How Do I Torrent Safely Now That Demonoid Is Down?

[Archiee]

Dear Lifehacker,
My favorite private BitTorrent tracker, Demonoid, has apparently gone down for good. I was so dependent on it for its quality, security from viruses, and protection from prying eyes. Where can I torrent safely now that Demonoid is gone?

Sincerely,
Lost and Leeching

Dear Lost,
This is an interesting question, and the answer is going to go in directions you may not have expected. First, we need to clear up a few common misconceptions, about BitTorrent and about Demonoid specifically. We've already recommended more secure ways to share files online—like the much safer Usenet (set it up in three easy steps here) or the truly private BitTorrent trackers—so I won't get into that here. The main thing you need to know is that Demonoid, while a fine site, was likely not nearly as safe and anonymous as you probably thought.

In fact, many common BitTorrent "safety" precautions aren't really doing you any good.

Demonoid Was Not a Private Tracker

The Problem: Demonoid was often perceived as great because it was considered a private tracker. You could only download torrents on Demonoid if you had an account, and you couldn't just sign up for an account anytime you wanted. You either needed to get invited by another user, or wait for one of their limited "open signup" periods.

However, Demonoid invites were incredibly easy to come by, and open signups were held often, meaning virtually anyone could join the community. They had few rules on who was allowed to participate, what kind of quality was allowed, and they'd even sometimes list torrents from other trackers. All of these things together gave a false sense of security, when in reality anyone could come on in and seed viruses, leech without seeding, or—in the cases of those pirating content—track what you were downloading (potentially resulting in a letter to your ISP).

The Solution: If you want faster, high quality downloads with strict community rules, check out our guide to private trackers for suggestions. Note that they'll be much harder to get into, so you'll have to be patient and ready to seed your torrents 24/7.

[godfader4]

thanks