Before I say anything further, yes I know how much the recommended VPNs cost. I can read. Please do not interrogate me about it.
I’ve been wanting to get into torrenting for a while, particularly contributing to private trackers related to music (and to a lesser extent retro games, though I don’t have much original stuff to put there as it’s harder to find rare games than rare music). FMHY recommends RiseUp if I must get a free VPN while I’m working on my financial situation, though I’m not sure whether it’s been tested in court. What are my options, if any?
Without passing any moral judgement on you whatsoever, if you posted this without a VPN, your post is permanently tied to your IP address and thus your home and is evidence of your intent to commit a crime, even if you said it’s “for research”. I wouldn’t do that again and now I’m worried for you in general if you weren’t worried to post this.
Generally nobody can afford to lose their privacy. It’s $1/device/month per person if you get 5 other people to share a Mullvad account and you shouldn’t do it because you’re trying to pirate. A VPN is not a tool for piracy. You should be conducting all internet activity in it unless you do not care about the government seeing it.
I’m kind of in a bind financially in general. Job market is complete ass and I struggle as-is. Not sure what I’ll do there.
Focus on fixing the most obvious issue then. Don’t waste you time on watching some dumb content, pirated or otherwise. Unless of course you plan on pirating stuff that would actually help you sharpen your skillset, helping you land a better job. But to ease the pain by watching some dumb shit, just don’t.
Because I guess giving myself some off-time means I must be a lazy bum who isn’t putting in any work to get a job and work on my skills. Fuck off.
Did not put it that way but okay… But now thinking about it, if I were ever to get myself in a bind where I can’t afford something just a few bucks a month, I don’t think any off-time would be on my list at all.
In the US, internet piracy is not a crime, but a civil infraction. And yes, our media overlords have been trying to make it a crime for decades.
My comment was regarding privacy, not piracy. If you’re saying sensitive stuff on the Internet, you should be paying for a good VPN already. It’s a fraction the cost of an Internet plan. Privacy is not easy or free.