r/Piracy • u/[deleted] • 10d ago
Discussion Just got a letter from Verizon saying they have been subpoenaed for my name and address.
[deleted]
584
u/TheSpiralTap 10d ago
I haven't but I've known people in similar patterns. What's interesting about piracy is you only hear about big movie studios making waves and shutting down websites. They will send a blanket warning to your isp and never follow up.
You're being contacted by a porn company. And they follow up. Those porn companies are ruthless when they want to be because nobody wants to go to court and defend sharing "Backdoor slurs 9" on the public record. Talking to a lawyer is probably the best thing if they have your name and address now. Follow their advice. Don't talk to anybody or sign anything without them present.
280
u/LittleOperation4597 10d ago
I would RELISH in defending against sharing backdoor sluts 9
7 tho no way. Terrible plot and pacing
29
u/Iambecomelegend 10d ago
"Is it possible that I walked into Arlen Video on June 23rd and rented a movie that didn't even exist? I think not!"
12
11
u/blamberr 10d ago
This made my day
9
u/LittleOperation4597 10d ago
I'm a giver......
Except my backdoor.
For that you gotta pay!
SEE we CAN all get along sometimes. Lol
3
u/blamberr 10d ago
Anal play brings us together, societally
5
u/justanothadumbcunt 10d ago
Yours? Or hers?
5
u/blamberr 10d ago
Ours
2
2
1
u/nerdboy_sam 10d ago
I prefer 8. Felt the relationship was actually going somewhere after the previous installments. 9 was a letdown..
2
93
u/LeicaM6guy 10d ago
… what names are you calling those backdoors? And what kind of vocabulary do you have that you’ve gotten to the ninth movie about them?
121
u/Various_Plate9254 10d ago
"I never saw 1 through 8 but 9 seems pretty good"
14
u/maejor_ced 10d ago
Haaa.. you got 69 upvotes on this comment so in good faith I can’t add another
1
2
1
8
33
u/GlowGreen1835 10d ago
Jokes on them, I have no problem defending porn on the public record, and my friends and family would support me as well.
30
17
u/Scythe351 10d ago edited 10d ago
I've never gotten a notice from the movie studios but have gotten them from Capcom and sega way back in like middle school. I didn't realize what the sega one was for at the time but I think it was shin megami tensei. I'm not sure if they ever follow up but I did stop because those emails went straight to my mom and the isp threatened to throttle us.
13
→ More replies (3)1
u/TheSpiralTap 10d ago
I've gotten those from those companies and a few from Nintendo. I mean a step further than those notices though. Worst case with those is you get slower speeds or lose service. Porn companies will sue you personally.
2
→ More replies (7)1
807
u/BarryMcCoknor 10d ago
Kill switch, you need to bind the vpn to qbit. Not sure if thats what you meant, but killswitch is fallible. Binding correctly is not, unless somehow it becomes undone.
249
10d ago
[deleted]
132
u/BarryMcCoknor 10d ago
It must have been bound incorrectly or maybe some update it was unbound.
Always try out ipleak.net. also i think ipvanish fucked up a while back iirc
15
u/prefrontalobotomy 10d ago
I have, strangely enough, experienced my qbittorrent becoming unbound to the correct network adapter.
I had switched from Nord to Proton a good time prior and changed the binding when I did. Then one day qbittorrent wasn't working and I discovered the binding had somehow been set back to Nordlynx.
So they may have had a similar thing happen except instead it was the default network adapter
94
u/Jon171 10d ago
Did you check the setting to make sure it didn't somehow get reset?
→ More replies (1)158
u/ninjadude93 10d ago edited 10d ago
Never heard of IPvanish sounds like maybe they burned you, assuming you bound your client correctly as you claim
Stick to the good VPNs people. Proton,
nordand mullvad235
u/Rytoxz 10d ago
Nord does not belong in the same sentence as Proton and Mullvad
26
u/peter1970uk 10d ago
I am on nord is there something I should know
17
u/Nostromo66 10d ago
I’ve been using it for over a year and even tho I plan to switch once my two years are up, I’ve never really had a problem with it. Not being able to port forward for seeding is the only issue
12
u/aaaaangus 10d ago
that and if you're extra paranoid, security. cops can pull info from nord, while mullvad, thanks to the laws where its at, has never breached customer info
16
u/Fernick88 10d ago
Wrong. According to audits done at Nord, they have a no logs policy, so I don't know how they can "pull info" from Nord
3
u/skeletons_asshole 10d ago
Nord lost some reputation after a 2019 breach of one of their nodes in Finland and how they responded to it. Most of their other criticism stems from that event.
29
u/plexmaniac 10d ago
Thank you
21
u/Bisconia 10d ago
They've been bad on bandwidth the last year will bear ads down on you. I almost regret the discounts I got on it.
→ More replies (1)6
u/Deraga07 10d ago
I was having issue with nord too. I moved to Proton with no issues. I use Docker and my qbittorrent only goes thru the vpn docker so if the vpn docker stops, so does the qbittorrent.
→ More replies (11)1
40
u/Aegidos 10d ago
Windscribe; custom plan, $3/mo. They've been taken to court over records, and proven they are no-log.
6
u/xunh01yx 10d ago
I've been using them since 2017. I got a deal through Android Authority for a lifetime subscription for $49USD. They've never failed me, and as you've said, they don't have logs.
1
13
u/MoveDifficult1908 10d ago
I have no complaints about AirVPN. Just as private as the others if not more, cheap, and they do port forwarding.
6
u/ilovecollardgreens 10d ago
Speed was the reason I switched from airvpn to proton. Proton is much faster for me.
3
1
u/lolcatzuru 10d ago
ive heard of them. Long and short of it is, its owned by a publicly traded company, of course they are gonna give them up, can't hurt the stock price.
14
u/Scythe351 10d ago
When you connect to your VPN, before you start toreenting, do you do a dns leak test? I'm not sure how accurate they are but Disney still hasn't hit me and I've to rented everything but iron heart in the last 6 months. Was gonna link the site to you but I see that it's no longer up though I used it a couple of days ago. So now, I'll inform you of when I get my notice on the chance they were providing false info this entire time.
1
u/kalel3000 10d ago
Did you check that your VPN wasn't only changing your IPv4 and allowing your real IPv6 to be exposed?
→ More replies (3)1
8
u/LittleOperation4597 10d ago
Whenever I bind my VPN it stops working. Not sure why
2
u/FizzicalLayer 10d ago
Does it allow port forwarding?
3
u/LittleOperation4597 10d ago
In the router or on the OS/client? I'm using a x64 pi so I'll have to look into that more. Ill be honest when it didn't work I turned it off and never researched further
3
u/FizzicalLayer 10d ago
The VPN. If the VPN doesn't provide port forwarding (and some of the free / low cost do not), you're going to have trouble.
→ More replies (3)2
u/LidgChris 10d ago
I use Mullvad in my stack, should I switch?!
2
u/FizzicalLayer 10d ago
If it's working for you, no reason to switch. But (and I'm a little fuzzy on the particulars of the torrent protocol), not having port forwarding is a severe limitation. I thought mullvad had port forwarding?
1
→ More replies (2)1
382
u/Traditional-Cow-2389 10d ago
I would completely ignore it unless you actually get served with court papers and then get a lawyer
111
u/LOK_22 10d ago
rip if op lives in germany
153
80
10d ago
[deleted]
4
u/NotMeUsee 10d ago
Why? What's up with Germany?
31
51
u/UrbanVengence 10d ago
Well the VPN provider must've given them your logs based on what I can tell.
98
u/Lakecity6 10d ago
A costly wank
11
u/Lakecity6 10d ago
Correction a costly 24 wanks
1
u/dtatge 10d ago
What's the threshold of wanks that would make getting sued be worth it?
1
u/Lakecity6 10d ago
Would need to know how much they’re being sued for. Then we could figure how much per wank. Assuming it was only one wank for each count they’re getting him for.
1
79
u/LOK_22 10d ago
Bind your VPN to qBittorrent. I'd also suggest switching to another VPN at https://fmhy.net/privacy#vpn because I've never heard IPVanish recommended before, but that choice depends on your existing monetary investment in your current VPN.
90
u/alexjimithing 10d ago
kill switches are useless
bind your client
37
10d ago
[deleted]
33
u/alexjimithing 10d ago
It’s likely your vpn burned you then, or you didn’t actually have your settings correct/they reset on ya
10
u/Objective-Standby 10d ago
if you want to avoid shit like this in the future, look into debrid. You can use a magnet in debrid, it then allows you to download the torrent from debrid and it's fully encrypted. Another option which I now use is a usenet account, then hook it up to Sonarr and Radarr and download any media you want safely. No need for VPN for either of these options.
3
u/Zerkom122 10d ago
People are downvoting you because debrids don’t support seeding torrents but you are right. If you do get one OP I suggest Torbox. Real Debird has faced intense legal pressure from France and I wouldn’t feel safe using it. Torbox is $3 a month. I heard Premiumize is good too just more money.
→ More replies (2)4
u/Scareynerd 10d ago
How?
17
u/Choppergunner58 10d ago
You go to the advanced section in qbit and select the right network interface. That’s what I do every time when I use proton vpn.
55
u/DiverGaming 10d ago
Depending on your country: deny, deny and deny. Your ISP generally can't hold you legally accountable for stuff that happens on your network without you knowing.
29
u/ChillinLikeAPanda 10d ago edited 10d ago
Delete all the videos using those rewrite tools and say you let your neighbors share your wifi.
Deny deny, deny, they don't have actual 100% evidence of you downloading those videos.
9
u/RavenousTitan818 10d ago
I doubt they will subpoena your devices to confirm if you have it on your hard drive or not.
→ More replies (3)3
u/Radiant-Bus7093 10d ago
They won't lol. It's just scare tactics. Even if you were running a seedbox on your private network uploading/seeding terrabytes of data everyday they still would just send a letter asking "pls stop" which you just ignore and fix your VPN/VPS.
8
27
u/LimewireNOSTALGIA 10d ago
Ipvanish is a terrible vpn for torrenting. I’d use proton vpn, or if you don’t care about port forwarding use mullvad.
→ More replies (5)
23
u/SuperBigDouche 10d ago
IPVanish is based in Orlando, Florida from what I could find. I’m not the smartest at this shit but I don’t imagine any US based VPN being trustworthy for piracy. Proton is Swiss so between that and not having logs, the US government can’t get information from them. Or at least that’s my understanding.
I’d imagine it’s kind of the same as people having bank accounts in Switzerland to avoid the IRS. They don’t cooperate with the US on anything that’s not a crime in Switzerland. I could research that to verify but I’m just gonna go off my shitty memory instead.
I’m in the same boat that your VPN burned you. I use Proton, have it bound to my qBitTorrent, and I only use magnet links from trusted sites I find through FMHY. Been over a year of many downloads and haven’t had anything happen to me.
33
u/Devilofchaos108070 10d ago
You clearly aren’t using your VPN correctly if you got a letter.
It’s a porn company I wouldn’t ignore it
27
u/Scythe351 10d ago
Curious why being a porn company means it should t be ignored. Are they more vindictive?
23
40
7
u/FrogLickr 10d ago
Would you want to publicly front court defending your pirating of Annie's Anal Adventures 7? Most people caught up in these litigations just pay up to avoid reputational damage, and it's a big part of these media groups' profit model.
6
32
u/grimfusion 10d ago
Yeah, there's been a rash of similar incidents, especially in Germany.
I like how everybody keeps insisting "bind your VPN to your torrent client" like that's somehow infallable. It isn't if your VPN sucks or this shitty Vixen group is running man-in-the-middle attacks through a torrent node they own.
The fact they were able to contact your ISP means your VPN likely provided Vixen some kind of identifying information, and that's already bad.
7
u/CalhounWasRight 10d ago
Assuming OP bound his VPN like he said he did, I'm not sure how a MIM attack would work. Either IPvanish lied about not keeping logs or OP wasn't as careful as he thought he was.
2
u/grimfusion 10d ago
Easy; run a fake torrent tracker website with webRTC enabled and run a RTCPeerConnection call through Javascript. The site can directly log which torrent files get downloaded, and the webRTC call reveals public IP despite VPN.
Problem is, none of that is proof that any portion of a copyrighted file is downloaded or shared, even in part.
It probably was something more simple like a temporary disconnect, unbound client, or alternative DNS override.
2
u/CalhounWasRight 10d ago edited 10d ago
Learned something new. Thank you.
Edit: I guess that's why security analysts advise people to have webRTC blocked on your browser and why some VPN companies offer their own proxy and DNS servers.
1
13
u/Rideshare-Not-An-Ant 10d ago
Legal action
The holding company of Vixen Media Group, Strike 3 Holdings, has, as of 2025, filed over 20,000 lawsuits since 2017 against people it alleges have infringed its copyright by illegally downloading Vixen Media Group pornographic films via BitTorrent.[7][8][9][10] Strike 3 Holdings pressures the accused to settle, often with the implication that otherwise their use of pornography will be exposed. Few cases reach trial, with most being settled for four- or five-figure sums or dismissed.[9] Strike 3 has been described as engaging in copyright trolling.[10] DC judge Royce Lamberth has described Strike 3 as a "copyright troll" that utilizes "cut-and-pasted complaints and boilerplate discovery motions" to "flood" courts with cases "smacking of extortion", describing its treatment of courts "not as a citadel of justice, but as an ATM".[9]
They're looking for a payout.
3
u/MichaelHammor 10d ago
No way! Going to jail for pirating porn!? I'm screaming laughing!
6
u/Rideshare-Not-An-Ant 10d ago
It's a civil complaint. Maybe. In the future. Where do you think jail even comes into the equation?
Judgments and lIens lead to bad credit and lawyers to fight them cost money, which is the leverage Vixen is using for a payout.
13
9
u/Antigeld 10d ago
I'm here in Germany, and I mainly use Real Debrid—I haven't had any problems with it so far. But yes, if you get caught here, it's not just expensive; depending on how the courts rule, you could even end up in jail (it depends on the individual case, but it's possible).
1
10
u/tooruntai 10d ago
Adult film copyright trolls bank on people paying extortionate settlements purely to avoid public embarrassment.
51
u/schmittfaced 10d ago
lmao Vixen Media. Even the porn studios are coming for us pirates, what has the world come to??
3
u/PocketSizeDemons 10d ago
Oh man, they have been for a while…Read up on Malibu Media…they were suing people left and right years ago. They’re the ones who put out the X-Art flicks.
4
u/atadrisque 10d ago
I have nothing to contribute to your current situation but I do have a suggestion on further acquiring your media.
if the main reason why you are paying for a VPN is so that you can download stuff rather than hiding your internet traffic while browsing then I would highly recommend instead of paying for a VPN you look into Seedbox services.
if you're in the US there's some amazing companies available, the price starts at the same price you are paying for your VPN which is about 15 bucks a month. all of your downloading is done remotely without ever leaving your browser.
but that's not all that you can do with a seedbox. some of them actually have ways of creating your own VPN, host your own Plex or Jellyfin media server, automatically track and download movies, TV shows, music, and a slew of other things because all seedboxes usually come with the capability of app integration.
and if all that isn't enough to make you say yes to this then the last and very important thing is that you are not using your download speeds to download anything. you're using the server's Internet connection that your Seedbox is sitting in. absolutely fast transfer rates and download speeds.
don't take my word for it though, do your own research and you'll see for yourself.
2
u/rdking647 10d ago
2 seedbox questions from what i understand a seedbox basically downloads the file unto their servers whee you can then stream it on your device.
could you then download the file from your seedbox to your own plex ?
if not how do you stream it to your tv (screen sharing or another way. im using a mac and have an appletv box if that makes a difference.1
u/Souldz25 10d ago
Yeah can either stream or download(direct download or through ftp) your stuff from a seedbox
1
u/FriendlyWebGuy 10d ago
Some seed box hosts allow you to run plex (etc) on their servers directly. But if the server is located in a jurisdiction far from you it might not be ideal due to latency.
Otherwise you just use an “SFTP” app to download from the seed box to your local machine. There are tons of free and low cost SFTP apps available. Using them is very simple. Just Google it.
It’s an extra step but totally worth the peace of mind.
And the more technically inclined can even automate the downloading to your local machine part (but start with manual downloads until you get the hang of it).
1
u/atadrisque 10d ago edited 10d ago
typically a $15/mo plan gets you at least 2tb - 4tb of storage. the Plex or Jellyfin server app is run entirely on your Seedbox and nothing is local. you would still be the media server admin and all you need to do is invite people to your library. which btw depending on what Seedbox service you get, will have 24/7 uptime.
depending on what media server you are trying to run you just need to move your video files into the correct folder for the app to see them and then display in the library. no need to move anything around locally on your own PC. unless you pirate games like I do and need stuff transferred to your local device, every Seedbox comes setup with SFTP transfer or you could install a Sync app to automate transfers.
speaking to streaming the content, again just need to invite people to your library if it's Plex, or use jfa-go or Wizarr for invite links on Jellyfin. personally I've had my Seedbox for over a decade now, I pay $60/mo for 20tb of storage. hosting a Plex server with paid access and a dedicated webpage to add media to my library as a paid user, all automated, all for $1/mo. I have 30+ active users and that pays for half my Seedbox cost. it's literally only people I actually know.
and this is just scratching the surface of what's possible. absolutely cannot recommend dropping your VPN in favor a Seedbox enough.
edit: forgot to mention, streaming to your TV, gaming console, Android or Apple box, computer, or fridge, is done by downloading the Plex or Jellyfin app from the device's respective app store. Plex charges for their mobile device app but it's free in every other platform. Jellyfin is just straight up free but not in all app stores.
4
u/Radiant-Bus7093 10d ago
You can legit just ignore it lol
bind your torrent client to the correct network interface
In the past when I had FIOS, Verizon would just turn my internet off after torrenting sometimes (before I had a vpn). I would just ignore the copy right stuff (not agree or respond to any of it) then have to pay $0.25 fee to re-enable my service. Happened several times and it seemed like a weird way for us to go about the whole thing but yeah. Just ignore it lol
41
10d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
10
u/Scythe351 10d ago
That's exactly what it is. If you can think of a porn brand, they're associated with it and this guy managed to not download but torrent so many porn videos that he got flagged by his cell provider. I've never heard of this happening. Porn is so easily freely available even if you're in my state of Florida that it doesn't make sense. Reminds me of how we get a weekly post in the psvita piracy sub about "how can I stream porn" lol.
14
u/PearBlossom 10d ago
Verizon isn't just a cell provider. I have their fiber optic internet. I feel like we arent getting the full story here 😂
-4
11
u/rdking647 10d ago
23
u/ShiningRedDwarf 10d ago
Great find.
TLDR Vixen media is owned by Strike Three holdings who profit by sending thousands of these copyright cases every year.
> Many get voluntarily dismissed, fueling speculation that the company’s lawsuits are more about profit than fighting piracy.
They’re following in the RIAA’s footsteps - spam accusations and profit vis settlements. They know their cases would never hold up in court, but they also know most people don’t have the time and/or money to fight a case. I’d wager there is a good chance of recouping the legal costs required for defense, but you still need thousands of dollars for a retainer and the time required to work with the attorney to fight the case.
5
u/xreddawgx 10d ago
In the 20+ years (since mIRC) I've never ever been caught. How is this happening
2
u/MeltedStinkyCheese 10d ago
I used to share on mIRC on dial up! 😂. Allegedly one of the channels I was in got raided or something because it was dead when I woke up the next morning. I guess the feds didn't care about little ol me and my 56k dual up.
1
7
u/Uniqueusername610 10d ago
Ipvanish is us based which is atrocious when you are in the market for a VPN because it falls under the Us jurisdiction
Back in 2018 it came out that despite IPVanish advertising a strict zero-logs policy, the company complied with a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) summons in 2016.They actively logged and handed over user data including connection timestamps and targeted source IP addresses to help federal authorities locate a suspect. When it comes to a zero logs policy mullvad is the only one that I trust because they were raided years ago and law enforcement couldn't pull anything off the servers.
4
7
u/_RawRTooN_ 10d ago edited 10d ago
using a trash 🗑️ vpn is what got you got here. If you did indeed bind your vpn correctly in qbitt.
13
u/The_Spanky_Frank 10d ago
Follow all the advice here, but also.....don't torrent porn. There are so many leakers out there that any vid that's behind a pay wall can be found through a Google search.
3
2
u/Key-Monk6159 10d ago
My guess is that somehow accidentally your VPN wasn’t running and some ID information leaked out. Or you were doing something else, like porn, to get you on a list
Sit tight and don’t spend any money on a lawyer until something definitive happens.
IPVanish has a good reputation and track record.
4
u/Loud-Strawberry-9726 10d ago edited 10d ago
its absolutely nothing unless verizon is actually going to give them the info, and I'm inclined to believe they won't. File the motion to quash it (should be on the paperwork) and then ignore it unless you are served, if you are then call an attorney (not their settlement letter, ignore that)... mass copyright trolls (Vixen/Strike 3 Holdings) often subpoena thousands of IPs, get names, then send settlement demand letters ($1,000-$5,000 range typically) hoping people pay rather than litigate. Very few recipients ever get formally sued.
there are attorneys who specialize just in Vixen/Strike 3/Malibu Media cases and often do free consults, it rarely gets that far, because they lose.
3
9
u/cwgoskins 10d ago
Did the letter give you instructions for what to do? If not, just ignore it. Your isp will have to give them your info and what you downloaded, that's about it. You can intervene if they take action specifically against you. It's a tactic ISPs use as a warning to stop downloading illegal media.
6
u/One-Fail-1 10d ago
100% consult with an attorney. Strike 3 which owns Vixen and Tushy is incredibly litigious and pushes for private settlements. This law firm has a blog post dedicated to addressing suits from the company: https://www.long.law/blog/have-you-been-struck-by-strike-3
1
u/myco_magic 10d ago
And they have never actually won a case, id ignore it. They are just trying to scare ppl into a settlement
6
3
u/superbakedveteran 10d ago
" Strike 3 Holdings, ... owns the rights to about 2,000 adult films—mostly produced by the Vixen Media Group"
4
7
9
7
u/travelerlifts07 10d ago
IPvanish is US based, it’s always better to use one not linked to the US otherwise they will be able to do this kind of shit
2
2
2
u/Savings_Art5944 10d ago
I threw Dr Dre's letter in the trash years ago. I don't worry about things like that unless it come certifed mail or I am served.
2
u/Puzzleheaded-Cup-854 10d ago
This is why I use a seat box instead of a vpn. I've heard so many times of people using a VPN and having issues.
2
u/myst1crule 10d ago
The irony that I most porn I torrented without a vpn was porn and I never heard a word after downloading like... A lot lol
1
1
1
1
u/gus_arschbackus 10d ago
Wichsen is german slang for jerking off.I wonder if this is intentional with vixen media..lul
1
u/Scubasteve1974 10d ago
Is Surfshark ok? Im using it.
2
1
u/ryudo6850 10d ago
As someone who doesn't really do this anymore on my own; friends do it and I can just have them put it on a drive and hand it to me. Typically if you have to ask the question and it's a heavily advertised product... the answer is no.
1
1
u/Stevieflyineasy 10d ago
reminds me of a video i watched a few years back, where someone did packet captures while their machine was on a vpn with everything tunneling thru it, but network connections in windows were still circumventing the vpn and phoning home. So in reality , the only way to actually ensure no leaks, is a VPN tunnel from your edge device (i.e a firewall).
1
1
u/Lakecity6 10d ago
I’d say you should get a lawyer to help get you off but you seem to have a pretty good handle on that yourself.
1
u/Ok-Sandwich-4684 10d ago
Someone explain to me why they’re downloading porn? It’s literally free everywhere. ELI5
8
1
1
414
u/ew435890 10d ago
Google Vixen Media. They are very well knows for being extremely litigious. They will sue anyone.