affordable option that does NOT keep logs at all, I would recommend btguard proxy or private internet access. Private internet access is super affordable ($40 a year I think). Here's a review: http://www.best-bittorrent-vpn.com/private-internet-access-vpn-review.html

IPVanish is a solid vpn service also, but they discourage p2p use and do keep records. Please don't use a free vpn, they are almost less safe than using no vpn at all.

[OakAshandThorn]

Thank you for the info. I will look at the sources you mention.

I finally got a seedbox with seedboxes.cc I am delighted with the service. It works flawlessly, smoothly, and I am amazed at the increase in ratio I am accumulating with the private trackers I belong to.

I think the company's legal location is Cyprus, or some strange, far away place like that.

I guess nothing is truly forever safe, but I am quite satisfied with the seedbox.

I am, however, interested in the private internet you mentioned. I will definitely look into that!

Oak Ash and Thorn