My ISP didn't like me downloading Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~

[HENTAIBEN]

I'm not really sure where to post this, or if it's even a subject I'm allowed to discuss on AO. So I apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum or taboo subject matter.

Anyways... I noticed my internet was down today, and after a series of trial and error I finally ended up calling my ISP. They informed me that my account had been suspended for downloading Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~. Some other stuff happened, but that's not really important. In the end I got them to reactivate my account. Still I thought I'd make this topic for a few reasons.

One - to warn people about downloading this series.

Two - to discuss the issue.

This has never happened to me before, and while I can give up downloading and watching Phantom easily enough I'm worried it might happen again with another series or any number of other torrents I download daily. Is there any way to get around getting caught like this? Are there other series I should stop downloading?

I wasn't even really aware that fansubs were illegal, though I guess I knew they say not to distribute them after a series has been licensed.

Discuss. or don't - if it's against the rules.

 

[redrooster]

Ben, the series you wanted to dl is licensed by FUNimation. You can google the web about their DMCA takedown request politics in which not only websites but also providers are involved. There is a long list already with entries for ex in the Anime News Network forum or in HongFire as well. A good indicator is when AnimeSuki is taking down a series "by request".

 

[HENTAIBEN]

Wonderful. This means I can't download FMA: Brotherhood anymore either without running the risk of this happening again. Stupid Funimation.

 

[zopilote]

Or you can use peerguardian to avoid they look you're donwloading. :hero:

 

[redrooster]

in case you are using Azureus / Vuze you could use the safepeer plugin.

 

[HENTAIBEN]

Thanks for the recommendations. I've been using uTorrent for a while now, but I'll try using one of these with Vuze for licensed stuff.

 

[Sakunyuusha]

This is one of my fears. Sorry to hear that this happened to you.

As for FMA: Brotherhood, there is a legal alternative. If you live in the United States (and possibly canada, I don't remember if it's NA or just USA distribution), Funimation is airing the episodes on their website with English subtitles approximately 4 to 7 days after it airs in Japan. The bad news is, it's streaming media and because hundreds of thousands of people are trying to access the episode(s) during peak business hours you're going to find it very difficult to watch it. (I say this based on my own failed attempts. :\ Kept pausing to rebuffer every 5 seconds. -_-; ) The good news is, it's 100% legal, does exist, and is a great alternative to at least try out if you're worried that the Cable Man might be snooping around your log files.

 

[elgringo14]

About legal streaming for FMA:

http://www.akiba-online.com/forum/showthread.php?p=260353#post260353

 

[Ceewan]

ISP snooping

There is probably very little you can do if your ISP puts all their effort and resources into snooping on you. Trust me, they don't. Utorrent is good software, for close source anyway, it is compact and uses less resources than Vuze which has its' critics. Make sure that options>preferences>BitTorrent>that under protocol encryption outgoing is forced. Correct me if I am wrong about that.

Secondly a good firewall such as Comodo or at least Zonealarm,(both of which are free although Zonealarm may require some tweaking), and perhaps a secondary firewall such as peerguardian,(not good as a stand alone firewall).

Thirdly a good proxy setup. Sockscap or even Tor. A stand alone proxy might work, depends on your ISP. I am able to bypass my ISPs' filters and surf sites that are supposed to be blocked. A firewall alone will not allow you to do this and I guarantee that. Socks proxies are very useful but hard to find. I would suggest in this instance to use Tor because of its' ease of installation and user friendly features. It does all the hard work for you. The trade off is connection speed, you will likely notice a download speed drop. Then again if your ISP limits your bandwidth, which is likely, you may see an increase in speed at times.

Links:
http://www.utorrent.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=394802
http://www.comodo.com/
http://www.zonealarm.com/
http://dl2.pchome.de/1/sc32r238_2871.zip (this is the Sockscap had a tough time finding that one, the company that invented it, Permeo, went bigtime)
http://www.torproject.org

There are numerous tutorials if you need them to go with any of these programs but lets face it, I never said fooling your ISP would be easy, just that it can be done. It is somewhat satisfying however to virtually eliminate the 403 errors and not to be penalized for where you wish to surf and what you wish to download.