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Ok guys - posting this here 'cause not sure where else this should go.
I just had my internet temporarily shut down, and I had to call Cox Communications to find out what the deal was.
Cox Cable told me that they have a three-strike policy for copyright infringement downloads, and that the file was noticed because it was being "shared" - which it is not....and for the record....I DLed this file.....many weeks ago....now suddenly - we are getting "warned"
Now.....Ive downloaded many....many torrent files
So my question to all you hacker gurus is -
A) Is this a file that had some sort of "tracker" in it? And if so - is there some way of scanning files for such "trackers"?
B) Is there some way I can prohibit Cox (or any other cable/internet company) from monitoring my activity? Is every company working with some sort of Echelon type program now?
The Big Brother-ish implications have me nervous....not to mention really pissed off.
I mean the guy at Cox actually told me on the phone that they give out a three-strike warning as a courtesy, as opposed to sending the "Internet Police" to my door.
Any comments suggestions and advice in this area are very welcomed ...... as well if anyone else has had similar experiences....
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Hyrule19200 Posts
A) The tracker you used to download the torrent
B) Yes, but it's easier to stop stealing
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You're torrent client is setup to share files, somewhere in the options you've allowed uploads.
It would be illegal for your ISP to track you, and they're not supposed to reveal your IP/browsing history without a court order. That being said, the only way to remain 100% anonymous is to connect to TOR and route all your traffic through that. Though to avoid getting caught by your ISP, you need only disable your client's upload.
Though to be fair, you have no right to be pissed off. You're illegally file sharing and your ISP is covering their ass. The fact that they do give you warnings is actually a pretty good policy.
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I'm not pissed at Cox. I'm sure they are just probably doing their job.
I'm pissed because my iTunes library is looking rather pale and pockets dry.
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Well it's the 21st century. The digital era. You have no privacy.
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On June 06 2012 05:11 Marti wrote:
Well it's the 21st century. The digital era. You have no privacy.
I needed to know that.
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still torrenting anything other than porn. 4shared, mediafire are probably the best ways to DL stuff smaller than 1gb. You can get a VPN that allows for torrenting usually they will only see encrypted data going through their servers and not actual torrent stuff.
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Look at Peerblock if you plan on continuing to torrent in the future 
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I guess I could always BK's free wifi to download my torrents, right? Lol.
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I'm not sure how Peerblock can block your own ISP.... I'm not even pirating a lot of stuff, just shows that they show on network TV so I can watch them whenever I want.
I think the future of ISPs will be monitoring stuff + bandwidth caps though. Not much consumers can do about it as there's only a few choices to go with. In my case Comcast is by far the fastest and probably cheapest.
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I wouldn't say there's nothing consumers can do about it. I don't have Cox or Comcast, and judging by all the horror stories, I would pay a hefty sum to keep it that way. Surely the free market will create an ISP will start which doesn't have bandwidth caps and doesn't monitor without a court order.
Where there's demand, supply is sure to follow.
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You are downloading via public torrents I assume?
ISP's can't track (Or at least I haven't been caught) for dling from direct downloads such as rapidshare etc. Private torrents are abit safer but nevertheless a torrent. I would stop torrenting and learn how to direct dl warez.
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On June 07 2012 13:14 Leeoku wrote:
You are downloading via public torrents I assume?
ISP's can't track (Or at least I haven't been caught) for dling from direct downloads such as rapidshare etc. Private torrents are abit safer but nevertheless a torrent. I would stop torrenting and learn how to direct dl warez.
You just haven't been caught.
Unless your data is encrypted through something (VPNs, etc.) then your ISP is able to see every little bit of information that goes through the tiny wires that connect you to the internet.
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A lot of games use torrent or P2P systems for patches and files like streaming downloads for betas. I got a warning from Cox while I was downloading the D3 beta from Blizz's site. So you can get warned for doing legal things, as well. It's up to them and what they say is right/wrong.
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Actually, turning off torrent uploads does not fix every Cox problem. Because the music and movie studios are watching your DOWNLOADs, and THEY are allowed under the new rules to report it to Cox. Cox is then required to take action. So far, the action has simply been notification emails, but they have the right to take down your connection if they deem so.
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They can track the type of traffic that is going through your internet connection. A easy fix around this is to buy a seedbox so that the torrent protocol goes somewhere else, and then download your file via SFTP.
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In short, with a dedicated enough system, there is 0 way for you to hide torrent traffic. You are connecting through their routers, and their traffic monitoring programs. Even under encryption, it's possible to see patterns in the traffic. With deep packet inspection, they may still see things (although most ISPs don't do DPI because customers become irate).
However, since you're saying "Cox", I'm willing to bet that your ISP choices are Cox and ???. And somewhere in the various agreements, at some point, you or whoever pays for it acknowledged that they can do this kind of thing. You can argue and fight with them about it, but your options are probably pretty limited.
(Sending ALL your traffic through a VPN maybe could do something but to be honest that would kill it.)
Best advice - don't pirate things. If you're not pirating things, I got nothing. Try switching to something else, but let me tell you...
+ Show Spoiler [ISP rant] +
ISPs got you by the short hairs for a variety of reasons unless you live in one of a very few places. A cable lobbying group once argued with me that "83% of Americans have multiple wireline providers" which to me caused a near apoplectic fit of rage because I live in the third largest metro area and have one - and it is not "broadband" by FCC definition. (3mbps/768mpbs DSL, with a data cap!) And there's fiber in the street.
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torrents are bad, mostly. go DDL route until that bastion is over and done for.
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Cox Cable Is Monitoring Downloads - what a bunch of dicks.
Sorry, couldnt resist the terrible pun.
What the others said is pretty much accurate though. With the right system in place, it is impossible to hide that you are torrenting because of the pattern. I have no experience myself on this matter, but usually they only go after uploaders. Check the settings of the programs you are usign to torrent, they usually make you seed stuff by default(since torrent won't really work if everyone leeches but noone seeds). This is crucial, because uploading can result in a lawsuit which downloading never does as far as I know.
In case you surely never seeded, I don't know how much scope there is in your law, only that it is pretty bad for you in this regard, if said pattern is enough evidence, you are screwed(which I don't believe, since it could be legal stuff that you torrented, but again, what's been on the media about your internet-laws seemed pretty ugly).
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Winning the lawsuit is irrelevant. Getting dragged into court is more than enough punishment unless you enjoy legal fights and have deep pockets to defend.
Google "Prenda Law" and see what kind of douchebaggery can happen.
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I think the suggestions to tweak the torrent program's settings are hopeless. The performance should be completely terrible.
I also wonder if it isn't perhaps dangerous to try to use torrents anyway by tweaking the program's settings. The guys that are hunting for pirates might already start writing letters just because an IP showed up in the tracker's swarm, without checking if the computer with the IP was actually uploading something or not.
Using a VPN is $5 a month or so, and I'd guess that's the only way to still use torrents in this situation. This needs some research for what provider to use best for this. Then also needs research on how to set things up on the computer, especially so that the torrent program never falls back to using the normal connection when the VPN connection goes down. All of this seems annoying, right?
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i work billing, cable tech, and internet tech for cox.
How it works on our end is, other companies serve us copyright notices and we serve them to you. We do this because otherwise we get sued and not you and it's not our responsibility to protect you from the consequences of piracy.
Nobody is monitoring you from Cox. What's happening is that all your precious torrent trackers are compromised by legal fishing expeditions and they know most ISPs will serve these notices. Get better, private trackers to avoid this problem, or use tor. If you are straight up publicly torrenting with no obfuscation, it's the same as speeding on a highway. Don't bitch when you get pulled over for a ticket.
***use of us, our, etc, is not intended to imply I'm officially representing cox. I'm off the clock and none of the above is restricted information.
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I just got a notice, but unlike last year where it was just an email, this time they actually temporarily disabled my internet service. So it looked like Cox went all Emeril and kicked it up a notch.
When I tried to load a site, any site, it instead loads an automated Cox page about Digital Millennium Copyright Act... blah blah blah... and to delete the offending file, then call them to reactivate service.
+ Show Spoiler +
The guy on the phone didn't sound like he care at all about the torrenting haha, and said I should've been able to do the reactivation process on my own, without calling the 800#. But some hiccup happened and I ended up needing him to reset my connection from his end.
I'm not sure how their automated system could detect whether I actually deleted the offending file though.
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well, how did they detect it the first time?
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Cox themselves didn't (I don't think). It was... whoever has rights to the show, and they tell Cox to tell inform end user of their "crimes". 1 tainted episode out of 22.
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It is from a long time ago but i have a question about this
I have an question about it. I used his interner from my brothers home during a trip and i wanted to get subtitles for an english show through a notenglish site. Then it shut him off but he is on a list. I am wondering did i get someone else in teouble? I have no idea what any of it means but i think i messed up a life?
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I got careless several weeks ago, but yeah, its not the ISP, it's another group which then forwards it to the ISP, which then notifies you / landlord / etc. There is a reason I generally don't DL stuff anyway. I just got curious and got caught.
04/25/2016 22:03 - IP-Echelon Compliance wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Dear [MY ISP],
This message is sent on behalf of HOME BOX OFFICE, INC. ("HBO").
We have information leading us to believe that the IP address [MY IP ADDRESS] was
used to download or share Game of Thrones without authorization (additional
details are listed below). HBO owns the copyright or exclusive rights to Game of
Thrones, and the unauthorized download or distribution constitutes copyright
infringement. Downloading unauthorized or unknown content is also a security risk
for computers, devices, and networks.
As the owner of the IP address, HBO requests that [MY ISP] immediately
contact the subscriber who was assigned the IP address at the date and time below
with the details of this notice, and take the proper steps to prevent further
downloading or sharing of unauthorized content and additional infringement
notices.
We also encourage you to inform the subscriber that HBO programming can easily be
watched and streamed on many devices legally by adding HBO to the subscriber’s
television package.
We have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted material detailed below is
not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. The information in
this notice is accurate and we state, under penalty of perjury, that we are
authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly
infringed. This letter is not a complete statement of HBO's rights in connection
with this matter, and nothing contained herein constitutes an express or implied
wavier of any rights or remedies of HBO in connection with this matter, all of
which are expressly reserved.
We appreciate your assistance and thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Your prompt response is requested. Any further enquiries can be directed to
copyright@ip-echelon.com. Please include this message with your enquiry to ensure
a quick response.
Respectfully,
Adrian Leatherland
CEO
IP-Echelon
Email: copyright@ip-echelon.com
Address: 6715 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, 90028, United States
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On June 06 2012 05:47 Boblhead wrote:
still torrenting anything other than porn. 4shared, mediafire are probably the best ways to DL stuff smaller than 1gb. You can get a VPN that allows for torrenting usually they will only see encrypted data going through their servers and not actual torrent stuff.
IRC is the way to go actually, but it's not very noob friendly 
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Well you can legally buy weapons,
and then use them to shoot guys in the US.
BUT YOU DO NOT DOWNLOAD BECAUSE THEN YOU ARE A MASTER CRIMINAL WHO DESERVES TO BE PUT DOWN!
And in the US you will have more spying on you and your internet and everything then they will ever get on some terrorist cell.
Well played, well played .....
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I guess you can say... that's dickish of them.
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On June 22 2016 04:11 Holy_AT wrote:
Well you can legally buy weapons,
and then use them to shoot guys in the US.
BUT YOU DO NOT DOWNLOAD BECAUSE THEN YOU ARE A MASTER CRIMINAL WHO DESERVES TO BE PUT DOWN!
And in the US you will have more spying on you and your internet and everything then they will ever get on some terrorist cell.
Well played, well played .....
ah, yes. because piracy is illegal only in the US. go away.
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I've gotten similar notices before, many years ago. I switched to private trackers and it hasn't been an issue since.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/0vIvIjI.jpg)
