I was just reading through the interview process for RED, and they specifically forbid the use of VPN during the interview. I don’t understand this requirement, and it seems like it would just leak your IP address to the IRC host, which could potentially be used against you in a honeypot scenario. Once they have your IP, they could link that with the credentials used with the tracker while you are torrenting, regardless of if you used VPN while torrenting.
For the known top trackers, it’s to have more control over nefarious users such as duped accounts, banned users and potential law enforcement trying to sign up. Sure it’s not a bulletproof solution to deal with bad actors but it’s still an effective way. You gotta remember that these trackers are free (yet private). The admins/operators don’t get paid, so last thing they want to do is waste time dealing with such users.
At the end of the day you still have to trust them with your real IP, but it’s mostly to protect themselves afaik. I obviously can’t speak for every tracker out there.
RED is so not a honeypot. Y’all paranoid. If your threat model includes hiding your IP from one of the most respected private trackers in the game, then you should probably stick to public where they don’t care if you use a different VPN every time you log in.
My point wasn’t so much that I think RED is shady but that exposing my IP seems like an unnecessary requirement to join. Why can I not have my membership tracked via an anonymous account? If they are concerned about account harvesting or something, then the interview already seems like a good enough measure, accompanied by seed ratio minimums.
If you’re this concerned, just stick with public trackers or usenet. Private trackers have rules for a reason. If you’re so paranoid about them, avoid them.
Wouldn’t call it paranoia so much as standard operating procedure for safe pirating. Everyone has their own risk tolerance but IP guarding during anything involved with pirating is the norm.
There are enough private trackers without the requirement of using a VPN.
Pretty sure you can still use RED with a VPN though. Its just the IRC server for interviews that requires you use your home connection.
I’m part of a private tracker site. I’m pretty anon to them. They have an email but I use a VPN all the time. They had a requirement of having the same IP, so I just used one specific server.
How did you get your invite?
and they specifically forbid the use of VPN during the interview.
Don’t trust anyone who does that
Their speedtest requirement also seems to be about geolocating you.
Edit: Also would anyone explain why they prefer mp3 to aac and don’t even mention ogg? And what’s the point of uploading both cbr and vbr mp3s? Isn’t it ogg>aac>mp3 vbr>mp3 cbr quality wise?
The speedtest requirement is to ensure that you can seed effectively. Its for the overall health of the network not so they can geolocate you. If geolocation was a concern, then your IP would be plenty.
They specifically say they don’t have a minimum speed requirement and the speedtest result doesn’t affect your application. Also considering that they specify that you choose the node geographically closest to you (instead of the lowest latency one) and the only other information in the test is latency, it does sound like they’re either checking for vpns or your location.
IP is quite unreliable when it comes to geolocation, especially if you have a dynamic ip
This is all so nonsensical and shady.
The only possible explanation is…
That whole thing looks shady as hell. To me it seems like the whole interview process is meant to collect all the data they can about you, whether it is to sell the info or to hold on to it for… reasons. Also a private, invite/interview entry only community that strictly prohibits the use of a VPN or TOR and is based around sharing media? Bruh. Either they are sharing something a lil more illicit than your standard rips of Hollywood movies, or this is a honeypot to catch the kinds of people who share that kind of stuff. Everything about this is all red flags and alarm bells
I got confused and sus when I saw the words “interview process.” I wasn’t sure if I was understanding. My interview process was a chill dude in a lemmy chat sending me a link. So far it’s been awesome.
Seems like a honeypot to me, telling people to use something other than their home’s connection. Kind of difficult to prove. Really seems like they want that information specifically for the purpose of going after those people, since you know, ISP subscriber ID, can’t get that if they use the Library, a friend or acquaintance’s house, or an Inn or AirBnB, not saying you couldn’t track someone down with those if you wanted to, but it’s not as convenient.
