Downloading torrent files have become more and more popular as the years go by. Just a few years back, traffic from downloading torrents was up to 37% of the total internet traffic in North America. This number is expected to increase as time goes by. There are legal torrents and illegal torrents. Illegal torrents contain copyrighted material or cracked software. Legal torrents are anything that is not copyrighted material. Let us get something straight before I move on, sharing downloaded copyrighted material, or cracked software is illegal, and I do not condone it.

It is easy for someone to be tracked by the MPAA or the RIAA. MPAA stands for Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAAs main purpose is to stop copyright infringement and advance business interests of movie studios. The MPAA were the ones that put the ad at the beginning of movies that contained the phrase “You Wouldn’t Steal a Car”. Their biggest battle has been with the owners of The Pirate Bay. The Pirate Bay Claims to be the largest torrent network and was supposed to be sold on September 1, 2009 but has been delayed.

The RIAA stands for the Recording Industry Association of America. The RIAA represents recording companies and their mission is to protect the business interests of recording companies. The RIAA was awarded $222,000 from a single mother of two. The mother was ordered to pay $9,250 for 24-shared songs. The woman could have incurred penalties up to $3.6 million but ended up paying $222,000 instead.

If a person is going to download torrents, they should take precautionary measures to protect their privacy. A few programs can help protect the privacy of frequent torrent downloader’s.

1. Protowall
Protowall is a light program that blocks bad IP addresses. Bad IP addresses come from Bluetack’s blacklist of IP addresses. Protowall filters incoming packets and if an IP address is in its blacklist, it will be blocked. Protowall is extremely lightweight and does not take up as much resources like some firewalls. Protwall is not a standalone firewall because it only blocks bad IP addresses.

2. Peerguardian
Peerguardian is another IP blocking software that has the same capabilities of Protowall. Unlike Protwall, Peerguardian keeps updated lists and uses the list to block bad IP addresses while you share files or conduct other activities. Other features include

• The ability to block spyware, ad ware and ads
• The ability to block educational and government IP ranges
• The ability to block IP’s specifically used by the RIAA, MPAA and other organizations to track you during P2P file sharing or other web activities

If you insist on downloading illegal material, the least you can do is protect your privacy. I do not condone downloading copyrighted material or cracked software but I am not here to judge you on what you do, my job is to provide you with information. If there are any questions, feel free to send me an email or comment.