File sharing alternatives ... what are they?

I was just curious as to what the various file sharing alternatives were currently. I am also concerned about privacy. I came up with the following list of FS methods with their associated benefits and risks. I was hoping someone could help myself (and possibly others) understand the benefits/risks of the methods they might consider to share content.

Method/benefit/downside/risk


USENET

Very fast downloads, almost complete privacy/limited availability of content/almost no risk


Bit-torrent

A lot of available content with fellow user feedback on quality of dl/dls can be fast or slow (slower than UN)/Inherent risk of being identified as your IP is being shared with the rest of the world


FS site such as Hotfiles, etc.

A lot of available content/dl limits unless you become a "premium member"/I would really like to know the risks of using these types of sites



Please add other methods here and correct my perceptions above.

I was just wondering if there is something better out there ...

Thanks all.

Off the top of my head, BT, Usenet, DC hubs, IRC, Gnutella, DDL, FXP boards, FTP topsites and/or dumps, Slsk, I2P, probably like a hundred other proprietary protocols similar to Gnutella, etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ca_aok

Off the top of my head, BT, Usenet, DC hubs, IRC, Gnutella, DDL, FXP boards, FTP topsites and/or dumps, Slsk, I2P, probably like a hundred other proprietary protocols similar to Gnutella, etc.

---

OK ... but what about the risks inherent with using each of these methods?

The least risk comes from anything that is S2P instead of P2P. So DDL links, IRC, and Usenet. Then anything swarm based with the possibility for anonymity, so something like BT, I2P, or whatever else. Finally, the most risk is direct P2P transfer, which is stuff like DC hubs, Slsk, Gnutella, etc, because if you download from or upload to an anti-P2P spook, they can more easily ID you.

but don't you have to pay for usenet...=downside.?

No, you don't have to pay for usenet, all the answers to that question can be found on this board.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by filedud

FS site such as Hotfiles, etc.

A lot of available content/dl limits unless you become a "premium member"/I would really like to know the risks of using these types of sites

---

The only risk I can think of is the file hoster logging IPs and then handing them to the cops. But that's not very frequent, and even so uploaders would take more risk than downloaders.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by esco123

but don't you have to pay for usenet...=downside.?

---

I've been using Usenet quite a bit ever since I found out about Binload, a free server with good speeds and retention but which forces you to use their proprietary client. Read through this subforum a bit and you'll know how to use it on your favorite one, however. (I use SABnzbd)

Pointing out that like DDL, free usenet and paid usenet don't offer the same pros.

You could get into the scene... join a group.... get access to Topsites. You wont need bittorrent or p2p at all.

If it was that easy, everyone would be leeching from topsites.

best I've used is torrent sites + seedbox which you can download directly from at high speeds. (without broadcasting your ip address)

my combination torrents + DDL forums :)

yours concerns about privacy lead me to an "escape from internet!" advice ;-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vlanka82

yours concerns about privacy lead me to an "escape from internet!" advice ;-)

---

Vlanka82, why would you advise that? I've been DLing since the mid 80s (BBSs) but only really became concerned about privacy when one of my all-time favorite torrent sites was seized by the authorities and their homepage replaced by one of those "Taken down by the MPAA" signs.

I enjoy the hobby but as time has passed I find less content to DL. Both the quality and quantity of the content that I enjoy has diminished.

My intent of starting this thread was try to determine the most-to-least risky file sharing techniques. Even though I use USENET frequently my all-time favorite technique has to be Bittorrent. Unfortunately, broadcasting my IP address for all to see is not very private. I enjoy USENET but the content is limited compared to Bittorrent.

Thanks all for responding to my request for information ...

just use private BT sites and ur ok

if ur still paranoid, pay for vpn or http tunnel service like relakks

or get a seedbox, download to it and then pull data via sftp from it. or just use ssh tunnel via box =)

I use private DC++ hubs, they are great if you find the right ones. (just don't ask me about them ;) )

dc++ is oldish

What is the best alternative of Usenet and free of cost?

Start use torrent, its very easy. download utorrent and search on google "what you want" + torrent, if you be lucky will find! lol

Issue with filelockers like hotfile megaupload ect is very few of them will tell customers how much info they keep about your activities.

I have a premium with filesonic and they basically refuse to explain exactly what logs they keep of your activity and for how long they are kept, rapidshare is basically the only one i can find who explicitly states they don't keep logs on individual downloads.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by filedud

Vlanka82, why would you advise that?
My intent of starting this thread was try to determine the most-to-least risky file sharing techniques

---

i was just meaning that we are all under a kind of a 'big brother'
so, does not matter su much what downloading choice you made
privacy is a relative concept
just go on with usenet, but trying something else won't hurts you really

I don't perceive any risk on the download end of things. Now if you go uploading hollywood movies or something, you'd probably be pushing it.

FTP is very god, but amost all servers are located in Russia, so all movies ar in russian languague, but it's god for music.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mjmacky

Pointing out that like DDL, free usenet and paid usenet don't offer the same pros.

---

yes free servers do, u just have to have a good one, but i doubt anyone will share the good ones, because i told Cabalo about one and he literally killed it and probably stole it... it had giganews type retention.... so yes there are excellent free usenet servers but youll never have one

Might as well not consider those super-duper free servers an option, eh? :idunno:

nope... my statement is more of like 'you have a better chance of winning the lotto' then finding a 1337 server. 500 days retention isnt enough for noobs?? they should stick to the known servers if they want more retention then yea they are gonna pay$$

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JustDOSE

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mjmacky

Pointing out that like DDL, free usenet and paid usenet don't offer the same pros.

---

yes free servers do, u just have to have a good one, but i doubt anyone will share the good ones, because i told Cabalo about one and he literally killed it and probably stole it... it had giganews type retention.... so yes there are excellent free usenet servers but youll never have one

---

lul no wai Cabalo stole ur server!?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JustDOSE

so yes there are excellent free usenet servers but youll never have one

---

It sounds like you're saying there are free servers that will max out your connection and have 1100+ days retention. I'm assuming they also have employees working to fix any type of errors that show up on their servers (regardless if its fixed quickly or slowly). I'm also sure they'll be around for a long time so I wouldn't have to hunt down another option again in the future.

In response free != paid

I personally use wupload.com, for free members it offers minimal limitations, has great download speeds, and has everything you want.

http://i.imgur.com/XdTMK.png

I have found the best search engine for wupload is www.wuploadsearch.com. Also wuploadsearh has an awesome chrome plugin check it out! Click Here for the Chrome plugin

As regards to the risks of using file sharing, it's pretty much impossible to get caught by your ISP, unlike p2p, as it's a direct download so it doesn't look suspicious. Their have been circumstances were filesharing sites have been taken to court and ordered to provide the FBI with some user information. I believe hotfile.com this year was ordered to give the FBI the details of the top 500 uploaders.

In any case downloading copyright content is illegal, but file sharing is the way forward, so in my opinion there is no better alternatives than filesharing. But I would recommend not using hotfile as it's dated and has many limitations for free users. wupload for the WIN!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wuppers

I believe hotfile.com this year was ordered to give the FBI the details of the top 500 uploaders.

---

And if I remember correctly, they complied.

P.S. Your name in no way indicates a bias.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wuppers

I personally use wupload.com, for free members it offers minimal limitations, has great download speeds, and has everything you want.

---

Speeds used to be good for me, but recently they have declined quite a lot - less than 100kB/s, usually. Maybe their servers are being increasingly burdened as popularity increases, maybe it's an strategy to make people buy Premium access, maybe it's just a coincidence. :idunno:

Quote:

---

As regards to the risks of using file sharing, it's pretty much impossible to get caught by your ISP, unlike p2p, as it's a direct download so it doesn't look suspicious.

---

For me, P2P is a form of "filesharing". I think most people will also think of P2P when that term is used. I call sites like Wupload file hosters or one-click hosters to avoid confusion.

As I mainly use file sharing for downloading ebooks, library.nu is a real gold mine. It's a real hassle to become a regular user, but as a newbie you can search a database of over 430.000 high quality books.

All books are automatically uploaded to ifile.it (you won't ever find a single dead link on this site), and the speeds are amazing (2-3 MB/s). The only downside is that newbie users have to get pass a lot of captcha. I dearly recommend that site to every ebook lover.