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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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.
I have never once used a VPN to pirate shit.
I did ONCE, and got a notice. 😂 VPN all the way boys!
My ISP couldn't give a rats arse if I pirate games or not. That's the benefits of a local ISP, they are so small they don't care.
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No money, no friends? Maybe that a signal it's time to take a break from the screen
Going outside when you're nowhere near a city:
(in USA at least)
That's all of Alberta CA I think
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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.
You also need something to play the games on, a place to play them, electricity for the internet and device, etc., and none of them are free. But they're also not exclusively used for playing a single game, unlike the single game you're pirating instead of buying.
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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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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.
Direct downloads are fine enough. No need for vpn.
Edit: Depends on your location. US is fine with ddl
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.
Unfortunately in my area Comcast has a super monopoly and they're huge narcs
Depends on where you are. Don't try that in Germany, you'll get a hefty fine.
A fine for pirating? How awful.
Yeah, we just get a notice from the ISP, if that.
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Piracy free?
100TB isn't free Fast internet connections ain't free VPN ain't free Hundreds of hours ain't free
What is free is the freedom that comes with just being able to watch whatever the hell I want to watch when I want to watch it, without ads, without "oh now we found another way to make money, we shuffle media between providers so now pay someone else too if you want to finish this show"
You forgot electricity to power your PC
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