List of Piracy & File Sharing Resources
Do not illegally obtain or distribute copyrighted material. This is a resource for researchers hoping to gain insight into the world of piracy, protected by the first amendment to the US constitution.
Requisite Knowledge
- BitTorrent is a file sharing protocol in which each peer sends file parts to others.
- Magnet links & .torrent files allow clients like qBittorrent & Transmission to start a download.
- Torrent reliability improves when port forwarded.
- Illegal downloads via public torrents expose one's IP address, posing a notable legal risk.
- A true non-logging VPN like Mullvad obscures identity, considerably reducing risk.
- Settlement letters are often traps to get an admission of guilt. Silence is an effective defense.
- Private, invite-only torrent trackers carry far less risk for pirates.
- Direct downloads are safest, as users don't distribute and thus usually aren't subject to harsh penalties.
- Ad blockers, particularly uBlock Origin, reduce malware risk and improve browsing experience.
General Purpose Platforms
- FileChef - Google searches open directories for direct downloads
- snowfl - a minimalist torrent aggregator
- News & Discussion: TorrentFreak, /r/Piracy, /r/Trackers, /r/Torrents, /ptg/ on /g/
- Torrent Sites: idope, 1337x, Torrentz2, Sky Torrents, Kickass Torrents, RARBG, ThePirateBay, TorrentSeeker, Zooqle
Music
- MusicPleer - direct MP3 download site (with a few misleading ads)
- Soulseek - Napster's spiritual successor: everyone shares their music folder
- Deezloader - Electron app that pulls 320kbps MP3s from Deezer (see also: Reborn, SMLoadr)
- youtube-dlG - open source YouTube downloading application (CLI version)
- RUTracker - Russian public torrent tracker with wide variety
- APOLLO - a comprehensive private torrent tracker with open interviews, spawned from What.CD
- RED - a slightly stricter APOLLO
Movies & TV
- Various streaming websites: FMovies, SolarMoviez.ru, Yesmovies, Tornado Movies, Project Free TV, ololo.to, IceFilms.info, watchseries, SockShare, TwoMovies, SeriesTop.co
- Incursion - Kodi add-on streaming nearly everything
- Neptune Rising - a similar add-on for Kodi
- Leonflix - a video streaming client that scans the web for options
- Popcorn Time - a video streaming torrent client with easy browsing (malware-free ".sh" fork)
Software
Malware risks are reduced by finding original sources and checking VirusTotal community scores and hashes. "Generic", "heuristic", and "trojan" detections are often false positives.
Sources - General
- Reddit's /r/MSToolkit and /r/piracy
Microsoft Windows & Office
Microsoft software cracks often emulate Key Management Servers. KMS activators must run every 180 days; most offer scheduling. Windows editions are changed by using a GVLK and re-activating.
Ratiborus58's KMSTools Portable is distributed via his Twitter account.
CODYQX4's versatile Microsoft Toolkit is hard to find outside its MyDigitalLife thread. For v2.6.2, VirusTotal reports SHA-256 hash 85da939cf7c308f68cc264a96bd45ae4b4fa5bc57cf3194e6cbb2e63f35efac0
.
Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, Acrobat, & Other CC/DC Products
PainteR's CCMaker wizard obtains & installs Adobe software. v1.3.4's VirusTotal SHA-256 hash is 0725D06DEE3A8A033CA94FE5B2B54B83553C9D31508CB4353BAB1CE1C66C13EC
. It utilizes AMTEmu (included) to patch trial versions.