P2p the safe way

Great digg forum about how to use p2p without getting hounded by the RIAA/MPAA. The consensus seems to be: 1)use usenet (you’ll have to pay $15 or so, but you’re not sharing anything, plus usenet servers don’t keep logs), 2)only use private torrent trackers (i.e., darknets like waste) and 3)use encryption methods like Tor, 4)put your p2p content on an external hard drive (which can be discarded–that raises the question of inconvenience/plus the problem of being accused of tampering with evidence), 5)use one click download sites like rapidshare, Megaupload and Yousendit (but do they save IP addresses on their logs?) Also, 6)if you download infringing content from major media companies, make sure to take things out of the shared queue as soon as possible and 7) use SafePeer azureus plugin to filter out IP addresses that might be dangerous or threatening. Also, 8 ) don’t use piratebay or limewire. Other quotes:

Basically, if a teenage girl knows how to do it (i.e. teenie bopper on Limewire), than it will probably get broken up quickly.

…There is currently development underway for a P2P system that does not break any laws, regardless of what is “stored”. The project is called the “OFF” or “Owner Free Filesystem“. Basically everything that is stored is literally randomized bits in the form of 128kb blocks, and the instructions on how to assemble these blocks into “useful” files are stored in a URL. Things really get interesting when you find multiple uses for the same blocks, and it turns out that you already have a certain number of blocks already needed on your harddrive before you begin downloading a certain file!

A lot of the more renowned hosts now have encrypted downloading. The only way someone would get caught is if a subpoena was sent to the usenet host, and most don’t keep logs. On top of that, the majors (RIAA, MPAA) still don’t go after people for downloading, they get you for uploading. Usenet doesn’t require you to upload at all, just download. Granted, you’ll have to fork over ~$15/month, but the benefits are tremendous. I’m able to max out my 15Mbit connection; I’m lucky to get > 8 Mbit via torrents.