How much does the MPIA know about you right now?

[Edw]

On 09 May 2007 13:28:02 GMT, Hop-Frog wrote:

> What PeerGuardian really does is prevent the anti-P2P people from
> *confirming* that you are transferring copyrighted data.

Hop Frog,
You seem to be the lone voice of experience here.

Rather than just "assume" peerguardian blocks our IP address and the
torrent we're downloading like "Constipated", you explained how they
actually know everything that we're trying to hide but they just can't
prove it!

This situation then begs the question if they already know what we're
downloading and if they already know our IP address, is there a way to hide
or change these two things?

I've heard of onion routers for example.
Would an onion router mask the real IP address and torrent downloaded for
BT P2P downloads & uploads?

[Constipated]

In article <pkx0i.5390$H_.844@newssvr21.news.prodigy.net>,
theotts@sbcglobal.net says...
> On 09 May 2007 13:28:02 GMT, Hop-Frog wrote:
>
> > What PeerGuardian really does is prevent the anti-P2P people from
> > *confirming* that you are transferring copyrighted data.
>
> Hop Frog,
> You seem to be the lone voice of experience here.
>
> Rather than just "assume" peerguardian blocks our IP address and the
> torrent we're downloading like "Constipated", you explained how they
> actually know everything that we're trying to hide but they just can't
> prove it!

That is what blocking does. They only CAN know what you are activly
leeching or seeding and only realy prove what you are seeding by
downloading some or all of the seeded file(s). When it comes to
leeching, the bad guys either need to packet sniff wich presents a realy
big problem when outside of local LAN or setup a activly seed to get the
leechers IP address. WinMX on the otherhand advertizes what you have
(are sharing).

> I've heard of onion routers for example.
> Would an onion router mask the real IP address and torrent downloaded for
> BT P2P downloads & uploads?

This works for leeching but be aware that the last hop to you is in
plain view (not encripted as all the other hops are). If you plan on
seeding then you cannot use onion because your IP address must be
advertized in order for the leechers to leech, onion hides your real IP
addressso leechers could not find us. When you are seeding the leechers
could be using onion.

How onion works is that you send a request for data. This request goes
to an onion server that then picks a route through other onion servers
(encrypting at each hop and adding a new packet wrapper to identify the
return route) to the next in line onion server. At the last onion hop
the data is fully unencripted and sent to the IP address you want to get
data from. The data when sent follows the reverse route through the
onion servers. The route is only good for about 1 minute a different
route is established, confusing the hell out of the bad guys. )

When uploading we would see leachers comming for a short time and
dropping off as the onion rout changes. This could make for some
interesting problems. Onion is made for client applications not server
applications. Your bit torrent program is acting as a server when
uploading to a leecher.

For maximum anonimity you need to run your own onion server (Tor
server).

[Hop-Frog]

Edw <theotts@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
newskx0i.5390$H_.844@newssvr21.news.prodigy.net:
> This situation then begs the question if they already know what we're
> downloading and if they already know our IP address, is there a way to
> hide or change these two things?

Doing so would kind of defeat the purpose of BitTorrent. When you run a
torrent, you want people to send you particular data. To do so, they
need to know (1) who you are, and (2) which data. That's your IP and the
torrent's hash. Make either one hidden, and the system breaks down.

> I've heard of onion routers for example.
> Would an onion router mask the real IP address and torrent downloaded
> for BT P2P downloads & uploads?

Never heard of Onion, but if Constipated's description is accurate, it's
just another encrypted proxy network. It would hide your true IP, but it
would would also probably slow the process down so completely as to make
it pointless.

I recall experimenting with "FreeNet" a few years back (the first attempt
at a truly anonymous web)--waiting 45 minutes for a webpage to load
wasn't all that fun...

--
I am simply Hop-Frog, the jester--and this is my last jest.

[Michael Rodot]

How 'bout using a proxy server with your torrent client? Wouldn't the
proxy address be displayed rather than the "real" IP? Azureus has
options for it, but I couldn't get it to work, even though the proxy
did work for web browsing.

[ato_zee@hotmail.com]

On 11-May-2007, Michael Rodot <microdot99@hotmail.com> wrote:

> How 'bout using a proxy server with your torrent client? Wouldn't the
> proxy address be displayed rather than the "real" IP?

It works, and I haven't noticed any appreciable loss of
speed going through a VPN tunnel, though HopFrog
suggested you might. My Demonoid ratio is still
updating daily, so long as Demonoid knows my VPN
IP address.
Most of the proxy servers seem to be in countries
where MPIA might have problems getting server records,
so they will be more likely to go for soft targets.

[yellowgirlnc]

On Fri, 11 May 2007 00:08:22 -0500, Michael Rodot wrote:
> How 'bout using a proxy server with your torrent client? Wouldn't the
> proxy address be displayed rather than the "real" IP?

You're extremely safe if you just change your IP address daily.
They can't get enough data on you to both the ISP if you keep changing your
ISP. That's how the kids in the universities stay totally safe.

[Constipated]

In article <v7w3i.842$u56.670@newssvr22.news.prodigy.net>,
yellowgirlnc@yahoo.com says...
> On Fri, 11 May 2007 00:08:22 -0500, Michael Rodot wrote:
> > How 'bout using a proxy server with your torrent client? Wouldn't the
> > proxy address be displayed rather than the "real" IP?
>
> You're extremely safe if you just change your IP address daily.
> They can't get enough data on you to both the ISP if you keep changing your
> ISP. That's how the kids in the universities stay totally safe.
>

Sorry, not true. You have obviously not seen server logs and the detail
they contain.

You cannot change your IP address as it is assigned to you by your ISP.
Just because an IP address is dynamic does not mean it changes every
time you start your computer or reboot your router/firewall. I have had
the same IP for at least the last 6 months. The DHCP server that hands
out IP addresses dynamically will typically give the same IP address to
the same computer. The DHCP server knows the computer by the MAC
address of the network card (actually the chip on the card) in the
computer or router/firewall.

Changing your ISP daily gets sort of expensive and probably inside of a
week you will run out of ISPs to switch too.

The RIAA most likley does not bother with university students, students
don't have money.

As for collecting data. A packet sniffer can be setup to collect data
only destined to a single IP address and can even be refined by
protocol. When the data is verified for the desired content it is a
simple matter of getting the ISP to matchup the IP address to a person
from the server logs and then comes that knock on the door. It would
take five minutes to collect enough data to hang a guy.

Your best bet is to use a client that encrypts the data before sending.
It is true that encryption can be cracked but 128 bit ecrypion takes
years. How many computers can the RIAA have tied up doing this. The RIAA
will go for the easy pickings, the unencrypted data.

[ferhaad@gmail.com]

ul need to use a proxy tunneler like the 1 available at www.your-freedom.net

[yellowgirlnc]

On Sat, 19 May 2007 06:43:19 GMT, Constipated wrote:
> Your best bet is to use a client that encrypts the data before sending.

I don't understand how encrypting the data protects us when uploading or
downloading P2P files?

Doesn't every client that uploads to me or downloads from me get the
decrytpion key?

If so, where's the protection in encryption? I'm soooo confused!

[ato_zee@hotmail.com]

On 19-May-2007, Constipated <mustafa-crap@crap.xyz> wrote:

> You cannot change your IP address as it is assigned to you by your ISP.

Hijack an unsecured wireless network, then set up a
VPN tunnel to one of the free public VPN servers, most
of which seem to be in countries where getting a court order
might be difficult.
The free servers give you a new IP address pretty well
every time, and I doubt if, for obvious reasons, they do much
packet sniffing or monitoring.
The point of VPN servers is a degree of anonymity.
Even if the got to the hijacked ISP the trail only
leads to their customer, and then goes cold, unless
national security gets involved, then they would have
to put agents with directional antennas on the ground.
Other levels of security could be added beyond the VPN.

Easier for the RIAA to go for softer targets.

The downside of VPN's is that there is a protocol
hit of about 10% and the free servers are heavily loaded,
the paid subscription ones run faster, but then
they can trace your identity from the payment.
Again don't use the free VPN servers for email or
banking because these IP addresses can be traced.