Piracy is a great way to access whatever media you want, without having to churn out money to a blood-sucking corporation every time you want to watch tv. But how do you do it?
First: Understand the difference between torrenting and piracy. Technically, there's nothing illegal about torrenting- it's just a specific way to share files on the internet. With most downloads, the file is stored completely in one piece and sent directly from a server to your computer. With torrenting, multiple people each have pieces of the file, and those pieces are downloaded and organized into the original. This is very convienent for large files.
The reason most people associate torrenting with illegal downloads is because that is how it's typically used. Can't argue with that.
Okay, we've established the basics! Now to get into what you actually want to know: how to get stuff for free. I'll run you through two different ways of going about it.
PREREQUISITES:
- Adblocker (I would reccomend uBlock Origin)
- Good VPN (Don't get a free VPN. All of them are sketchy and will probably end up selling your data. I've heard good things about SurfShark but I've never tried it myself.)
- Browser: If you haven't already switch to Firefox. Google has plans for an adblocker ban so I would switch now.
- Torrent client: Use qBittorent! It's free, open-source, and ad-free.
Let's get going!
Turn your VPN and torrent client on now, before you actually start. You can turn these off after you're done with everything.
The first thing you will need is a magnet link of the file you want to download. These are easy to find. Go to thepiratebay.org (my personal favorite torrent site) and search for the thing you want to download. It will look like this:
Click on the button that looks like a magnet. It should automatically open up qBittorent, and you can follow the on-screen instructions to download the file you want.
NOTE: Google might block qBittorent from automatically opening up magnet links. You can manually add them to your client by copy-pasting, though you'll have to do a bit more personal research on that. Yet another reason to stop using Chrome!
After the thing loads, your file will start to download. So there you go! You have a file of whatever you want now, free! Great job. Go forth and steal from megacorps!
Last thing for this section: online torrent clients exist, and are a good option for you if your only computer is a chromebook or something that can't download the required software. seedr.cc is one, but you can look for alternatives as well. To use it, just copy-paste the magnet link into the bar at the top and it will start to load. After it has loaded, just download it to your computer!)
Piracy via. Streaming Services
Downloading torrents is great, but what if you're on mobile or just don't want to go through all the hassle? The solution is to get your free content off of a piracy streaming service!
Quick note: This isn't actually illegal. Visiting a free streaming site is not a crime unless you're the one running it. It only becomes a crime when downloading is invovled.
Okay, here's the tricky part. Most free video streaming sites are incredibly sketchy and infused with invasive ads that lead to viruses. (This is why adblockers are so important.) If you want to peruse a bunch of sites and choose the one that works best for you, I would reccomend the Free Media Heck Yeah github/reddit page/website (found at fmhy.net). They've got a bunch of sites listed that you can try for yourself.
Another good way to find sites like this is to go through the DMCA complaints available on the internet. Search something generic like "free movies online" and scroll to the bottom of the screen. You'll see a message that says something along the lines of "In response to a complaint we received, we have removed X result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at LumenDatabase.org." Just click on the complaint and find your site!
REMINDER: Try to keep good streaming sites on the down low. Companies crack down on this stuff all the time.
Pirating Music
Okay, so you want to download some music for free. There's a bunch of ways to do this- you could, for example, just find a torrent of the album/song you want on The Pirate Bay or a similar site and download that as discussed earlier. I, however, typically like to rip the mp3s off of youtube.
OBLIGATORY NOTE: Try not to pirate from small artisits. Being an indie musician is hard as hell and if you have ANY money to spend on entertainment, go buy an album on bandcamp or something.
With that disclaimer out of the way, let's get into it!
Now, youtube to mp3 sites are kinda notorious for how much they suck, but I am here to help with that. My favorite youtube downloader ever created is cobalt.tools. No ads, no trackers, and a nice clean interface. All you have to do is paste the link of the youtube video you want into it, hit download, and walk away with your mp3. Easy!
This process is basically the same on Android, but if you, like me, are cursed with an iPhone, there are a few more steps. To use cobalt on ios, you will need a third-party file app with an inbuilt browser (most file apps on the App Store have this). Then, just open up the file app's browser, go to cobalt, and download to your heart's content.
I would also reccomend getting a good mp3 player. I've heard really good things about MusicBee (PC), but I've never tried it myself so I don't know for sure. You can use the default PC player if you want, but that's boring and stops you from making playlists. For mobile, just look for mp3 players or audio players on the app store. You'll find a free one that works just fine.
You can also try websites like https://free-mp3-download.net/. A bunch of ads, but it offers FLAC download and is pretty fast. Only cons are that these sites go down all the time and tend to not have a lot of the music that youtube does.
Final Tips
I hope this has been useful! Here's some more tips and tricks:
- Go to the library! Local libraries are beautiful places. Most libraries have DVD's, CD's, and obviously books for free. Some have items (like cameras or laptops) you can check out as well. And a bunch have crafting or tech programs that are also free! UTILIZE YOUR LIBRARY!
- Recently I've been using invidious, which is a youtube frontend. It's basically youtube but with a cleaner interface and no ads. You can login, make playlists, and subscribe to people without having to give Google any money. piped.video is a good alternative, and there's more on the aforementioned free media heck yeah page.
- Here's some more useful links I like: annas-archive.org for books, audiobookbay.is for audiobooks, lofi.cafe for lofi music, and comicextra.me for comics (this one has ads, not malicous just annoying)
Last tip: A ton of indie media is also free or cheaper than studio-based stuff. I would totally reccomend learning about good indie creators and supporting their work! That way you get good content, an artist you like makes money, and coroporations starve <3
I hope you enjoyed this guide! Please tell me if anything goes out of date or is misinformation. I'll be making a bunch of stuff like this so follow my neocities to get updates.
Signing off, ttyl!
