Torrenting is a method
of transferring and distributing files over the Internet that works via the
BitTorrent protocol and depends on the technology of peer-to-peer file sharing
(P2P, or as you know it peer-to-peer). The advantages that torrenting has to make
it preferred by many, and the most important of these features is to reduce the
costs of file sharing, and it also allows you to download large groups of data
easily even when using a slow or low bandwidth internet, but is torrenting
legal and is it safe to use it? This is what we explain to you in detail in the
following lines.
Is torrenting legal?
Indeed,
torrents are legal as long as you use them to download non-pirated or
copyright-protected files in most countries of the world, and even there are
many countries in which downloading pirated files from the Internet is condoned
and there is no prosecution for those who use torrents in this way, including
Canada, India, Brazil as well as most of the Middle East countries.
However,
since torrents are widely used to download pirated materials, and this leads to
the loss of the rights of their owners, some foreign countries have completely
banned the use of torrents and stopped torrent sites, including China, Russia,
the United States, and several other countries, and other countries Punishing
anyone who downloads illegal files using torrents by imposing a fine, and those
countries are Germany, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Torrenting may harm your device!
In
addition to the legal problems that may result from downloading stolen or
copyrighted material, there are a lot of damages that can affect your device
when downloading torrent files from the Internet, in fact, using torrents in
itself is not very dangerous but downloading files from the Internet, in
general, It can infect your device with viruses and even the most dangerous
viruses such as ransomware, which encrypts all the data on the device.
This
can happen especially when downloading torrent files from unknown sites,
especially when downloading pirated programs and stolen materials, as hackers
exploit this to their advantage by injecting these contents with viruses and
malicious software that infect devices as soon as the stolen file is
downloaded, and this may lead to data leakage or Until your computer crashes,
so how can you torrent safely and protect yourself from legal problems and
harmful viruses? This is what we learn below.
What is the difference between antivirus and anti-malware programs?
How to torrent safely
In
the beginning, torrents must never be used to share or download stolen content,
because this may expose you to legal problems in some countries, and this
matter greatly harms the creators of content that is stolen and circulated
without their permission, and it should be noted that sites that share Pirated
files are often suspicious and untrustworthy and therefore this greatly
increases the possibility of your device being exposed to viruses and malware.
Of
course, you must choose the site you use to download torrents carefully,
nowadays you will find torrent links everywhere on the internet from blogs and
forums to sites specialized in torrent listings and even some social media,
however, when you download anything on your computer You have to be sure that
the source is genuine and reliable or else you risk downloading fake files or
even dangerous malware.
In
addition, you can greatly secure yourself when torrenting by using a powerful
VPN service and advanced antivirus software. As for VPN services, they will
mask your actual IP address and encrypt your connection, and this completely
hides your identity on the Internet. However, free VPNs will not work optimally
in this matter, so it is best to consider buying powerful and paid VPN software
if necessary.
As
for protection and antivirus programs, they are more important when downloading
torrent files and not when sharing them. When you download torrent files on
your device, it is vulnerable to virus infection. Fortunately, the most
powerful protection programs provide web protection as well and scan files
downloaded from the Internet, including Avira and Avast, Norton, McAfee, and
more.
Another
thing that you should pay attention to when using torrents is to use a suitable
torrent program, which is known as the torrent client. These files are correct
when downloading a file from a torrent.
There
are many of these programs, which differ among themselves in terms of features
and method of work, but ideally, the torrent program should be light and not
take up much space on your device. It should also be easy to use and provide
good features including security, which will help you to use torrent without
Honest problems, and among the best torrent programs that provide these
features are BitTorrent and uTorrent, through these tips and steps you will be
able to protect yourself greatly while using torrenting.