To sum it all up, uTorrent is, in fact, legal. You just need to avoid downloading copyrighted content to avoid legal actions and lawsuits. If you want to go the extra mile and protect yourself even further, you can use a VPN service to hide your IP address and avoid your identity from being exposed when torrenting.
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If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. Is uTorrent Legal? Trevor Akinde, Technical Writer. Fact checked and verified. What Is uTorrent? Before downloading a torrent, I recommend reading the comments and reviews from the community. Still, you should always be cautious when it comes to downloading torrents. The act of torrenting itself is not illegal.
However, downloading and sharing unsanctioned copyrighted material is very much illegal , and there is always a chance of getting caught by the authorities.
Torrenting non-copyrighted material is perfectly fine and is allowed, as there are no restrictions that apply to that. In many countries, such as the U. The authorities and ISPs can easily catch people who distribute copyrighted material without any privacy precautions. Torrenting client software stores all IP addresses of seeders and leechers as well. By simply monitoring a torrent file, the ISP has access to all IP addresses downloading a specific torrent.
As a result, the authorities could come knocking on your door. Copyright trolls are individuals or companies that are in the business of going after torrent pirates. These businesses locate torrenters who illegally distribute copyrighted material based on their IP addresses. When they successfully locate a torrent pirate, they sign a deal of approval with the copyright holders to take legal actions on their behalf against the pirate.
In some cases, Hollywood production companies hire these businesses to specifically snoop on pirates distributing their content illegally. Typically, copyright trolls have a legal strategy in place that summons the ISP to send you an threatening email.
So, when you get caught for torrenting unsanctioned copyrighted material, you could receive a settlement offer from your ISP. In most cases, I would ignore the first settlement letter. In most countries, such as the U. For instance, your ISP could reduce your internet speed as a punishment or even threaten to hand over your personal information to the authorities or copyright trolls. Obviously, if you want to avoid ramifications, it would be best not to torrent at all.
Note: choose a quality VPN for high-end protection. The Tor browser prevents anyone from tracking your internet connection. Tor encrypts the data multiple times via Tor relays. Tor is a browser often used by journalists and activists in countries where internet traffic is tightly monitored. You can read more on setting up the Tor browser here. Check out a list of attorneys published by the Electronic Frontier Foundation that specialize in cases like these. You should also know that your ISP might take certain actions to discourage you from downloading torrent files.
For example, these companies have the power to throttle your Internet connection. In addition, some ISPs might work with copyright trolls and offer your personal information in a timely manner.
After all, torrenting usually takes a lot of bandwidth which costs ISPs money. As you can imagine, the safest way to prevent any legal action from happening is to avoid torrenting.
However, if you absolutely insist on downloading torrent files, there are certain things you should do to keep yourself protected. Finally, you should also know that you need to go for a premium-priced service. Make sure to check out the best VPNs for torrenting. During the last few years, streaming has been on the rise. In many ways, it managed to replace torrenting.
This is mostly because streaming can be done in your Web browser or via specialized applications like Kodi. However, things are much different when it comes to the law. You are still breaking the law if you stream copyrighted content. However, this depends on your country. For example, the UK has very strict laws that prohibit illegal streaming.
It is also worth noting that laws are usually lenient toward streaming. On the other hand, it can be very hard to identify individuals who are using those streams. Thanks to the involvement of third parties, torrenting is associated with IP addresses — which is where legal problems for torrents usually start. Finally, we think it might be helpful if you know a few tips and tricks. If employed properly, these can do a long way. So, make sure to carefully read the following segment:.
Now that we talked about is it illegal to download torrents, we recommend you to check out additional resources. These can expand your knowledge about torrents. There you have it, folks! We hope that we answered your question about is it illegal to download torrents. If you think other torrenters might benefit from reading this article, why not share it online? Add a Comment. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Clear search input Search. How To. Is It Illegal to Download Torrents? Is Torrenting Safe? Will You Get Caught? By Novak Bozovic.
February 20,
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