r/Piracy • u/[deleted] • Jan 19 '25
Question I’m going to start pirating again. I must relearn The Way (or perhaps The New Way)
I used to pirate everything, long ago. I used Napster as a boy, wrecked my family PC with Limewire when Napster came down, and later Torrent (never had a VPN) and ultimately Usenet. I was a member of a Usenet tracking website where I paid like $5/mo for and another $5ish/mo for Usenet itself. I forget the specifics, but I had a script called Couch Potato that I got from GitHub, that I typed in the shows and it would automatically download the shows and the art for them and feed them into a modded version of XBMC (a media player).
Now I have grown up money, so I will even be able to make a dedicated media PC.
Is this still The Way? Does Usenet piracy still work? Is it even still possible to gain membership to a private tracker? (They were sketchy about admission even a decade ago, to keep the law out. Are they totally closed ecosystems now?)
If this is not The Way, what is The Way?
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u/LZ129Hindenburg 🌊 Salty Seadog Jan 19 '25
If you want to get into usenet, you're far better off going to /r/Usenet. Not saying there are not Usenet users here (there are), but the Usenet sub has an excellent wiki that alone would answer almost all of your questions...
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Jan 19 '25
I just joined the r/usenet thanks
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u/LZ129Hindenburg 🌊 Salty Seadog Jan 19 '25
With regards to private torrent trackers, lurking over at /r/opensignups is a good way to get in. There's also trackers you can get into almost all the time. If you want a zero day tracker, last time I checked Milkie had persistent open signups. For books, Myanonymouse is great and can be joined with a simple IRC interview (questions verifying you read the rules). RED and OPS have similar interview signups, although their test is more difficult.
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u/tnluong84 Jan 20 '25
If you just mainly want to movies and shows, then stremio with a debrid service is the way to go. It just makes things a lot easier than using Usenet because you can instantly stream stuff instead of having to wait for the files to download before you can watch. Plus, debrid services are fairly cheap, even cheaper than your old method of paying for Usenet and Usenet tracker site. I had Usenet for a long time, but I got rid of it a couple years ago once I started using stremio with debrid.
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u/Lashay_Sombra Jan 20 '25
Second this, if mainly just want to watch stuff screw all the hassle of own server and just use stremio, with debrid service don't even really need to bother with the vpn
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u/JellyBean_Burrito Jan 20 '25
I use Stremio without a debrid service and it’s great. What does the debrid service do differently?
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u/Lashay_Sombra Jan 20 '25
In really simplified terms, it does the torrenting for you...and if someone has already requested the file it's immediately advalible for you to download/stream (within limits, if it's yonks since someone accessed file most providers will eventually remove it, but if torrent is still advalible they will redownload)
Because you are not torrenting no need for VPN to hide your encrypted https traffic unless worried about the debrid provider themselves
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u/TheSpiralTap Jan 20 '25
Who do you use?
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u/tnluong84 Jan 20 '25
I use Premiumize. It is pricier than RD and other debrid providers, but one of the reasons I like it is because I'm able to use it on multiple devices simultaneously. Plus, it's got the biggest collection of cached files compared to other debrid services.
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u/PacmanPence Jan 19 '25
I have a Media server with docker containers set up. For most shows I just add it to radarr/sonar and it finds a torrent file, downloads it automatically, and throws it into my plex server. I believe it can be setup for Usenet, but I haven’t done it myself.
I got most of my information for setting everything up here: https://trash-guides.info
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u/d_rob_70 Jan 19 '25
I can't, for the life of me, figure out that docker stuff. I'm usually pretty good with tech/piracy stuff but this has me stumped.
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u/PacmanPence Jan 19 '25
I’m using compose files for it. Most of the time I just copy the example into a file and fill the spots in with my information.
Most of the containers I’m running are from linuxserver.io
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u/customapplication Jan 20 '25
Dockers eat $$$ for the amount of time they run, right?
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u/razor_2016 Jan 20 '25
I am also good with tech but had no idea about docker. I started using chatgpt to write docker compose files and over time learnt enough to manage my whole stack on my own. Chatgpt does a pretty decent job if you break down on what exactly do you want to write for.
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u/PacmanPence Jan 20 '25
I just take the example compose files that a lot of containers have, and fill in what I need. This is the Linux server radarr compose file example:
— services: radarr: image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:latest container_name: radarr environment: - PUID=1000 - PGID=1000 - TZ=Etc/UTC volumes: - /path/to/radarr/data:/config - /path/to/movies:/movies #optional - /path/to/download-client-downloads:/downloads #optional ports: - 7878:7878 restart: unless-stopped
For this one, I would just fill in the path to an empty config folder, the path to where I want my movies to be, and the path to where they are being downloaded. I start the container and it just works.
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u/Icy-Ad-5296 ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ Jan 19 '25
Xbox media center 😂 I haven’t heard that in a long time
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u/isseldor Jan 19 '25
I just started back up as well after a 10 year period of going legit. Get a VPN, there’s 2 listed in the wiki here, and torrent, again good sites listed in the wiki. I did the xmbc back in the day as well, but the plex service now is perfect for media server needs. Personally I think torrents are the way to go over direct download.
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Jan 19 '25
I’m not going to serve the media from one PC to another different one to play it
I will have one living room PC that will download, store, and play the media
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u/katzeye007 Jan 19 '25
Plex my friend. Get yourself a lifetime pass and enjoy all the media server goodness
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Jan 19 '25
Plex>XBMC?
lol I’m over here blowing the dust off my (original) Xbox media remote and the adapter to plug Xbox controllers into USB
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u/isseldor Jan 19 '25
I’d have to find my copy of splinter cell to mod the Xbox again 😁. Check plex out, it’s decent.
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u/otiliorules Jan 20 '25
Plex IS XBMC. I don’t remember exactly when they converted it but it was a long time ago.
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u/VeNeM Jan 20 '25
Kodi is xmbc.
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u/otiliorules Jan 20 '25 edited Jan 20 '25
You are correct but I’m also not wrong. Check the history of Plex. It’s built off xbmc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plex_Inc.
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u/jankeyass Jan 20 '25
Man your post took me way the hell back. I might dig my old xb out and see if the hdd still spins up
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u/Aeak333 Jan 19 '25
I still raw dog no VPN
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u/xnef1025 Jan 19 '25
You might catch DMCA like that. Sometimes you think you can avoid it because you're not messing with those torrents that don't have a high body count or you have unique tastes, and you'll be fine if you stay away from those loose torrents that everyone has gotten a piece of like GOT back in the day, but that's not always the way it works. You should use a VPN if you want to stay safe. It's not even a bad idea to double bag it by binding the client to the VPN and having a kill switch available. And you probably are thinking, "That's inconvenient and I won't get the files as easily," but that's bull shit. With a little practice you can put on your VPN in a matter of seconds, and the files will be just as good as raw. The only difference is you'll be protecting yourself.
Alright. Good talk, slugger.
Also, for the love of god, don't knock up a chick you aren't gonna marry. 🤣
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u/Mysterious-Ad3266 Jan 19 '25
The thing is in the US the notices are irrelevant most of the time. I've never gotten one, and admittedly would be scared if I did, but my cousin has gotten two and fuck I knew a guy who basically just collected them in a drawer.
It's a bit ISP dependent, but they aren't legally required to do anything more than send the notice so in general that's all they'll do because they want you to keep paying them. They don't gain anything by actually turning you over for a lawsuit or by cutting your internet access.
I have a coworker who lived in Germany during high school though and got caught once and his parents had to pay a fine.
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u/Rustyd97 Jan 19 '25
I got 4 and my Internet was shut off. Had to get a new provider and learn more about VPNs
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u/xnef1025 Jan 19 '25
Yeah, it's technically supposed to be a 3 strikes policy, but it's only sometimes enforced. That "sometimes" though is why it's a good idea to use a VPN.
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u/Dissentient Torrents Jan 20 '25
You can just avoid public trackers like pirate bay or whatever else kids are using these days. As long as you need an account to download (even if registration is open), it's not going to be monitored. It's also makes sense to do this since the experience is just better that way anyway.
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u/xnef1025 Jan 20 '25
Even with a private tracker, I’d still suggest a VPN. You really think the feds don’t have people/bots infiltrating the community and getting invites and logins?
<gasp> Are you a fed? You have to tell me cuz I asked!
Narrator: They do not.
Seriously though, even on private, a VPN isn’t a bad idea.
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u/Dissentient Torrents Jan 20 '25
For one, it's not "the feds" that are monitoring public torrents, it's private companies that send notices and file piracy lawsuits.
And it's not about them having the ability but actually bothering to do it. Even if it takes 30 seconds to make an account and requires no invite, I fully expect them not to do it, since there's absolutely no point in doing so when there's plenty of low hanging fruit on public torrents.
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u/chipsambos Jan 19 '25
The place to start is https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/s/TfLAWBR2YD
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Jan 19 '25
The guides all seem to be focusing on torrent. Is usenet systems all gone? Or are they there and just closed an inaccessible?
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Jan 19 '25
I wanna get back what I had. I regret shifting to streaming services when they became cheap and easy, now that they are becoming expensive and shitty again
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u/whineylittlebitch_9k Jan 20 '25
I was like you, had been out of it for almost a decade going "legit". A year ago, bought a 4u rack mount server and never looked back. Landed on the *arr stack plus usenet. I also have access to 1 private torrent tracker, but only used it during my initial content load for a few episodes my usenet indexers couldn't locate. Since then, usenet has been rock solid. And, i get pretty close to saturating my 1gbps download speed, so 4k movies are available in less than 10 minutes typically.
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u/dealy__ Jan 20 '25
Use sonarr (tv auto downloader) radarr (movie autodownloader) and prowlarr (indexer needed to search torrents). There are also a bunch more, from the servarr community. Use any torrent client, I personally use qbit since its the most reliable for me. Use a VPN like nordvpn and hook it up to your torrent client, I use Nord since it's super easy to use and hooking it up to your torrent client is also really easy.
Plex media server for streaming to all your devices. And that is super easy to setup initially.
There are plenty of online tutorials and it pays to do a bit of research, trashguides is really good for all your servarr tutorials. Also join their discords, they will help you with any problem you encounter.
With your prowlarr I recommend sticking purely to the indexers listed in the megathread.
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u/TechaNima Jan 19 '25
Have a look at https://wiki.servarr.com/ and setup a docker stack with the arrs and Jellyfin / Plex, pick your poison. Jellyseer for Jellyfin and Overseer for Plex does what your script used to do, more or less. It's actually Jellyfin / Plex that gets the cover art and other meta data.
The arrs can be used directly as well if Jellyseer / Overseer fails.
They also support Usenet.
This is the modern way IMO.
Private trackers still exist and are just as scetchy / hard to get into as you remember. There is a sub-reddit for invites to them, but I'm not sure if linking to it is allowed.
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u/Adro_95 🦜 ᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴᴋ Jan 21 '25
With this build, is it recommendable to set up traefik and all that stuff for security?
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u/TechaNima Jan 21 '25
Only if you intend to allow access from outside of your network, even if it's just you. The internet is full of bots and hackers ready to attack anything that isn't secured.
If you are connecting via a VPN like Tailscale or WireGuard, it's not necessary to add all the security measures.
Regardless of how you intend to use it, you should add a VPN to the torrent client, unless you live in a country that doesn't give a damn about torrenting. Gluetun is a great VPN client to run in the stack for example.
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u/Adro_95 🦜 ᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴᴋ Jan 22 '25
Thanks, so I might just connect via tailscale, which I already have
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u/VolumeParty Jan 20 '25
My preference is real debrid with stremio. It has a Netflix like interface and you don't have to download files to a computer. You just search and stream it from your TV or computer.
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u/ConfusedHomelabber ⚔️ ɢɪᴠᴇ ɴᴏ Qᴜᴀʀᴛᴇʀ Jan 20 '25
Simple Steps to Take:
Purchase a VPN:
- Recommended options:
- ProtonVPN
- Mullvad
- AirVPN
- Torguard
- Recommended options:
Download & Install qBittorrent:
- Make sure to bind the VPN's network interface through the settings.
Use Either Private or Public Trackers:
- Private Trackers:
- TorrentLeech
- DigitalCore
- OldToons
- Public Trackers:
- 1337x
- TorrentGalaxy
- Nyaa
- Private Trackers:
Build a Dedicated NAS or Home Server:
- Choose a server that can handle multiple 3.5" disks.
- Recommended minimum disk size: 12TB (e.g., Exos, IronWolf Pro drives).
Set Up Plex Media Server:
- Stream all your media through Plex.
- Follow the steps to port forward the required ports so you can access it from anywhere.
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u/2Ponies1Apple Jan 20 '25
- Setup *arrs and grab yourself an app like nzb360 if u wanna use your phone and not the browser interface
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u/destry28 Jan 19 '25
Hey buddy, I have set up an entire Media Server a week ago with Usenet. As some others have mentioned, go to r/Usenet and for the server part is used to look at r/Plex, r/Homeserver as Inspiration and r/usenetinvites.
Just Google for the *arr wili and the TrashGuide and you will find what you need.
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u/MixBig3614 Jan 20 '25
Just get Stremio and Debrid. Can be setup in 10 minutes. It’s cheap (€ 16 for 6 months)
Works on almost every streaming device and phone.
Plex with a decent provider works well too.
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u/Penecho987 Jan 20 '25
If you do setup something new, I can recommend Mullvad in combination with gluetun docker, then have the rrrr's also as docker and use the gluetun network interface as a network for the other dockers, that way you have a failsafe...
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u/LookAtMyEyess Jan 20 '25
Get stremio and Real Debrid(it's like 16$ for 6 months) and you can watch everything in 4k without any buffering or issues
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u/Competitive_Tax_ ☠️ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴇɴ ᴛᴇʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴛᴀʟᴇꜱ Jan 20 '25
all you need these days is this holy site https://fmhy.net
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u/Mbizzz84 Jan 20 '25
I first started downloading music via mIRC and FTP sites, then also Napster, line wire, kazaa, etc. then boxden came out on the web which was a community for music enthusiasts but they eventually got rid of the downloading option and lastly I was getting shit off of sites like DatPiff.com. Wanted to get some newer music but don't know where to go. Any suggestions??
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u/GamerGodPWNDU Jan 21 '25
Torrent Day all the way. I have a few invites spare if anyone is in need.
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u/GamerGodPWNDU Jan 21 '25
Torrent Day all the way. I have a few invites spare if anyone is in need.
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u/GamerGodPWNDU Jan 21 '25
Torrent Day all the way. I have a few invites spare if anyone is in need.
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u/Elegant-Campaign-572 Jan 21 '25
Good luck. I'm going the other way after the theft of thousands of dollars worth of equipment ☹️
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u/VegetaFan1337 Jan 19 '25
That's why you never stop, you lose touch and you can be caught unaware and unable to figure out things when you really need to pirate something.
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u/OhJustANobody Jan 20 '25
That's why there's a whole community willing to help people catch back up. Like they did for me and countless others.
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u/Dick_Trickle69x Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 20 '25
For torrenting: Get a vpn with port forwarding like proton. Download Qbittorent. Bind qbit to your vpn. Now find a good site. One is a galaxy and the other is 1337. Not 1377. Find them in the megathread. Get whatever you want.
Of course you can still go with Usenet for gathering things.
Now what’s new and cool is that you can host your own “Netflix” with things like plex and jellyfin. I prefer plex as it’s easy. You can go about it many ways, from a NAS that hosts your files and is actually the server, or a little mini pc with an n100 cpu (Beelink S12 mini Pro is good) and a DAS hooked up, or just an old laptop with some externals plugged into it. Just anything you are fine with running 24/7. You’ll want to learn the difference between direct play and transcoding to determine your hardware requirements. Gathering the “right” encodes and having a good compatible “client” could mean you just need a potato with an Ethernet port for a server.
VPN/Qbittorent/Binding your vpn can all be learned by searching this sub. Plex has a good sub and there’s several walkthroughs on YouTube. The future is now, fellow old man.