Filehosts and anonymity/security

[aifman7]

Okay, this is something that I've been wondering about for a while now.

I have a throwaway account I created for Mega to share games with a friend of mine. It's registered similarly to a throwaway email account.

I have a regular Mega account registered to my own personal email account. What's the risk of Mega tracking IP addresses and realizing that my personal and throwaway accounts are being operated by the same person? Similarly, what's are the other risks of sharing games on a site like Mega? To be clear, my personal Mega account has been upgraded to paid subscription for a few months in the past (needed the bandwidth when certain games were released ), so Mega probably still has my credit card info on file for that account.

I have a solid internet connection and often I'll see that Mega links are down for certain games that I still have stored on my computer. I'd like to be able to share these with folks if no other sources are available, but I know that by uploading to my Mega throwaway and posting the link here, it will most likely get disseminated to other sites. Once the link is posted, it's out there for the world to find until I (or Mega) manually take it down. If a DMCA takedown request is submitted to Mega for one of my links, does Mega follow up on that or do they simply remove the link and go on with their day?

Should I be uploading to Mega behind a VPN? If so, are there free VPN services available for this? I have zero experience with VPN's, maybe it's time to learn...

I'm sure these are probably all stupid noob questions, but I've never been a distributor of pirated stuff, only a leecher. I figure it's probably time to give back to the few communities I participate in but I'd rather do so without threat of legal action hovering over me.

 

[aifman7]

No insights on this? I've got a lot of games I'd be happy to share but I just want to do so safely. There have to be some folks here who post their games, this certainly isn't a community entirely of downloaders only...

I don't need indepth info, just a bit of background really. If you upload games to fileshare sites with the intent to share publicly, how do you do it? VPN or nah? And if nah, do you have legit accounts you use yourself in addition to your throwaways? Have you ever received DMCA takedown notices and if so, how did that go? What happens when your throwaway account gets closed, any follow-up emails or ?

 

[anne O'nymous]

What's the risk of Mega tracking IP addresses and realizing that my personal and throwaway accounts are being operated by the same person?

The answer to this question is : unknown.
Technically it's possible, easy to do and even legal. But does it mean that they do it ? Only someone who loose his official account because the dark one was banned can answer this question. At this time I never heard that it happened, which doesn't mean that it never happened, nor that it will not happen in the future.

Similarly, what's are the other risks of sharing games on a site like Mega? To be clear, my personal Mega account has been upgraded to paid subscription for a few months in the past (needed the bandwidth when certain games were released ), so Mega probably still has my credit card info on file for that account.

They don't need a credit card number, they have your IP address at a given time. It's enough for the authorities in (almost) all the countries around the world. In fact it's even more reliable since the one paying can be different from the one using the account. The first one is accomplice of the crime/offense, but can be abused and so seen none guilty, the second one is the author of the said crime/offense.

If a DMCA takedown request is submitted to Mega for one of my links, does Mega follow up on that or do they simply remove the link and go on with their day?

The answer is probably somewhere in their Terms of Service.

 

[aifman7]

Thanks for the response. I've done some more reading on the topic and it sounds like the only way to be sure you won't face legal action is simply to not upload. And if I want to minimize that threat the best practice would be for me to upload to a fully anonymous account via a VPN, but even that is only minimizing risk--from what I now understand even going this route you are rolling the dice and taking a risk.

Apparently a lot of VPN's are more than happy to cooperate with law enforcement when asked, and since I know very little about which VPN's are more "protective" of their user information, I think I'm probably going to just have to continue being a leecher and stick to occasionally reposting links I find elsewhere rather than uploading and sharing my own.

Ah well. Thanks again for replying, at least. I want to give back to the community but I don't want to risk prosecution or something over some porn games x'D

 

[anne O'nymous]

Apparently a lot of VPN's are more than happy to cooperate with law enforcement when asked,

It happen that the use of a VPN obfuscate your IP address, but the main objective is to secure the connection. That's why they are happy do cooperate. It increase the trust their customer can have on them.

Ah well. Thanks again for replying, at least. I want to give back to the community but I don't want to risk prosecution or something over some porn games x'D

PM a uploader, and explain it your situation. There's perhaps still some solutions. All the links aren't always the official one provided by the game author.

 

[OhWee]

You could upload it long enough for a moderator or uploader to grab the file from you, then delete it. This is also a good time for the F95 team to spread the file across mirrors, etc. like they've been doing for a number of games now.

Simply message a staff member, ask them if they are interested in the file you want to share, and go from there.

This should greatly minimize your own account's exposure to potential DMCA takedown requests, and possible banning...

 

[215303j]

I would recommend using a VPN.

You have to do a little bit research on the various providers. Some are more privacy friendly than others, and how it will turn out when/if it comes to any legal action remains a sort of a gamble.

On the other hand, as long as you are not a hardcore pirate who is uploading tons of AAA content to torrent sites, you'll probably fly under the radar.

Still, in your situation, I would probably upload to new throwaway Mega via a trustworthy VPN. Then you would probably be safe, even if you did upload some AAA content and some copyright agency is actually looking for you.

They don't need a credit card number, they have your IP address at a given time. It's enough for the authorities in (almost) all the countries around the world. In fact it's even more reliable since the one paying can be different from the one using the account. The first one is accomplice of the crime/offense, but can be abused and so seen none guilty, the second one is the author of the said crime/offense.

On the other hand, an IP address may be shared within a household, so it may also be difficult to pin-point it to a person depending on the circumstances.