Technically you don’t need a vpn if you live in certain countries where the government doesn’t give a shit that you torrent.
this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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Only thing Eastern Europe does better than the west
Maybe it's luck but I've shamelessly torrented in the UK my whole life, I wouldn't be surprised if in the past fifteen years, I've downloaded a petabyte on pirated content.
I've never used a VPN and the one time I got a letter from my ISP, I suspect it was a scam anyway. I have used at least 4 ISPs in this period and two mobile networks, I've even used public and work WiFis with not issue.
I'm not sure if this a UK thing or if I'm just wildly lucky.
I'm stateside, and I torrented something once without a VPN and got an email complaint from my ISP not long after.
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Have the same story here in Belgium.
Never gotten a letter.
In the Netherlands they pay a small fee (3.5€ on a new phone) on every electronics "with which you can download", which allows them to pirate without much worrying.
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I'm doing fine in Ireland anyway.
Brazil and most Latin American countries are also safe pirate havens, unless you set up a for-profit piracy site, then you're painting a huge target on your head.
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$14.99 Netflix subscription
$11.99 Gamepass subscription
$11.99 Spotify Premium subscription
Want more than one networks programming? Hulu/Max/Paramount/Peacock all cost around the same
ISP still sells your damn data to advertisers
OR
$5 Mullvad subscription.
You tell me what makes more sense.
Unfortunately I cannot recommend Mullvad for Torrenting. They blocked port forwarding, making seeding and thus contributing back to the network that much slower
I just went for ProtonVPN since (next to iVPN I think) it's the only other one to at least be partially OSS and still viable for daily-use
Thats fair, and I agree with you for torrenting, its the one thing I wish they'd change. For privacy though, I feel like Mullvad is leading the pack. (Not having to provide an email, crypto and/or cash payments, DAITA)
Yes shame about Mullvad. AirVPN still allows port forwarding though.
Now days I just stick to private trackers while using a cheap European VPS setup with wireguard. Only saves me a couple of bucks a month compared to VPN service but it adds up.
It's hella cheaper tho
Yeah and something that is useful for all kinds of situations like circumventing geo-blocking as well. So it's always a good idea to have a VPN.
I may or may not have torrented so many games, software, movies and albums without any VPN. It went well for years until we got one of those letters.
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You also need an ISP, which isn't free either.
If you have a non-sucking ISP, you don't need a VPN. But a VPN is incredibly cheap, so just lump it in mentally with the cost of the internet service.
What VPN do you recommend?
That depends on a number of things, like do you want to seed (if so, Mullvad is out), how much do you plan on downloading (if a lot, a VPS may be out), if your ISP blocks any of them, etc.
I generally recommend Mullvad or DIY w/ a VPS (I DIY a wireguard VPN on a VPS), but just try some out and see what works best for you.
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No money, no friends? Maybe that a signal it's time to take a break from the screen
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protonvpn
until proton's ceo was all "o captain my captain" about trump and the "good things" that trump is doing
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Direct downloads are fine enough. No need for vpn.
Edit: Depends on your location. US is fine with ddl
Depends on where you are. Don't try that in Germany, you'll get a hefty fine.
Right? They only get your IP from torrenting because they’re torrenting it too.
A single download source you trust is usually fine unless you’ve got a super-narc for an ISP.
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Can't you borrow games at the library?
You can also torrent games at the library
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