How do I stop torrents?

Hey everyone,

I might have a massive problem on my hands and I could use some help.

I've poured tens of thousands of dollars and years of my life into this one thing. Now I'm trying to actually sell it and make some money.

But I'm worried the whole thing will just end up on some torrent site and all that work will basically go down the drain.

Any advice on how to stop that? 🤷

What would you guys do if you were me? How do you protect your work when you're actually relying on it to pay the bills and can't just give it away for free forever?

So now you’re stuck selling it face-to-face—it’s basically the only way to get it done at this point.

I honestly don't think you can stop torrenting. It's just built into how the internet works now.
But what exactly are we talking about here?

Who exactly were you planning on selling that to?

I was thinking about selling this to regular people (nothing niche for a tiny circle).

The thing is, I feel like it could easily end up on torrent sites. That’s fine since there's clearly interest, but it sucks for me. 😢

So, what kind of thing are we talking about? Give me some actual details here.

Not a chance. Big corporations pour billions into all these ridiculous anti-piracy measures, but they always end up acting like shortsighted fools—mostly just punishing the actual paying customers. It’s no wonder people pivot to torrents when they’re tired of fighting through endless layers of digital handcuffs just to use something they bought.

The smartest move is simply making a great product. Take Saturday Night Live, for example—you could find their stuff online for free for nearly a decade, but once they finally put it on YouTube, sales on Amazon absolutely skyrocketed.

Look, just build the best protection you can. It doesn't need to be anything fancy—maybe just have the program refuse to run if it detects it isn't an original copy or something along those lines. Once that's done, launch the sales push. Put it on a torrent site. People will download it, complain about why it isn't working properly, and then end up buying the legitimate version.

Studies show that users of P2P services (torrents) are actually 40% more likely to purchase original software and music than those who don't use them.

So, if someone truly loves what you're offering, they'll buy the original. Just like I did. 🙂

Best,

unknown

Here’s how I see the future working:

Everything moves to torrents. People actually act with integrity—once they grab something they love, they just hit a button and donate to the creators, based on what they can afford.

It’s like a street performer in NYC; anyone can stop and listen for free, but if the music really hits you in the soul, you drop some cash in the case.

I’ve downloaded plenty of stuff via torrents myself, and honestly, if there was a simple way to tip, I’d happily pay whatever I felt like for the stuff I enjoy.
For instance, if it's a great movie, I’d toss over the price of a ticket at AMC. For Photoshop, I’d probably give maybe five bucks just out of respect because it's a solid tool, though I wouldn't pay more since I barely touch it.

unknown said:😂

Honestly, who cares about the cash? The internet is basically free, so anything you can snag on a torrent costs zero bucks. If I actually shelled out $1.75 for every little thing I downloaded, I could’ve probably bought a new Ford 🙏
way sooner.

restlessnomad16 said:Honestly, I don't care about the money part. Internet is basically free, so whatever you can grab on a torrent site costs nothing. If I actually paid $1.75 for every little thing I downloaded, I probably could've bought a brand new Ford 🙏
by now.

Don't be surprised when someone eventually comes knocking on your door in a few years because of all those "free" downloads and wants their cut 😁

Lurker, I can't set up any kind of protection, but I guess I hope you're telling the truth.

Joseph Watson3, look, I believe in quality too, but seeing these kids who grew up on "free" stuff online without ever having a real job... I'm a little skeptical.

restlessnomad16, yeah, it's all wonderful and free until the day you actually need to earn a living. You'll see when your boss, say, refuses to pay you because, well, what you made won't sell since everyone just downloads it for free from the internet. You'll start thinking differently then. Cheers.

I mean, even big corporations over here in the States have started logging IP addresses for anyone downloading movies, music, or even software via torrents. They basically track you down just to give you a choice: pay up or face a judge. I guess we’re still kind of lucky that our local laws haven't caught up to that level of intensity yet, but honestly, in maybe five to ten years, we could easily find ourselves stuck in the same mess. Sure, there's always the technical possibility of tracking IPs, but considering how things are run around here...

placidgull21 said:Look, corporations over in Western countries have already started logging the IP addresses of anyone downloading movies, music, or even software via torrents. They track them down and then give them a choice: pay up or face a judge. We’re lucky enough to be a bit behind the curve when it comes to those kinds of laws, but in five to ten years, we could easily find ourselves in the same boat. Sure, tracking IPs is always an option, but given how things are run in this country...

That won't be happening here for a long time. I have a buddy in Germany who used to download all those great freebies online through torrents, and after a while, he got hit with a massive bill—over $3,000—and obviously, he had to cough up the cash.

Mark Sanchez3 said:It won't be happening here anytime soon. I have a buddy over in Germany who used to grab all those lovely freebies online via torrents—and after a while, he got hit with a massive bill (over $3,000) that he actually had to cough up.

This is just shady extortion by groups like ASCAP and their ilk. Their lawyers send out these intimidating letters threatening legal action, and people panic and pay up. Seriously, can anyone name a single person who actually lost a court case over this? 🤣

Beyond that, there are encrypted torrents, private trackers, Dropbox—plus the Japanese have that one incredible file-sharing program that makes it theoretically impossible to track you. There are plenty of ways. What they're trying to pull is basically the same thing Sony did back in the seventies when they tried to ban cassette recorders with recording capabilities. 🤣

You’re going to need to track down some absolute mastermind who can engineer an encryption so airtight that even the FBI couldn't touch it... I’d suggest you start looking for a serious, high-level hacker if you actually want this to work.

Chris Ruiz10 said:Hey everyone,

I’ve got a potentially massive headache on my hands here and I really need some input from the group.

I’ve poured tens of thousands of dollars and years upon years of my life into this one project. Now, I'm finally looking to actually monetize it and make some real money.

The thing is—and this is what’s keeping me up at night—I’m terrified it’ll just end up sitting on some random torrent site, and all that sweat and blood goes straight down the drain.

Can anyone give me some advice on how to stop that from happening? 🤷

What would you guys do if you were in my shoes? How do you protect your work when your livelihood depends on it and you can't afford to just give everything away for free forever?

Look, have you ever even downloaded a torrent? Because if you have, it feels pretty hypocritical to come crawling here asking people to pay for your stuff. So, cut the crap.☕

And if you haven't touched a torrent in your life, then maybe it's time you started...😉

placidgull21 said:Don't act surprised when some collector eventually comes knocking on your door down the road, asking for every cent you owe for all those "free" things you thought you were getting. 😁

Just pulled down about 100GB from a torrent, but man... if someone doesn't knock it off soon, I'm gonna lose it. Seriously, one more thing and I might just blow a gasket.

I’ve been following this thread closely, and honestly, I think we’re missing the forest for the trees here. We keep obsessing over the minor technicalities when the actual core issue is staring us right in the face. It’s like watching a high-stakes game at Madison Square Garden and arguing about the brand of Gatorade being served in the dugout instead of focusing on the defensive rotation. One side keeps pushing a narrative that just doesn't hold water under scrutiny, while the other is too busy playing devil's advocate to see the obvious flaws in their own logic. Let's try to step back and look at the big picture before we run ourselves ragged over nothing. kaže:
Have you ever downloaded a torrent? If you have, then I find it incredibly hypocritical to start lecturing everyone else about paying for your content. Honestly, cut the crap.☕

If you’ve never dipped your toes into the world of torrenting, consider this your sign to start.😉

And let’s be honest—even if you didn’t personally use Google, we all know they’re just as much to blame in this whole mess, right? We aren't blind to how much power they wield or exactly how many billions they rake in every single year. It’s pretty obvious.🤷

Setting up protection is basically impossible.

I don't download movies from torrents or watch them on my computer. I go to the theater, hit up the video store, and if I actually like a movie—I buy it.

It’s funny how some people spend all their energy trying to "protect themselves" while stealing, instead of just making money and buying the original.

JPK, do you seriously think the courts can't touch them? What happens if someone gets caught with a hard drive full of pirated movies? I don't get it. Does the law just not apply because the data is digital or something?