TorrentFreedom Offers 100% Anonymous and Unrestricted BitTorrent
With a militant style more associated with the crew of The Pirate Bay, TorrentFreedom promises to put the user back in control, by offering a new BitTorrent-optimized, zero-logging, 100% anonymous VPN service, guaranteed to punch a hole through throttling ISPs. Be quick for a free account!
Born out of the VPNTunnel Project, the TorrentFreedom ‘manifesto’ is an interesting document, particularly if you’ve ever worried about being tracked, traffic shaped, blocked or censored on the Internet. With a suitably clandestine feel, the manifesto states:
“Today, there is a nexus of Schumpeterian creative destruction to be found at the asymptotic fringe of intellectual property law and networking technology. Everyone says there is an ‘arms race’ between the unwashed filesharing masses and the forces of Big Brother - we like to think of ourselves as the suitcase nuke for the little guys.”
TorrentFreak got in touch with ‘Faust’ of TorrentFreedom to find out what on earth they’re talking about.
TF: Tell us about this ‘creative destruction’ and what inspired you to create TorrentFreedom.
Faust: It’s all but trite to point out nowadays that we’ve undergone a revolution in how human knowledge is created, stored, and shared. And, much as Schumpeter himself had predicted, the creativity unleashed has more than made up for the detritus of old forms of information transmission that now scatter the landscape like broken, forgotten toys. This is as it should be. The backlash from the praxis of stasis threatens to drown the organic reinvigoration that innovation technology has always brought forth - there would be no 95 theses without Gutenburg, remember.
So our inspiration comes from a deeper, historical appreciation for the transformative role of new technologies in human social organization. Nobody knows where creativity, academia, and knowledge creation will evolve as our tools allow for more and deeper interconnection between physically disparate peoples - but we do know that hampering that process isn’t part of making a better world for all beings. We’d like to see people keep sharing, keep learning, keep exploring. . . and they can’t do that if there’s roadblocks and threats of censorship every step of the way. Make it easy and make it work, that’s our approach - then the creative destruction can continue apace.
TF: There are number of evils you appear to tackle head on with this service, such as traffic shaping, packet raping, blocking, censorship etc. I expect lots of Comcast customers will be interested as you specifically mention the ‘Sandvining’ technique they employ. How does your system work and how will it benefit each type of problem?
Faust: Metaphorically, the system is quite simple: think of the difference between sending postcards in the postal mail, versus sending sealed envelopes. A postcard can easily be read by anyone along the way, and if they don’t like what it says (or who it is addressed to), they could just throw it out - oops! A sealed letter isn’t vulnerable like that - the contents aren’t readable whilst in transit. Even more than that, our system protects the address (sender and receiver) on the envelope as well - so nobody can block the message just because they don’t like where it’s headed (or where it’s come from).
At a deeper level, our server farm is based in the Netherlands. Everything passes in and out of these machines, and all IP addresses are associated with them. The activities of our customers - once their sessions decrypt and leave our server farm - are fully and unambiguously decoupled from their RL info (including local/physical IP address). Big Brother isn’t going to show up at their doorstep with a fishing-expedition summons or subpoena. We took it a step further, however - we’ve broken the link between RL info and public IP for our customers inside our systems as well - once an account is set up, it is methodologically impossible for anyone to back-connect a given external TF IP address to a customers’ specific account, ever.
TF: You’re called TorrentFreedom so it’s fairly clear which crowd you’re aiming your product act. What sort of dedicated optimizations can BitTorrent users look forward to when using your service?
Faust: We’ve tested the service extensively with just about every BT client out there. They all work seamlessly. We also don’t penalize our customers for running lots of network traffic over TorrentFreedom - there are no monthly caps, and no drama if someone uses a lot of gigs with us. That’s cool - it’s why we built the system!
OpenVPN, in its rawest form, will work with BT traffic - but getting it to do so consistently and smoothly is nontrivial. We’ve done all that work, so our customers don’t need to become experts in subnet addressing, MTU window sizing, and the 100 other little tweaks one needs to do to really make BT over a VPN sing. We also hand out real, public IP addresses - so no port forwarding garbage, just fast connectivity.
TF: Please give us a brief rundown on how your system works.
Faust: On a technical level, it’s an implementation of the TLS-based OpenVPN project’s codebase (which itself implements various OpenSSL crypto algorithms). Starting from there, we’ve created a Java-based client that handles all the encryption and coordinates OpenVPN’s handshake tasks, to ensure that every packet coming and going from our customers’ PCs is tightly encrypted (including DNS queries, unlike pptp). The really cool stuff comes in the firewall-busting tricks that our client has up its sleeve - there’s very few local network configurations that we can’t tunnel through. . . with no customer tweaking of the software needed. We’ve also implemented a rather clever port 443 wrapper so that, unlike many VPN instantiations, the TorrentFreedom service can’t be blocked unless the entire HTTPS capacity is also shut down - unlikely.
We’ve built most everything with open code, and we’re pushing further in that direction (with perhaps full distribution of the source for our client extensions in the works). “Just trust us” crypto isn’t worth anything - if it’s not open, it’s not reliable. We run 2048 keylength RSA algorithms so, to the local ISP or anyone else “listening in” to our customers’ packets, the data all looks like a stream of secure web traffic, back and forth. This is true for ALL IP traffic coming off a machine, all protocols and all applications. So there’s no need to tweak individual applications to get them to “work” with TorrentFreedom - just set up the client, connect, and everything is encrypted all the time.
TF: There are other well known VPN services that say they are strong on anonymity and hide your IP address, yet all of them will give up your personal details at some point. How is TorrentFreedom going to live up to the claim in the manifesto that BitTorrent users using your service will be “just about as traceable as dusty footprints in a windswept street. You can’t subpoena what doesn’t exist” ?
Faust: Ok this is where the rubber really meets the road. An “anonymizing” service that keeps detailed records of their customers’ activities is just a problem waiting to happen. There’s no point in hiding an IP address only to keep records that connect that IP address to the one that’s used to cover for it! And, reality is that there is no place in the world that isn’t subject to some form of legal jurisdiction - just saying “we won’t turn over records” is silly. When the authorities show up - with court orders or guns - and people start talking about jail time and contempt, those records are going to get coughed up, period. Despite our respect for the company overall, Hushmail’s admission that it provides “secure” email information to certain government authorities demonstrates all too well that even a good team will fold if the pressure gets too high - and if they have information to provide in the first place!
We built the system from day one so that there’s no correlation between an IP+timestamp and a username - this means we can’t hand over logs of “who was on what IP at what time”, and therefore the user can’t be tracked back from their online activity. Our payment system is fully abstracted from the operational environment - billing events are passed to the VPN engine via temporary “tokens” that are one-way-factors - there’s no link between the VPN account and the details of the billing transaction, ever.
We keep a little bit of data on file to make sure we can monitor the performance of the system overall, but we don’t have “server logs” like everyone else does. They don’t exist. So, we can be forced to turn over those logs - but they don’t link back to anything. Not to mention all of our operational VMs run in fully-encrypted partitions, etc. Someone seizing any of our servers has nothing but an expensive doorjam for their troubles. Even someone with full access to every machine we have cannot link people to their past network traffic through TorrentFreedom. It’s structural anonymity, at the most fundamental level.
Now, there’s lots of other VPN services out there and some of them are sorta ok. Most, let’s be honest, are based on pptp - it’s really insecure with several known weaknesses. Plus, it’s closed-source/proprietary, so who knows if it has backdoors or not? The reason people use it is because it’s easy to set up - Windows machines come with it pre-installed. Well, we did the hard work of getting a real VPN implementation (OpenVPN) to work just as easily as pptp - but without the security problems.
Some of the stuff we did is a little complex, behind the scenes, but the end result is a service that’s really easy to set up and use. We’ve got clients for Windows, Macs, and Linux. We don’t limit bandwidth, and we’ve got some very fast servers backing it all up. It’s all done right.
TF: Any final thoughts?
Faust: Using TorrentFreedom for online security is like bringing a machine-gun to a knife fight. . . it might not be ‘fair,’ but the outcome isn’t going to be in question either.
TF: lol ;)
Update: the free invites are gone.
Alternatives: (not free)
Previously: Free The Pirate Bay, Wear Yellow for Sharing
Next: The Pirate Bay and Filesharers Backed by Swedish Politicians
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@ post 122: not quite sure what you mean, but I’ve had the same IP (which points to Norway) so far. I think. whatismyipaddress.com has always said it’s Norway anyway
I mean the Netherlands.
Ok, I should let you know that Faust is a KNOWN crook.I wouldnt trust this service even if it was free!
He has left a string of disgruntled people who have lost 1000’s of dollars to this chump!
I should also point out that he was once caught smuggling many lb’s of cocaine over the US border. For all those who have seen the damage crack cocaine does to people, do you really want to fund his future drugs empire? I sure wouldnt!
Be warned! He is a rip off merchant. keep your money in your pocket.
TorrentFreak: I will be emailing you some details on this person and you can then make up your own damned minds if you want to ‘endorse’ his service.
@126
relakks gives you a new ip every time you connect to it, very useful for circumventing rapidshare and other ip based blocks. Seems like this service not very good for trolling and getting B&
i hope their service are better than their web site!!!
I can confirm that Goldens.com is owned by a man who goes by the handle “Fausty”, and he advertises it regularly on a zoophile website called “Elitezoo”. Anybody who cares to register there (it’s free) can view his signature on his posts, which links to goldens.com. (I’d hurry if you want proof, because he’s probably monitoring this thread and will change it if he notes this comment). Run a google search for “Fausty” and “cocaine”, and then follow the links from there. He is a nasty piece of work, and is undoubtedly being monitored by the feds due to his drug bust.
WE MUST SUPPORT HIS AWESOME LIFESTYLE BY GIVING HIM MOAR MONEYS, IS A MAN NOT ENTITLED TO HIS DRUG OF CHOICE?
I can verify that this guy is who they say he is (”Fausty”) and what they say he is. I’ve had some personal and painful experience with him.
They forgot to mention that he got out of the fed prison by rolling on his buddies.
You want to trust him not to keep logs or permit anyone else to?
If you are given a real IP from TF’s pool of IPs - what is to stop ISP’s just blocking traffic to these IPs?
ISPs traffic shape as there isn’t infinite bandwidth - in theory by trying to bypass traffic shaping you eventually saturate the link you are using and everyone ends up with a slow connection.
Ok, I just got it up and running with Leopard.
It wasn’t easy… if you want to find out what I did, send me an email to tf-stevenknightswood[dot]net.
My results are not surprising at all… yes, you WILL lose speed on your connection to your machine, because you are diverting your (now encrypted) traffic from the US to NL and then somewhere else.
My connection to the internet is pretty fast. Speak Easy’s speed test normally shows it as 6866 down / 3424 up, but while connected to TF it is only 3268 down / 969 up… so I lose a *LOT* of speed.
But it is something that I can live with during those times when I need anonymity.
Peace.
As TorrentFreedom spokesperson, you Faust should get your act together, you dont sound reassuring mate, more like like a silly clown messiah. what? discovered the cure for cancer or something that important? :(
I got this from, well not a torrent tracker btw, can’t quote the source, but here’s what the siteop there posted about p2p.
“P2P HAS NOW BECOME STRICTLY BUSINESS HOWEVER RUN BY INCOMPETENT AMATEURS AND DUBIOUS CHARACTERS
As 2008 really takes off now, there isn’t a single shuttle from P2P quarters, programmewise, and not a single new site, no new “private tracker” as they call it (mind the quotes, they are meant to represent their demoralisation) to fill the huge vacuum left by dead giant Demonoid or niche Oink, buzzwise.
And there aren’t going to be any. The reason is quite simple. No one really clever and capable of developing new and strong ideas and technologies is interested in becoming part of such a shady and boisterous clique. This clique is formed by most BitTorrent site owners and staff, together with most of their coders and biased promoters who have again and again proved to be not only dismayingly incompetent and irresponsible, but also cynical and hypocrite to a nauseating degree. The only professionalism they seem to have graduated in is one of Lies & Rumours.
And if P2P has become P4P (Piracy for Profit) because of them and there seems to be no way out due to the vicious circle it created, including large chunks of the Scene, with some Topsites turned into greedy pay-for-leech machines. And if P4P is all about vanity and lies and fierce competition. And if it has now become a sizable though illicit business with all this unaccountable money and the huge userbases of blind torrentians, then WHY should it not be run by pros?
I say bring in the pros so at least those hordes of gullible users get some proper privacy and protection against systematic scamming and data mining from their “private trackers” and the whole BitTorrent network.
However, if BitTorrent management becomes efficient and reliable as a professionally kept service, it will fade away as its interest only resides in the slightly underground aura its users once believed it to have. To make P2P legal is to rob it from its “sex appeal”: no matter what those “politically aware” torrentian voices claim, what they really want is free lunch forever, relatively safe but only if it still feels like a “forbidden fruit”.
[quote comment="285057"][quote comment="285039"][quote comment="284957"][quote comment="284924"]obviously this company don’t understand the point of peer to peer.[/quote]
obviously this poster don’t understand the point of VPN.[/quote]
p2p = free, this service = not, comprende?[/quote]
It’s VPN and gigabit ports costs money. Comprende? Fucking imbecile.
BTW, YOU CAN SEED WITH VPN YOU FUCKING MORONS!
And this VPN totally owns that piece of shit Relakks.[/quote]
I know what VPN is dipshit, I fucking run one you prick. But using one for general usage such as downloading your latest gay porn video is just plain dumb.Hence why this article is just purely ad spam when this site is all about torrents. Now fuck off under your hole you appear to of come out of.
Fatal error: Cannot redeclare checkemailorpassword() (previously declared in /home/tfreedom/public_html/scripts/lib.php:4) in /home/tfreedom/public_html/scripts/lib.php on line 4
Looks mickey mouse. I wouldn’t give them money.
“Today, there is a nexus of Schumpeterian creative destruction to be found at the asymptotic fringe of intellectual property law and networking technology. Everyone says there is an ‘arms race’ between the unwashed filesharing masses and the forces of Big Brother - we like to think of ourselves as the suitcase nuke for the little guys.”
Obnoxious prick. No surprise he calls himself “Faust”. Maybe he’ll sell you all out to the RIAA to save his arse like Faust did with the devil hahaha.
Paying 4 warez ?
LOL!
[quote comment="285425"]Ok, I just got it up and running with Leopard.
It wasn’t easy… if you want to find out what I did, send me an email to tf-stevenknightswood[dot]net.
My results are not surprising at all… yes, you WILL lose speed on your connection to your machine, because you are diverting your (now encrypted) traffic from the US to NL and then somewhere else.
My connection to the internet is pretty fast. Speak Easy’s speed test normally shows it as 6866 down / 3424 up, but while connected to TF it is only 3268 down / 969 up… so I lose a *LOT* of speed.
But it is something that I can live with during those times when I need anonymity.
Peace.[/quote]
What’s your full email? I’d love to know how you got it set up since I’m experiencing some trouble. Thanks!
Who the fuck pays for what they steal online? Might as well just buy the cd/dvd/album knowing the money goes to the people who actually made the product, not the schiesters who set up some bit torrent site and had the nerve to fucking charge money over it.
Get fucked, torrent freedom. Hope you go down in a firey blaze.
i find that shallow and pedantic.
i tot chickens ate cheese!
i think humanity and fish can co-exist peacefully!
the ring came off my pudding can, use my penknife my good man its monorail!
monorail!
MONNNNOOOOOOOOOOOORAIL!
@FTS, amen brotha. Who pays for what they steal? If I could pay for a service, I’d go the legal route, really. I also agree with paying the artists rather than the pirate! That is completely ridiculous. They are the junkies on the steal corner selling pirated DVDs with no lables and pour sharpie skills.
Once membership fees come into play, it is no longer about the community and more about turning a profit.
But then, Faust is all about making profit and to hell with who is paying.
File sharing has, and always will be free. Shitesters like Faust are just proffiting from dumb net users fear of the RIAA. Wake up people! You have more chance of being struck by lightning than be sued for stealing warez and movies.
Would you really want to put your money into the pocket of a drug smuggler/animal molester/scam artist/narc? since Faust is all 4 of these.
…and, just when you thought you were safe?
http://www.torrentfreedom.com/server-status/
So much for anonymous eh?
[quote comment="285621"]…and, just when you thought you were safe?
http://www.torrentfreedom.com/server-status/
So much for anonymous eh?[/quote]
Ahahaha
never mind. Its a forbidden link now, but a few minutes ago, that oage revealed all the IP addresses connected to torrentfreedom. And he seriously wants people to pay for such amauter security? Oh please say this whole page here is a bad joke!
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