We all know what torrents are, and are quite familiar with popular torrent clients like BitTorrent. But there’s a growing uncertainty and unawareness about people regarding the issues surrounding the use of torrents.
This has much to do with holders of digital rights, namely production houses and record companies, who try to crack down on anyone downloading their products through third-party sources and without paying a single penny. People in most developed and many developing countries are facing the issue of downloading torrents safely.
The legality of the process is under question. This is the case in Germany as well, but citizens and travelers to the country should understand how to download torrents safely and legally in Germany.
The ‘Abmahnung’ Problem
Abmahnung letters have been circulating in the German households and dormitories for a few years now. They are ceasing and desist letters that come from law firms. These are primarily sent out to torrent users and demand the accused to pay the fees highlighted in the letter. But there are a few things to understand here.
- Firstly, there are many cases where fraudulent Abmahnung letters are sent to people demanding payment. Sometimes these come from firms that don’t have the authorization to send them out, and other times they come from fraudulent organizations altogether.
- Secondly, these letters exploit some unclear laws and lack of legal repercussions to target people. Most fake cases don’t reach the court because of the way the letters are drafted, and the user wrongfully pays the amount.
Legality of Torrents in Germany
Many developed countries are tightening their grip on torrent users to prevent copyright infringement. While the German government doesn’t want copyright infringement to take place, their attitude towards using torrents isn’t as strict as, say, their US counterparts.
The use of torrents isn’t illegal anywhere except some states where the internet itself is heavily censored. It’s what is downloaded sometimes that is illegal. The case is same in Germany. As long as you are not indulging in piracy and copyright infringement, you’re not breaking the law.
How Torrent Users Get Caught
It has been mentioned in the section above that downloading copyrighted material from torrent sites is illegal. In common with contraband and mischief of any sort, you’re clean until you’re caught. But the means to catch the culprit in case of downloading torrents are increasing, and are not too difficult to use. There are a few ways people can get caught:
ISP
The most common method of people’s illegal torrent activity getting discovered is via their internet service provider. Your ISP can see everything you do on the internet. This includes what torrents you are downloading. So, it’s quite simple for them to see if you are doing something illegal. Moreover, recent statutes in the EU require ISPs to retain user data for a minimum of ten weeks. Government agencies have access to this data; this is a known fact in today’s world. This means that it is plain to see for anyone that you are using torrents illegally.
Torrent Pool
When you download a torrent, you are connected to others you are in the torrent pool at the time (seeds and peers). Everyone and anyone in this pool can see your IP address, and obviously, what you are downloading. This means they can know your identity and location using your IP address and fish you out if you are downloading illegal torrents. It is becoming increasingly common for law enforcement personnel to join these pools and keep an eye out on people.
How to Download Torrents Safely and Legally
To download torrents safely and legally, you can either take a vow to download only things that are completely legal to download or hide the fact that you are using a torrent client and downloading torrents all together. So, which one would it be? Well, there really is no choice here. So learn here how to hide the fact that you are downloading torrents.
Use a VPN
VPNs connect you to the internet through a tunneled path. This tunneled path has a covering of encryption all around it. You are taken to your destination through an alternate route. All these are common things people say when talking about VPN. But to say it clearly and simply, VPNs hide your identity and activity. What started out as a service to allow employees to share office data securely is now primarily used to hide one’s identity and internet activity. How does this happen?
It’s mentioned above that anyone who can see your IP address can discover your identity and location. It has also been mentioned that ISPs can see everything you do on the internet and that German ISPs have to maintain activity logs for at least 10 weeks. VPNs help you deal with both.
Here are some of the best VPNs to use in Germany:
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|---|---|---|
| Multi-platform Compatible | ||
| 256-AES Encryption | ||
| PRICE | $5 for 1 month with code "best10VPN" | $6.95 a month |
| Website Rating | 9.9 | 8.8 |
| 24/7 Live Chat | ||
| Residential / Dedicated IP for permanent streaming access | ||
| Has Mobile App + PC / Mac Support | ||
| Stealth VPN / Advanced Obfuscation techniques | ||
| Visit VPN Provider | Visit TorGuard | Visit PIA |
Location and Identity
When you use a VPN, the IP address visible to anyone is that of the VPN server you are connected to. Your true IP address is masked by that. Meaning? Your location will appear to be that of the place the server is in, and there will be no way to know your identity since it is not your IP.
Internet Activity
As for the internet activity, VPNs encrypt your entire traffic. This means that nobody, not even your ISP, can see what you are doing on the internet. All they can see is that you are connected to a VPN. This not only hides the fact that you are downloading torrents, it also helps you send sensitive data securely over the internet.
Extra Incentive – No Throttling: When you download a torrent after you have encrypted your connection with a VPN, your ISP cannot discover that you are downloading torrent. This information is often used to throttle your internet speed. Since your ISP wouldn’t know that you are downloading torrents, the speed is not throttled!
Things to Know about VPN
VPNs are surely the best way to download torrents safely and legally (using VPNs is 100% legal). But there are a few things you need to know before subscribing to a VPN service.
- Even though they hide your activity from everyone else, your VPN provider can see everything that you do on the internet. Therefore, it is essential that you choose a VPN that does not record any activity logs or personal information so that you can surf the web securely and anonymously. Check the VPN website’s privacy and logs policy to know about these.
- Since VPNs put an encryption overhead on your internet connection, the internet speed suffers a bit. However, a little research can help you identify the VPNs that offer the fastest connections by making sure this overhead is as little as possible and offering high-speed servers.
- Check to see if the VPN has features like kill switch, anonymous servers, special torrent servers, etc. Kill switch is particularly useful. This ensures that in the event your VPN connection drops, your internet connection is ‘killed’ as well. This prevents anyone from suddenly finding out your location, identity, activity, etc.
- Last but not the least, VPNs are not free to use. They request a subscription fee for their service. Of course, there are free services as well, and many VPNs offer a free trial or package of their service. But free services are severely restricted, and greatly unreliable. VPN packages often have discounts for longer subscriptions or discounts during sale time. You can make the most of both.
People in Germany have a few problems of their own in using torrents. Things get most difficult with foreign students who receive Abmahnung notices and don’t understand what it means. As a word of advice, always make sure to check the validity of the notice and don’t be afraid to take them to court. But you can make sure you never have to worry about that by using a good VPN that supports torrent downloading.
