Blocklists and Peerguardian

[Ernesto]

Some love them, others hate them...

Personally I don't think they're very useful. Most anti-p2p companies change IPs all the time, use vpn services, proxies etc. They hardly offer any protection.

What do you guys think? Do you use them?

[TreasureSeeker]

I use PeerGuardian2, for the only reason that I don't see why I should let random companies connect to me and use my bandwidth when I'm downwloading something.

[DavyJones]

Blocklists in my opinion work well.Any way to gain more privacy is a plus.I don't depend on them.

[ers35]

I do not feel that PeerGuardian does much to help protect your privacy. Some of the things that list maintainers have done in the past make me question how reliable blocklists are.

Originally Posted by Ernesto

Personally I don't think they're very useful. Most anti-p2p companies change IPs all the time, use vpn services, proxies etc. They hardly offer any protection.

I agree.

[SuperG]

Used to use PG2 but found it blocked way too many legit sites.
I suppose if you dont choose to block educational IP's then many would become accessible. I didnt try.

[O.G]

I equate blocklists to a bullet proof vest. It may prevent the bulk of bullets fired in your general direction, but it wont stop a head shot.

[BenJones]

Originally Posted by TreasureSeeker

I use PeerGuardian2, for the only reason that I don't see why I should let random companies connect to me and use my bandwidth when I'm downwloading something.

This is one of the common arguments, and one of the most easily refuted.

First, lets seperate the two claim's you've made. Random companies connecting to you, and people using your bandwidth when you're downloading something.

Ok, first of all, how do you know random companies are connecting to you? Because peerguardian has told you it's stopped a connection from that company. Now, thats not exactly true, is it. PeerGuardian has stopped a connection from an IP, but it doesn't know what company it is, it just has a name associated with it in the list. There's plenty of evidence on the major list makers site, that they often get this wrong. With millions of IPs (and who honestly thinks that even 1% of that list is actively being used) they're going to have lots of errors.

Second point - others using bandwidth when you're downloading. sorry, this is torrents, that argument isn't going to fly. A peer using you bandwidth when you're both on a torrent is normal, and expected. It doesn't matter who some list claims the IP belongs to.

i'll bet, if you investigated, the majority of the blocks even on just bluetack's level1 list don't match the people they alledge. I can also bet that a majority of antip2p IPs are NOT on that same list.

[Escablade]

I'd recommend using them on a public tracker because when I used to use it, MediaSentry would be on the blocklist more than a couple of times.

If you're using a private tracker however, I'd recommend against it. Agents undercover are not going to be stupid enough to use their anti-piracy company's IP address; they'd probably get spotted and banned. So PG2 would have no affect, except for having many harmless addresses blocked.

And the less programs you're running in the background, the better.

[TreasureSeeker]

Originally Posted by BenJones

This is one of the common arguments, and one of the most easily refuted.

First, lets seperate the two claim's you've made. Random companies connecting to you, and people using your bandwidth when you're downloading something.

Ok, first of all, how do you know random companies are connecting to you? Because peerguardian has told you it's stopped a connection from that company. Now, thats not exactly true, is it. PeerGuardian has stopped a connection from an IP, but it doesn't know what company it is, it just has a name associated with it in the list. There's plenty of evidence on the major list makers site, that they often get this wrong. With millions of IPs (and who honestly thinks that even 1% of that list is actively being used) they're going to have lots of errors.

Second point - others using bandwidth when you're downloading. sorry, this is torrents, that argument isn't going to fly. A peer using you bandwidth when you're both on a torrent is normal, and expected. It doesn't matter who some list claims the IP belongs to.

i'll bet, if you investigated, the majority of the blocks even on just bluetack's level1 list don't match the people they alledge. I can also bet that a majority of antip2p IPs are NOT on that same list.

Thanks for the info. I didn't mean bandwidth per se. I assumed the torrent would run more smoothly when there are less simultanious connections? Occasionally I see loads of blocked IPs when i use a public tracker, and while I didn't see any noticable difference I was glad the IPs were blocked, but not because of security.

[Ernesto]

Originally Posted by TreasureSeeker

Thanks for the info. I didn't mean bandwidth per se. I assumed the torrent would run more smoothly when there are less simultanious connections? Occasionally I see loads of blocked IPs when i use a public tracker, and while I didn't see any noticable difference I was glad the IPs were blocked, but not because of security.

You're right, a lot of connections is a bad thing

But you can adjust that in your torrent client settings I guess

[King8654]

PG2 in my opinion is a false umbrella of hope for some people, esp those who swear secrecy and internet protection under it. First of all, it blocks too many legit sites, as pointed out above, and secondly, those "Agents undercover" as referred to above are just going to mask their ip or change it completely. Better off sticken to privates which you feel comfertable with, and prayin in my opinion.

[Derbian]

I use PG2 but not just to attempt to block anti-p2p ranges (how effective this is is open to debate) it also blocks other undesirable ip ranges eg spyware, hijacked, trojan etc which i find is often overlooked in this respect.

[zeldafreak1223]

I like to use PG2 simply because it makes it harder more annoying to track me. Yes, they easily can, but would the RIAA/MPAA/BSA rather go after some n00b on his grandmother's computer downloading new movies, or me, using PG2 and downloading obscure and hard to find files that no one else gives a shit about? Most will go for the easier target.

[ssbsts]

I use P2G, but I will admit it probably does give me a false sense of privacy. I used to think "It can't hurt" but after reading some of the posts, maybe it can.

[froggytwr]

PG2 is always on and uses next to no CPU , In return when there are rubbish files out there they are often blocked and dont waste you bandwith on a file that you didn't need to start with(there were several companies uploading files that looked like movies & were normal size titled like a p2p file but never finished downloading and not even previewable)other than that its like religion if you believe it works your mind is at ease.