pirate-bay-proxy.org Open in urlscan Pro
2a02:4780:b:653:0:1ac0:fd33:1  Public Scan

Form analysis
1 forms found in the DOM

Name: q — GET https://pirate-bays.net/search/

<form class="form" name="q" method="get" action="https://pirate-bays.net/search/"> <input name="q" id="search_input" type="search" title="Pirate Search" placeholder="Pirate Search" autofocus="" required="">
  <div class="d-flex checkboxes-wrap"> <label for="all"> <input id="all" type="checkbox" checked="" class="checkbox-item"> All </label> <label for="audio"> <input id="audio" type="checkbox" class="checkbox-item"> Audio </label> <label for="video">
      <input id="video" type="checkbox" class="checkbox-item"> Video </label> <label for="apps"> <input id="apps" type="checkbox" class="checkbox-item"> Applications </label> <label for="games"> <input id="games" type="checkbox"
        class="checkbox-item"> Games </label> <label for="porn"> <input id="porn" type="checkbox" class="checkbox-item"> Porn </label> <label for="other"> <input id="other" type="checkbox" class="checkbox-item"> Other </label></div>
  <div class="d-flex btns-wrap"> <input type="submit" value="Pirate Search" id="pirate-search"> <input type="submit" value="I'm Feeling Lucky" id="btn-lucky"></div>
</form>

Text Content

Search Torrents | Browse Torrents | Recent Torrents | TV shows | Music| Top 100
All Audio Video Applications Games Porn Other

Login | Register | Language / Select language | About | Blog
Usage policy | TOR | Promo | Doodles | Tag Cloud | Forum


TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. What is a torrent file?
2. Pirate Bay Torrents Makes it a Great Time to Be Alive
2.1. 1337X
2.2. RARBG
2.3. Kickass Torrents
2.4. EZTV
2.5. YTS
2.6. Conclusion
2.7. Pirate Bay Torrent Files are Quick and Easy to Download
2.8. Pirate Bay Uses the BitTorrent Protocol
3. A Step-By-Step Guide to Uploading Files on The Pirate Bay
3.1. Seeders and Leechers
3.2. File Format
3.3. File Description and Comments
4. How Pirate Bay Remains Operational Throughout the Years
5. How to use utorrent and pirate bay
6. Learning All There is To Know About the Pirate Bay Website
7. Downloading Torrents From Pirate Bay; How to Do It
8. What is Torrenting?
9. What is a torrent magnet link
10. How Legal is Torrenting on Pirate Bay?
11. Can You be Sued for Downloading Noncopyrighted Materials?
12. Is It Legal to Hide Your IP Address when Torrenting?
13. How Pirate Bay was Formed
14. You Can Download Most Anything
15. How it Works
16. How to stream on pirate bay
17. The Legality of the Pirate Bay
18. Why is the TPB blocked in many countries?
19. How Safe Is It?
20. How to Find Pirate Bay?
21. Does the Pirate Bay Hide Your Identity?
22. What Kind of Content Can I Find on Pirate Bay?
23. Should I Use a VPN When Using Pirate Bay?
23.1. Maintain Your Privacy
23.2. Accessing the Site Itself
24. What Do the “SE” and “LE” Columns Mean in the Pirate Bay Interface?
25. Files With More Seeders than Leechers are Generally Ideal to Dowload
26. Is It Safe to Use Pirate Bay?
26.1. Legality
27. How Much Does Using Pirate Bay Cost?

Last Updated: 11 December, 2022, EST


WHAT IS A TORRENT FILE?

A torrent file is a small metadata file that contains information about a larger
file or group of files that are being shared over the internet using the
BitTorrent protocol. The torrent file contains a list of the files that are
included in the torrent, as well as information about the tracker, which is a
server that coordinates the sharing of the files.

To download the files that are included in a torrent, you will need to have a
BitTorrent client installed on your computer. The BitTorrent client will use the
information in the torrent file to connect to the network and download the files
from other users who are sharing the files. The BitTorrent protocol allows users
to download files from multiple sources simultaneously, which can make the
download process faster and more efficient.


PIRATE BAY TORRENTS MAKES IT A GREAT TIME TO BE ALIVE

Before Pirate Bay Torrent files were available, people didn’t have many options
to download their favorite music and only one real option for obtaining movies.
You could get music from long, taxing download systems, or you could buy it.

To do anything else took a lot of effort, came with a fair amount of risk, and
to find quality in these means was a rarity.

Fortunately, Pirate Bay came along in 2003, and since then, this filesharing
website has continued to expand in catalog and community.

Because of Pirate Bay Torrent files, it is a great time to be alive for media
lovers, without a fortune to spend on overpriced material.


1337X

The movie, television, and music selection on 1337X is excellent. 1337x.to is
booming due to several variables. One of the most user-friendly torrent sites
available, it features a wonderful user interface. It provides connections to a
wide variety of resources. Additionally, the community is highly vibrant.

This latter element is significant since members of 1337x.to regularly write
comments on torrent links expressing their views on the value or security of the
content. Before beginning a torrent download, it’s comforting to read this type
of debate among website users.


RARBG

Since its debut in 2008, RARBG has been a direct rival of Pirate Bay. RARBG is
updated more frequently than The Pirate Bay is one of its most delicate
features. Its user interface is also functional; it shows the top ten lists for
several categories to keep up with the newest releases.


KICKASS TORRENTS

The team behind the original site has created a new website even though the
previous KickassTorrents website is no longer active. The original
KickassTorrents’ name and look also get used here. The new site has many of the
same strengths as the old KickassTorrents, including a fantastic user interface,
a wide selection of material, and a reliable staff team committed to providing a
positive user experience.




EZTV

You may find TV program torrents on EZTV. The fundamentals of EZTV are
excellent: it has a user-friendly design and offers appropriate programming.
Additionally, it has a few unique features that distinguish this torrent site.

It is regarded as the king of TV series in the world of torrenting, and it has a
thriving community that consistently uploads fresh releases as soon as they
become available.


YTS

The origin of YTS may be traced back to “YIFY,” a website designed to share
high-quality video files compressed using the x264 video compression.

An excellent website for anyone looking to download movies is YTS. In contrast
to other torrenting websites, the site is incredibly user-friendly and only
offers movie torrents. Most torrent websites have unsightly lists of torrents,
but YTS organizes its trackers by displaying movie covers, which results.


CONCLUSION

One of the most popular and significant torrenting websites is The Pirate Bay.
But it’s not the only choice available to those seeking torrents. Downloaders
visit different websites whenever The Pirate Bay is momentarily offline or when
a specific torrent isn’t there in its extensive collection. It’s satisfying to
discover a significant number of high-quality Pirate Bay alternatives that one
may utilize nowadays after properly examining and researching several websites.
It implies that the torrenting community will continue to grow without TPB,
which is fantastic news for all torrenters.

We caution anybody who wants to use these websites to take caution because many
torrents on these websites are illegal, though not all of them are, and some
could even include viruses. Check your local regulations on torrenting and
copyrighted content before clicking on a file. A VPN and a reliable antivirus
application might help shield you from risky torrents. A VPN is an essential
tool you must always remember while accessing a pirate website or one of its
mirror sites. Without a secure VPN, torrenting is akin to diving into the ocean
without a life jacket or understanding how to swim.




PIRATE BAY TORRENT FILES ARE QUICK AND EASY TO DOWNLOAD

Pirate Bay Torrent files make it simple for you to download the media that you
want without taking a considerable risk on quality.

Most of the seeders (contributors) to Pirate Bay take pride in their work and
are dedicated advocates for the cause. Therefore, they strive to provide the
best quality to continue to use the Pirate Bay filesharing website.


PIRATE BAY USES THE BITTORRENT PROTOCOL

There are many different filesharing sites available. However, Pirate Bay is one
of the only websites that use the BitTorrent Protocol. This protocol makes it
easy and far less stressful for users to upload and download content because it
spreads the burden across many different seeders.

Therefore, the download is only pulling a small file from each host instead of
trying to drag a large file from one source.


A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO UPLOADING FILES ON THE PIRATE BAY

Housing thousands of music, videos, photos, games, and software, Pirate Bay is
among the pioneering peer-to-peer sharing platforms out there. A growing number
of people choose to distribute their content from the website to take advantage
of its large user base. What better way to let your content known than uploading
it to a free-to-use platform for everyone to access?

If you are considering to contribute within the Pirate Bay community, here’s a
guide on how:

 1. Before you can begin uploading any torrent file to Pirate Bay, you must
    register using your email address.
 2. After successfully logging in to your account, look for the “Upload Torrent”
    button at the web page’s bottom. You can either upload directly through the
    Webform or maintain your anonymity using the Announce URL option. Many
    people choose to conceal their identity to prevent the possible legal
    ramifications of uploading copyrighted files. Some don’t like getting any
    recognition from the community for their contribution.
 3. Although you can leave it blank, entering a torrent name can help other
    users discover your file. You can also put tags to be able to appear in
    filtered searches.
 4. You can also put descriptions about the file to let other people know about
    its size, format, and quality. Make sure to finalize it before uploading
    since Pirate Bay does not allow modifications on the description.
 5. Lastly, make sure to seed your torrent file for a few days until your peer
    network grows.


SEEDERS AND LEECHERS

Make sure to check the number of Seeders and Leechers on the torrent file before
uploading it. Seeders refer to the number of users who are hosting the file. In
contrast, the Leechers indicate how many people have downloaded the file in the
past. It is integral to select the file with the most number of seeders for the
download speed to be as smooth and seamless as possible. Any BitTorrent client
cannot recognize a torrent file without seeders.


FILE FORMAT

Torrent files come in different types, sizes, and quality. You must know the
estimates of the file size before downloading. There is no need to download a
torrent file that is beyond the size it intends to be. More often than not, this
could contain unnecessary tools that can harm your computer. The next thing that
you need to check is the information about the file itself. More often than not,
files get compressed in a .rar format. You can easily unzip these types of files
through WinRAR.


FILE DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS

Lastly, the file description and the comments beneath it can tell you more about
its quality. When choosing between a plethora of torrent files, opt for the one
with a skull icon beside it. This icon is an indication that VIP users upload
the file within the platform. The file description can indicate disclaimers or
measures that you need to take, so make sure to have a peek. Additionally, the
comments contain valuable insight into the quality of the file and any issues
with it.


HOW PIRATE BAY REMAINS OPERATIONAL THROUGHOUT THE YEARS

With the tremendous advancements in technology and the internet, one thing
stands strong: Pirate Bay. It is still accessible despite its constant problems
with the authorities all over the world. Millions of users find ways to
circumvent ISP blockades to download their favorite shows, movies, photos,
games, and software.

There are currently over 20 countries that restrict access with the notorious
peer-to-peer sharing platform. Among many others, it includes Australia, China,
Belgium, France, German, Russia, Spain, Netherlands, the US, and the UK. On the
contrary, there are still a few locations where Pirate Bay browsing is
permitted. Some of these destinations worth mentioning are Switzerland, Mexico,
Brazil, Belarus, and Hong Kong.

Although the police shut down other torrent websites to exist after countless
lawsuits and an oversaturated market, Pirate Bay received similar punches and
stood strong. The pirate ship continues to sail over the seas of legal scrutiny,
country-wide restrictions, and hefty fines.

They won’t probably overcome these obstacles without the millions of users
behind their backs. Pirate Bay depends on donations and paid advertisements
through cash and digital currencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Monero to
survive. At the same time, they utilize the funding to keep the website
functional and operational throughout the years.

With plenty of ways to bypass the restrictions, millions of users are relieved
that they can still browse through Pirate Bay freely. However, there is still
uncertainty about how its legal issues will turn out in the coming years.


HOW TO USE UTORRENT AND PIRATE BAY

To use uTorrent and Pirate Bay together, you will first need to download and
install uTorrent on your computer. Once it is installed, you can visit the
Pirate Bay website and search for the file you want to download. When you find
the file you want, look for the “Get this torrent” button and click on it to
download the .torrent file. Next, open the .torrent file with uTorrent, and it
will connect to the network and begin downloading the file.


LEARNING ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT THE PIRATE BAY WEBSITE

The Pirate Bay website is one that feels like it has been around for centuries,
yet it’s still a mystery. The Pirate Bay site is a torrent site that lets people
stream movies and tv shows, play games, and read books and other reading
material for free. People head to Pirate Bay to watch movies that are currently
in theaters, or download books for their classes. The site has a variety of
products for everyone.

What’s really interesting about Pirate Bay is that it has existed since 2003.
Its creators, Gottfrid Svartholm, Fredrick Neij, and Peter Sunde poured their
time and energy into the Swedish torrent site. They also went to jail for
varying times because of their involvement in copy infringement. Regardless, the
site has still managed to persist.

Nowadays, it’s much easier to use Pirate Bay because it has magnet links instead
of torrents. This basically means that people can download straight from the
site, instead of installing a torrent conversion application.

The website is one that has posed a threat in many countries. In fact, 20
different countries have banned the torrent site. They do not wish to get their
citizens in trouble, nor do they want their content being stolen. Many people
have trouble to stop Pirate Bay. Thirteen years later, however, it’s still one
of the most popular sites for free content streaming. That likely won’t change
for a long, long time.


DOWNLOADING TORRENTS FROM PIRATE BAY; HOW TO DO IT

Pirate Bay is a Sweden-based torrent site that has been sharing media for over
10 years. People use Pirate to watch movies, tv shows, and more. Understanding
how to use its torrents will help you get the best from your content.

 1. Get a VPN
    Depending on the country you live in, you may need a VPN to even access the
    website. Download a VPN and change it to a country where The Pirate Bay is
    allowed.
 2. Search for the Torrent File You Need
    
    Head to the Pirate Bay site to find the torrent you are looking for. The
    website will give you options for  audio, video, games, books, and more.
    Click the option you want and type in the title. Then click the file you
    want and look for how many seeders and leechers it has. You should use a
    product that has more seeders than leechers. Check for comments on the
    product, page, too to make sure the file is good.
 3. Download the File with a Torrent Client
    
    Click the download link in the page or drag it to your torrent client. If
    your computer needs an extension to download the media, it will suggest that
    you do this. Otherwise, you can use any of the torrents on The Pirate Bay in
    a Torrent Client. This is essentially an application that converts torrents
    into viewable links.
 4. Enjoy Your File
    There isn’t much that goes into downloading torrents. Once you’ve got your
    file, you can enjoy your content. It’s that easy.


WHAT IS TORRENTING?

When you normally download something off of the Internet, perhaps a PDF or music
file, you would naturally click a button labeled “download” and the file comes
neatly onto your computer, immediately available for use. However, torrenting
works differently. A normal download takes a file from a single server and
downloads it as a whole, whereas a torrent, also known as a tracker, will break
up the big file and cut it down into little pieces called “packets”. The torrent
file you downloaded keeps track of who has which packet and alternates where
you’re downloading from.

While this may all seem quite interesting to someone technologically minded, the
fact that torrenting allow users to share free files, files that would normally
cost money, creates a legal implication for both users and downloaders. Although
torrenting may seem appealing, it does come with a catch. And therefore, is no
surprise that torrenting is often associated with piracy because it is
frequently used to share files that are protected by copyright, such as movies,
computer games, music, software, books, etc.


WHAT IS A TORRENT MAGNET LINK

A torrent magnet link is a type of hyperlink that allows users to download files
through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. These links typically contain the
information needed to identify and download the desired files, including the
name of the file, its size, and the addresses of the computers hosting the file.
To use a torrent magnet link, users need a torrent client, such as uTorrent or
qBittorrent, which can open the link and download the files from the
peer-to-peer network.


HOW LEGAL IS TORRENTING ON PIRATE BAY?

The question of illegality arises in a gray area that acknowledges that
torrenting can be sometimes used  lessening the load on centralized servers by
distributing the hosting burden among users. However, it is widely acknowledged
that torrenting is also used in piracy, notably on a website aptly called Pirate
Bay.

The Pirate Bay is an online resource that was founded in 2003 of a vast variety
of digital content of media, entertainment, and software. The website allows
users to search, download, and contribute magnet links and torrent files, that
facilitate peer to peer file sharing, as detailed above. In other words, the
website is a well-known tool for internet users to find music, games, movies,
and television shows to download…for free.

Again, this question has plagued website owners and download users since the
turn of the century as commonplace internet users and hackers have maneuvered
the gray area of legality in torrenting and copyright protections. Pirate Bay,
itself, has been shut down many times in the past due to arguments regarding
civil liberties, copyright laws, and a variety of other legal issues. With every
shutdown, the website has found itself back on its feet again with new web
addresses and has continued operating.

Therefore, it is important to note that torrenting, itself, is not illegal.
However, downloading unsanctioned copyrighted material is. The risk of
torrenting is found in the fact that it is not always obvious which content is
legal to torrent and which is not. Depending on what downloads an internet user
is acquiring, they might find themselves on the wrong side of the law.


CAN YOU BE SUED FOR DOWNLOADING NONCOPYRIGHTED MATERIALS?

When an author or artist of work copyrights their music, words, or art, they are
in effect being granted a right by a state to have exclusive control over their
work for a limited amount of time in exchange of the ability to be able to have
public disclosure of their work. Copyright infringement occurs when an author’s
rights are violated because their work is reproduced, distributed, performed,
publicly displayed or made into a derivative work without their consent. When
you download a copy of a copyrighted work without the permission of the owner,
you are essentially reproducing that work and engaging in copyright
infringement.

The question then arises whether or not a website visitor can be sued for also
downloaded noncopyrighted materials and files that seemingly are not protected
and therefore should be legal. Generally, the answer is that an author of
material that is not protected cannot sue someone who downloads their material
over the web. It is normal to feel unsure of whether the information you are
viewing or downloading is copyright protected or not, and therefore whether it
is authorized for a free download. Therefore, it will be beneficial to check and
see if the artist or creator has a website or a statement about their works
anywhere on the Internet that explains any protections they may be afforded.


IS IT LEGAL TO HIDE YOUR IP ADDRESS WHEN TORRENTING?

Many online users have figured out that there are ways in which you can keep
your torrenting activity safe and private by torrenting with a virtual private
network (VPN). Torrenting without a VPN will allow your internet service
provider the ability to see your online activity including the sites you visit,
the documents you download, and the content you see. In the United States,
internet service providers are allowed to share this information with third
parties, which can also include the intellectual property owners themselves.
This ability to share information can be damning to an internet user who wants
to download torrents without understanding which files legal and which files are
not.

Thankfully, a VPN will keep your online activity private from your internet
service provider and will lower your risk of security threats that frequently
arise with torrenting, or any potential legal liabilities that can be discovered
by third parties. With a VPN, you can secure your internet connection and hide
your identity online when viewing or downloading content.

However, although using a VPN is legal, using a VPN in order to commit illegal
acts such as downloading copyrighted material is still illegal, with a VPN or
without one. Therefore, although a VPN can protect you from third parties
viewing your downloads, you are still restricted to torrenting only material
that is not copyright protected and doing so at your own risk.


HOW PIRATE BAY WAS FORMED

The Pirate Bay was set up by members of what was once a Swedish Think Tank and
data sharing site: Piratbyran (the Piracy Bureau). The three creators, Gottfried
Svartholm, Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, were not destined to create the world’s
most used torrent streaming site. They started the website on a whim. It has no
sense of structure or organization. They truly started with nothing and made it
into something incredible, and life-changing for a lot of people. They were able
to transform a simple, new websites in 2003 to a website that received nearly
2.5 million users by 2005. The website of Pirate Bay received so much attention
based on a few co-workers who had an idea and went with it. It also quickly
become on of the most sought after websites by people police officers,
especially in its home country of Sweden. At one point, police even raided the
headquarters of the Pirate Bay, which shut down the site for a couple of days.
What’s truly fascinating about this is that the attention brought on by the
police raid brought more traction to the website. The raid made the news,
alerting people who had never heard of the Pirate Bay to their new, favorite
website. The popularity of the Pirate Bay really only took a few years. It
become so well acclaimed, and one of the best torrent sites, and sites for
streaming tv and movies, as well as download books and games. The world can
thank the think a regulary Swedish Think Tank for introducing brilliant minds to
one another. Those brilliant minds invented the Pirate Bay, which is still
around for those who can access it today.


YOU CAN DOWNLOAD MOST ANYTHING

TV, books, and movies, oh my! The Pirate Bay Users can get up to date content of
a variety of things. The Pirate Bay is most famous for releasing movies and TV
shows that haven’t yet hit the big screen (or are still in theaters), but that’s
not all they have. The Pirate Bay has torrents for all sorts of things. Book
lovers can find all their favorite thrillers, biographies, and fantasy books on
the Pirate Bay website. The same is true for gamers. People can download many
games from the Pirate Bay interface that they would have to pay for elsewhere.
Are you a student struggling paying for books and equipment? The Pirate Bay has
you covered. They have textbooks, as well as access to microsoft office.
Honestly, if it’s something you have to buy, odds are the Pirate Bay already has
it. That being said, the site was much more popular and much safer to use when
it was initially created. Now, many countries block the site and warn users
against downloading any torrent off the Pirate Bay. Whether or not the new Call
of Duty is worth a major fine or the risk of jail time is up to the user.
Nonetheless, it’s important to note that the Pirate Bay is truly a site for the
people. There is content for everyone. Those who don’t feel like subscribing to
Sportify can even downloaded music off of the Pirate Bay. That being said, most
people don’t have the want or desire to get things off of the Pirate Bay
anymore. They have subscriptions to Hulu, Netflix, HBO, Apple Music, and more.
Most things that people could access on the Pirate Bay are pretty cheap
elsewhere nowadays. It is particularly greater, however, for those who need
different kinds of software, or who cannot wait a moment longer (or waste money
renting it) to watch that new moving they’ve been dying to see.


HOW IT WORKS

The whole concept of uploading, downloading, torrents, etc. is sort of
confusing. People use the Pirate Bay, but they don’t really understand how it
works. First of all, Pirate Bay uses torrents. Torrents are, in the simplest
term possible, files that hold data. This data is basically whatever people want
it to be. It can be data to project a movie or tv show, or data to upload a
software to a computer. To download torrents, people need bittorrent clients
that will let me process those files. Some of these clients are BitTorrent,
qBittorent, and Vuze. Clients are basically apps that can be added to your
computer, and some can be added to your phone. When you use a site like the
Pirate Bay to download torrents, they’ll be downloaded to the client. When
they’re finished, they can be saved on the computer for future viewing or use.
The way to watch it is just as simple as clicking “download” and letting the
file pop up on your computer. People use torrents to upload these files because
they don’t need a large server to do so. They can split it up in torrents, and
let the client put the pieces back together. Torrents make it possible for
anyone to upload movies, games, music, etc. online. That’s why the Pirate Bay is
so popular. People from all over the world share what they have. So if a movie
is released in a different country a few months before the USA, someone from
that country can upload it. Now, uploading torrents isn’t technically illegal,
but copyrighting is. Those who share torrents on the Pirate Bay face legal
consequences.


HOW TO STREAM ON PIRATE BAY

Pirate Bay is a website that hosts a searchable index of torrent files, which
are used to download and share files over the internet using the BitTorrent
protocol. It is not a streaming service, so it is not possible to stream content
directly from Pirate Bay. However, some users may use Pirate Bay to download
files that they can then stream on their own devices, such as movies or TV
shows.


THE LEGALITY OF THE PIRATE BAY

People love getting free stuff. It’s true, and when that free stuff is easily
accessible on the internet, it makes them even happier. After all, why waste
$5-10 on a movie rental when you’re only going to watch it once? That’s why
people have flocked to the Pirate Bay since it’s launch in 2003. The site has
been consistent, it has carried most anything a person could want on the
internet, and the legal consequences have not been too severe. As the site
became more popular, of course, that all changed. People who use the Pirate Bay
now may notice a warning when they go to download a torrent. Seeing the torrent
isn’t illegal, but as soon as you press the “download” button you now possess
pirated content. For those who just want one game or movie, they don’t face much
threat. It is those who use the site frequently and the content on it who may
have to do jail time. There are ways to avoid these consequences, perhaps by
downloading it on a free wifi network or using a usb to take the file on the
computer, and delete any trace of it. People come up with ways to clear
themselves of suspicion, but if they’re caught, it could lead them to 5 to 10
years in prison. Of course, the creators of the Pirate Bay didn’t even serve
that much jail time, so it’s highly unlikely someone who wanted to watch the new
Avengers would have to. Nonetheless, the ownership of pirated material is
illegal, which is something everyone using the Pirate Bay network should know
and understand before they condemn themselves.


WHY IS THE TPB BLOCKED IN MANY COUNTRIES?

The Pirate Bay needs no introduction. Since its launch in 2003, TPB has been the
most popular source of digital material, including video games, movies,
software, and music on the internet. Its continued popularity stems from the
fact that it saves users substantial expenses that could have otherwise gone
towards purchases and subscriptions. On the other hand, the use of TPB is
considered illegal in various countries, and the site is constantly blocked as a
result. Previously open countries like Greece and Romania have also instituted
restrictions that have rendered it difficult to access the site. The issue of
blocking Pirate Bay and the institution strict restrictions has resulted in a
massive controversy, with many citing that the move infringes on people’s
freedom to act at their own discretion. Torrenting sites are not entirely
illegal. The content hosted on these sites is uploaded by the users and not the
website’s administrators. Hence, it would be an extraordinarily monumental and
expensive task to confirm whether every upload contains copyrighted content. For
this reason, attempts to restrict or ban Pirate Bay will continue to receive a
lot of backlash. This has left users wondering whether or not Pirate Bay is a
legal site or not. Essentially, The Pirate Bay is merely a website, and thus it
is not illegal. Users can open the browser and view what is on the site without
any legal repercussions. So why have many countries instructed their Internet
Service Providers to block TPB?


One of the main reasons why countries have blocked this website is because it
infringes on copyright laws. Virtually all nations prohibit the downloading and
sharing of copyright material without permission. And there is a good reason for
this. While users save a lot from downloading these materials for free,
copyright infringement and piracy leads to substantial monetary losses for the
actual owners of the content. Consequently, tens of thousands of people are
deprived of their hard-earned wages. Torrenting facilitates piracy and copyright
infringement, and thus countries block torrenting sites to discourage these
activities. In fact, in recent years, there has been a global trend towards
stricter enforcement of copyright laws. Pirate Bay itself has been subject to
several copyright violation lawsuits over the years. However, this usually
results in the site obtaining more traffic as people are inherently attracted to
controversy, indicating that censoring of torrenting sites has the potential to
do more harm than good. Aside from enabling the sharing of copyrighted
information, torrenting exposes a user’s IP address to a lot of people. This can
be dangerous for so many reasons. Essentially, torrent users can easily become
victims of cybercrimes as hackers masked as leechers or seeders can harvest
their IP addresses with ease. All they need to do is check the list of peers,
and they can view their complete address as well as the type and version of
torrent client they are using. Hence, for some countries blocking torrenting
websites like the Pirate Bay seems like the only logical step to protect their
citizens from cybercriminals.


HOW SAFE IS IT?

Perhaps the biggest question surrounding the use of The Pirate Bay after
considering the issues highlighted above, is how safe it is. Undoubtedly, there
are some dangers associated with using TPB. As seen, torrenting exposes your IP
address to potential hackers and other malicious third parties in your network.
This may allow them to scan the IP address for open ports that they can use to
infiltrate your home network. With an IP address, hackers can quickly determine
your location, which for obvious reasons, is not safe. Also, they could collect
users’ IP addresses and sell them on the dark web for profit. Hackers are not
the only ones who have something to gain from stealing your IP address. Content
providers, too, can use your IP address to spam you with “personalized” ads,
which can feel like an invasion of privacy.

Another risk of using Pirate Bay is that one might find themselves in a legal
mess given that ISPs frown upon torrenting, especially in countries where The
Pirate Bay has been banned or is restricted. If found in violation of torrenting
restrictions, ISPs could respond by slowing down your internet connection,
sending you a warning letter, or taking legal steps. Additionally, torrents are
harbors for malware, which can harm your computer and make it unreliable.
According to one study, popular shows such as Game of Thrones, Stranger Things,
and Westworld are the most popular targets for malware. However, you can
overcome these issues by learning how to torrent correctly and adopting the best
torrenting practices.

The key to torrenting safely is using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPNs work
by re-routing your traffic through an intermediary server, which protects users
in two major ways. First, since VPNs encrypt your internet connection, ISP, and
other third parties cannot see what you are accessing or downloading. In turn,
this allows you to protect yourself from the legal repercussions of violating
torrenting restrictions. Besides, it is not strange for copyright holders to
observe Pirate Bay for their own content and collect the IP addresses of anyone
using it. Therefore, your priority should always be protecting yourself from
facing a legal battle. Secondly, routing torrents through a middleman server
hides your device’s IP address, thereby preventing hackers from collecting your
information and using it for malicious purposes. There are several VPN services
you can choose from. But you need to note that not all of them are suitable for
safe torrenting. The main criteria you should consider when selecting a VPN is
whether it offers leak protection, military-grade encryption, and a kill switch
that disrupts the transmission of data when the connection to the VPN server
drops. Another aspect you should consider is the speed of the VPN to save time
on torrenting. One possible option is NordVPN. This VPN is excellent as it is
both fast but still maintains your privacy.


HOW TO FIND PIRATE BAY?

Looking to start downloading torrents? Do you have a pesky song stuck in your
noggin that you just need to hear and move on from? Then you probably want to
get to Pirate Bay and start the downloading process. A couple of things to bear
in mind is that some jurisdictions block access to the system and that the
system is not invulnerable (it can go down from time to time). If you are on the
hunt, there are a few steps to follow to make sure you accounted for everything.



The easiest and most straightforward mode of attack is to just type the URL into
your browser. Go to explorer and enter thepiratesbay.com. Once you click enter,
does the screen restrict you from access with an error code? If so, the first
thing you should do is to go to your alternate browser. Try the URL on edge and
chrome before moving on to different options. Technology can be fickle, and this
lets you cover all bases before moving on.

Another good way to start is doing a quick google search for Pirate Bay. Does
the resulting prompt for you? The chances are that, if you are in an amenable
jurisdiction, it will be on the very first page of your search. If not, then
look into your local legislation. Does your country take copyright infringement
really seriously and block sites like Pirate Bay? It is likely that you will
need to follow some extra steps to find the site and get your desired torrents.

The first measure you need to take is to run your system through the masking
features of a virtual private network (VPN). This effectively hides your real
location from the servers by bouncing off of a bunch of other locations. Since
it spoofs your placement on the system, it can often circumvent the geographical
restrictions to the site. While there are some free VPNs out there, it is
usually wiser to pay for a service. Generally, you can get one for as low as $3
per month. Once this is running, search for the Pirate Bay again.

If all else fails, go on the hunt for helpful mirroring sites. These basically
imitate the Pirate Bay and aren’t as prone to shutdowns from oversight. The
chances are that, if you followed all of the above steps, you are downloading
torrents as we speak.


DOES THE PIRATE BAY HIDE YOUR IDENTITY?

There are basic things everyone should acknowledge before using The Pirate Bay.
One of those things is that the website does not hide your identity. It is
dependent on the user to come up with ways to protect their identity and ensure
they stay safe on the internet. No matter how often you use The Pirate Bay, you
don’t want to be caught. There are many ways people can go incognito on Pirate
Bay.

The most obvious solution to protecting yourself on Pirate Bay is by using a
VPN. A VPN is a Verified Private Network that will hide your information and
your IP address, so you can surf the web freely. Though this is a great way to
use the Pirate Bay Network, users should still be aware that it is not 100%
reliable.

Pirate Bay users should also use an I2P application to go invisible online. This
will help them become as safe and secure as possible.

No one, including the Pirate Bay creators, are protected by the site itself.
Uploading and downloading the torrents are illegal and a form of copyright
infringement. Know what you can be charged with before using The Pirate Bay and
make the necessary adjustments to browse safely.


WHAT KIND OF CONTENT CAN I FIND ON PIRATE BAY?

Pirate Bay has pretty much any and every kind of content you can imagine,
ranging from application programs to comic books to, yes, porn.

Pirate Bay isn’t a creator of any specific type of content or product. Instead,
it’s an index of magnet links, which basically means that it’s a portal from
which you can freely download content of all kinds directly from the computers
of people from all around the world.



You click on the magnet link and download whatever you’re looking for directly
from another person’s computer or directly from many people’s computers. Pirate
Bay simply acts as a host for the people sharing that content.

Pirate Bay is sort of like a bazaar manager that hosts individual sellers,
except that all the sellers, as well as the host, are giving away their wares
for free. There is no charge to use the files, though you can voluntary donate
cryptocurrency.

Below are screenshots of what Pirate Bay looks like while browsing and of some
of the specific files that were being shared as of September 10, 2021. You can
see music, movies, applications, and comics.


SHOULD I USE A VPN WHEN USING PIRATE BAY?


Yes, you should definitely use a virtual private network (VPN) when using Pirate
Bay. There are two reasons for this.


MAINTAIN YOUR PRIVACY

Pirate Bay doesn’t store any of the files that you see on there for download.
What it does is provide an index of files that other people are storing on their
computers and offering for free download. These people are called “seeders.”

So, when you click on these links (called magnet links and indicated by such as
the magnet icons in the file’s row), you’re not downloading from Pirate Bay but
rather from the computers of peers who already have the files downloaded and are
making them available. This is the entire spirit of freedom which Pirate Bay
stands for.

Of course, there’s a risk in that users can be putting illegal files on Pirate
Bay. The legality of any given file isn’t always or even usually obvious, so you
could end up inadvertently downloading something that breaks a copyright or
privacy law.

If you were to do this, and if your internet service provider or some monitoring
agency were to notice you doing this, they would track you to your IP address.
Your IP address is basically your computer’s home address.

VPNs hide your IP address, which is why you should be using one. They protect
you from being tracked. Using a VPN is kind of like making a phone call from
somebody else’s landline. If anyone were to track that call, they would reach
back to the house holding the landline, not back to your own house.


ACCESSING THE SITE ITSELF

Pirate Bay was started in the rebellious spirit of freely sharing information
and products of all kinds, without restriction. This includes information and
products that may offend copyright protections in various countries. An example
of this would be a Metallica album that hasn’t been officially released yet or
that is simply protected against free sharing.

Various governments have been after Pirate Bay basically since day one, and your
region may be one that blocks Pirate Bay. For this reason, a VPN may be needed
to access Pirate Bay at all.

So, for both those reasons, you should definitely use a VPN when using Pirate
Bay. Pirate Bay themselves recommend this pretty much anywhere the topic comes
up. They want you to use one. It’s just the smart thing to do.


WHAT DO THE “SE” AND “LE” COLUMNS MEAN IN THE PIRATE BAY INTERFACE?



When you use Pirate Bay, you’ll notice a few columns with various types of
information. One of those columns reads “SE,” and another reads “LE” (both are
highlighted in the screenshot above).

SE means “seeders.”

LE means “leechers.”

The next question, naturally, is “what are seeders and leechers?” The answer to
that provides a window into understanding how Pirate Bay works.

When you use Pirate Bay, you are not downloading anything from Pirate Bay
itself. Rather, you are clicking on a magnet link which reaches out to multiple
other participating computers and grabs pieces of the file you are looking for.
By grabbing these pieces from multiple machines, you can very quickly download
large files.

In this process, the seeders are the ones providing the bits of the files, while
the leechers are the ones downloading those pieces of files.

It’s a bit more complicated than that, though, because seeding and leeching are
not mutually exclusive.

As a leecher, you also become a seeder, as the parts of the files that you have
already downloaded are free for other leechers to grab. This is why torrenting
files moves so fast. Rather than simply downloading a single stream of
information from a single source, leechers and seeders are sharing the needed
bits of information as they become available.


FILES WITH MORE SEEDERS THAN LEECHERS ARE GENERALLY IDEAL TO DOWLOAD

The SE and LE columns are useful in that they show the ratio of seeders versus
leechers. This ratio is a positive thing to see because it means that there are
more people providing the files than there are people sucking off them, which
means they’ll be faster.

Just as importantly, a high seeders-to-leechers ratio can indicate that a file
is more trustworthy. If a lot of people have already successfully downloaded a
file, then that indicates that the file is high quality and free of malware.

Always practice your due diligence while downloading any files from anywhere,
but this ratio is a useful surface indicator of trustworthiness.


IS IT SAFE TO USE PIRATE BAY?

Pirate Bay isn’t holding or distributing anything to you. It is instead a simple
index of magnet links that lead to other people who are sharing content freely
from their own computers.

This means that simply going to Pirate Bay is safe. It’s just a website, for all
intents and purposes. Where things get more complicated is when we’re talking
about downloading the specific content on Pirate Bay.

When you click on a file in Pirate Bay, you aren’t downloading it from a Pirate
Bay server or application or anything of that sort. You are instead clicking a
magnet link that hooks you up with one or more (usually more) “seeders” who
provide the desired file to you in many tiny pieces that can be downloaded at
remarkable speed.

The seeders are users just like you. They are simply people who have files on
their computer and have decided to offer them for free on Pirate Bay’s
peer-to-peer network. This is great and represents the spirit of rebellious
freedom that Pirate Bay stands for, but it does also have its share of risks.

Whether or not a file is safe to download from Pirate Bay depends on the
seeder(s) you are downloading from.

Pirate Bay helps you maneuver this risk by showing skull-and-crossbones icons
next to certain users. A pink skull means that the user is trusted, while a
green skull is another level higher than that, being a very important person
(VIP)



In both cases, these skulls are Pirate Bay’s way of telling you that the person
offering the files have been reliability contributing safe content to the index
for a while.

The lack of a skull doesn’t automatically mean that the user is nefarious or
inept. It can simply mean that they haven’t been using Pirate Bay long enough to
have earned the trust of the moderators.

Still, to maximize safety, you may want to stick to files that have the pink or
green skulls.

What all of this ultimately means is that the Pirate Bay index itself is safe,
but you want to practice due diligence in selecting the files you download from
there.


LEGALITY

While discussing the issue of safety, there’s also the matter of legality.

Pirate Bay isn’t out to be a criminal organization. The vast majority of its
content is perfectly legal stuff that people simply want to share.

Of course, there have been multiple occasions in which copyright-protected
material was shared through Pirate Bay. This has led to many places going after
Pirate Bay and blocking it from their citizens.

Pirate Bay can’t flag all of this content for potential copyright infringement.
When you’re on there, you’re essentially on your own to determine if the
material is legal or not.

Just know that if you inadvertently download illegal material and are caught in
possession of it, your ignorance won’t protect you for the law. The penalties
for this differ according to where you live.

To add a level of safety in this regard, you should use a virtual private
network (VPN) when you use Pirate Bay (and many would argue any time you use the
internet). A VPN acts as a kind of halfway house for your internet activity,
masking your computer’s IP address, which is the address that is used to track
your activity on the internet.

Pirate Bay strongly urges its users to use VPNs to stay as safe as possible from
unintended legal complications.


HOW MUCH DOES USING PIRATE BAY COST?

Nothing.

Pirate Bay is not only free to use but is also committed to the very concept of
the free sharing of information. There is no membership fee. There are no
charges.

Pirate Bay does have a means of making money, but it’s completely voluntary.
Users can donate cryptocurrency if they choose, or they can choose to use it all
day long without ever paying cent.

Of course, those donations help keep Pirate Bay up and running, so for your own
continued use of the site you may want to consider throwing them some crypto.
Or, you know, you may want to donate just to be a cool person.

One cost that isn’t required but is highly, highly (seriously, HIGHLY)
recommended is a virtual private network, most often referred to simply as a
VPN. The VPN will allow you to mask your IP address, which is basically the home
address of your computer and the way you can be tracked.

Most content is perfectly legal on Pirate Bay, but some of it may conflict with
copyright or privacy laws in your country. The problem is that knowing when this
conflict exists isn’t always easy. There’s not always an obvious indicator of
what is legally available and what isn’t.

For that reason, to keep yourself safe, a VPN is essential. Also, in those
places that actively block Pirate Bay, a VPN may be needed to access the site at
all.

So, while it isn’t required, you really should use a VPN to use Pirate Bay or
any other site offering torrenting.

 * English
 * Deutsch
 * Français
 * Português
 * Español
 * Italiano