How-To: Use proxy apps for semi-anonymous torrenting!

[anon]

OK, following the idea Aurion came out with at the Freegate thread, I thought it'd be cool if we could use this kind of proxy applications to announce to trackers through them, and attain a certain degree of anonymity
And it was possible:

1. Make a new folder somewhere.
2. Drop a copy of uTorrent's EXE inside it.
   Note: if you're an Azureus user, you can skip to step 6, and guide yourself with the Azureus settings post instead.
   
   
3. Make an empty settings.dat file in that same folder: open Notepad, don't type anything, go to File -> Save as..., go to this new folder, and save the file with the name:
   
   "settings.dat"
   
   with the quotes!
   
   
4. Open uTorrent. You should be greeted by an unconfigurated client (don't worry, your original config at %appdata%\uTorrent is safe.)
5. Set it up more or less like you did with your main uT install. Don't worry too much about customizing the GUI or anything yet, network configuration is what we're looking for.
6. Download any of these two proxy applications:
   
   
   
   • Ultrasurf
   • Freegate
   
   
   Note: I'd recommend Ultrasurf because it's the simplest and fastest, but Freegate works fine too.
   
   
7. Note and remember the following:
   
   
   
   • Ultrasurf uses port 9666
   • Freegate uses port 8580
   
   
   Now:
   
   
   If you chose to use Ultrasurf
   
   
   
   • Open it, and wait until it connects to a server. ("Successfully connected to server!" message)
     
     
     (this screenshot is from version 8.9 - 9.1 is the latest, but the procedure is the same)
     
   • Open your BT client.
   • Go to its proxy settings, and set them up like this:
     (note: this screenshot is from uTorrent, but it should be enough for you to know what to do with other clients. Here is the Azureus settings post if you need it.)
     
     (i.e. HTTP - not HTTPS! -, host: localhost, port 9666 and no authentication)
     
   • Press OK.
   
   
   
   
   If you chose to use Freegate
   
   
   
   • Open it, and wait until it connects to a server. ("Freegate is running in F3 Tunnel, Proxy mode. IE proxy..." message in the "Status" tab, and "Search completed. If slow..." message in the "Server" tab)
     
     
     (these screenshots are from version 6.75 - 6.77 is the latest, but the procedure is the same)
     
   • Open your BT client.
   • Go to its proxy settings, and set them up like this:
     (note: this screenshot is from uTorrent, but it should be enough for you to know what to do with other clients. Here is the Azureus settings post if you need it.)
     
     (i.e. HTTP - not HTTPS! -, host: localhost, port 8580 and no authentication)
     
   • Press OK.
   
   
   NOTE: don't close the proxy program after you finish doing the steps, you have to leave it open!
   
   
8. After you finish following the steps corresponding to the proxy app of your choice, and setting up your BitTorrent client's proxy settings accordingly, load a torrent.
   If everything has been setup correctly, after a while the tracker's status should be "working" with the proxy enabled.
   
9. Done

FAQ

Q: How can this be used with Azureus?
A: Azureus settings post

Q: I'm getting a "proxy connect error..." error in the tracker's status message
A: Make sure the proxy application you chose to use is open, and you have setup the proxy settings in your BT client exactly as in the corresponding pic I posted for your chosen proxy program.

Q: I'm getting "connection timed out", or the announces are very slow
A: Choose another server.

• For Ultrasurf:
  This is accomplished ny clicking in an unchecked checkbox in the main window.
• For Freegate:
  Go to the "Server" tab, and choose the fastest server (lowest ms. value) from the list.

Q: I'm getting HTTP error 403, 407 or 503
A: Choose another server. If this persists, alternate proxy applications - Ultrasurf works wonders here - change your BT client's proxy configuration accordingly, and restart it.

Q: Why is this "semi-anonymous"?
A: Because your tracker announces will be tunneled through the proxy, but peer communication, and therefore the actual file sharing, won't. If you need to be really anonymous, buy a VPN service or a seedbox.

Q: What the...!? I got warned/banned for doing this!
A: Most trackers forbid using different IPs for announcing and downloading files. Please note that

NOBODY'S HELD RESPONSABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES YOU MAY ENCOUNTER WHEN USING THIS METHOD!!!

Q: This would make it hard for the government to track us, right?
A: We could say so. There's no way to know whether the government is behind these free proxies. Anyway, at least, should you get in trouble because of filesharing, you were going to get caught anyway
This makes you a little harder to track because they'd expect announces to be coming from your computer and not their proxies, if they own these servers.
When it comes to people/organizations that by law can't see the proxy's logs, I'd dare to say you're completely safe. Announces travel encrypted through the HTTPS protocol.

Q: Does this have anything to do with cheating?
A: No, it's just a way of anonymizing your tracker announces. It is not related to cheating in any way.

Q: I want to hide the big lock icon that appears when using Ultrasurf
A: Go to "Options", tick the "Hide golden lock..." checkbox, and restart the app.

Q: I don't want my browser to be launched along the proxy application
A:

• For Ultrasurf: go to "Options", and uncheck "Start IE automatically".
• For Freegate: go to the "Settings" tab and check "Do not auto open browser...".

Q: I found this really helpful! How can I contribute?
A: Hit the Thanks button
You can also post feedback/suggestions, and/or give anybody who has done so a positive rep.

Q: I have another question that isn't in this FAQ!
A: Post it in this thread, I'll answer it and add it here

Q: After starting the proxy application, some apps don't work correctly, or at all (MSN, etc.) How can I fix this?

A:

• For Freegate:
  Go to the "Settings" tab -> tick "do not automatically set IE proxy", then restart the app.
  
• For Ultrasurf:
  Go to "Options", untick "Set IE proxy automatically" and press OK. Restart the app.

__________________________________________________

List of trackers this method has been confirmed to work in

• DigitalHive
• RevolutionTT (some issues with Freegate, I recommend you use Ultrasurf there)
• Blackcats Games
• Turbowolke
• TorrentBytes
• Demonoid
• Quorks
• ILoveTorrents
• BitGAMER
• Underground Gamer (if your login type is "secure", you must login to the site using the proxy in your browser first)
• SyncTheBits
• PimpYourMobile
• BitSoup

A big THX to vDD+wR for risking his accounts to try this in a lot of trackers.

This is a Beta thread/Project! Feel free to provide feedback! Please contribute if you have anything to say!

[Aurion]

Guys,plz do contribute if you feel you have extra backdoors to make this process more secure as we here in SB-I Do not held any responsibility to Whoever uses this Method.

[vDD+wR]

great tutorial anon!

actually i didn't thought that you would come up with a solution that fast, wow!
haven't tried it yet, but for sure i will give it a try!

i think a good idea would be if we could make a list, so that erverybody here could see on which private tracker it would work...

i'll report my results on it..

greetz vdd

[Aurion]

i think a good idea would be if we could make a list, so that erverybody here could see on which private tracker it would work...

i'll report my results on it..

greetz vdd

Well,I like this part since it would be useful to know what works & what dont,anyway,sort of my Beta Testing was on Digital Hive & RevTT,both work without any glitches !!

So just add Trackers that you have applied this method on so we can Update out list regularly

[vDD+wR]

Well,I like this part since it would be useful to know what works & what dont

thanks for your approval on the idea.

i tried it so far on BCG and turbowolke ^^
and on both trackers it worked without any problems..
keep you updated on the others i'm going to try.

[Aurion]

yeah sure buddy,this would be awesome to feed us with up-to-date results so we can make sure the list wont go wrong if used on any trackers

[anon]

i'll add the working tracker list and some possible FAQs i came up with but 48hrs have passed since i posted this and now only VIPs/mods can edit my first post. this is going to be edited a lot of times and i don't want to annoy the staff :/

[vDD+wR]

i'll add the working tracker list and some possible FAQs i came up with

good work anon, we really appreciate your hard work

this is going to be edited a lot of times and i don't want to annoy the staff :/

maybe it can be done that way that only on the weekends the first post gets updated.
that way the work is reduced to a minimum on the weekends and if only a few people double post some trackers, it couldn't be that hard to sort them, i think.

edit:(another idea) maybe some single person could do this, so that the staff wouldn't be bothered with this any further..

hope i could bring in some uselful ideas and looking forward to your replies..

[Aurion]

hey anon,its ok buddy,Mods/VIPs wont get annoyed by doing that as long as they are logged in (surfing the board),since we are already offering new ideas to our members

[anon]

@ vDD and reppy

just talked with Rebound and it seems the weekend thing won't be possible ... so all i can do is making sure everything i'm going to add is perfectly written before i request an edit

and thx vDD for your ideas, hope more people do the same as you we're all building this tut one by one you know, with everyone's additions...

[hitman]

its really simple just make a new post in this thread what has to be edit. we read every new post its not a big deal to edit the first post. there is no annoying dont worry about this.

[anon]

thanks hitman for your tip. i'll do that from now on when needing to update my post... :)

[vDD+wR]

and thx vDD for your ideas, hope more people do the same as you we're all building this tut one by one you know, with everyone's additions...

hey no prob, i try to help where i can! and i'm glad i'm able to

its really simple just make a new post in this thread what has to be edit. we read every new post its not a big deal to edit the first post.

but did i understand hitman right when i assume that we can still post the working trackers and anon will edit his post (not the first one)?

if yes then: everthings just working fine on torrentbytes and demonoid too..

[anon]

but did i understand hitman right when i assume that we can still post the working trackers and anon will edit his post (not the first one)?

mhm i think what he meant was that people post trackers this is working in, questions they have (which i'll add to the FAQ) and general feedback and suggestions, then i gather all of them in a post and tell the staff to add/modify this stuff ^^

if yes then: everthings just working fine on torrentbytes and demonoid too..

thx for reporting

[vDD+wR]

mhm i think what he meant was that people post trackers this is working in, questions they have (which i'll add to the FAQ) and general feedback and suggestions, then i gather all of them in a post and tell the staff to add/modify this stuff ^^

aaaaahhh, the enlightment arrived with your post!

tomorrow i try to report a few other ones, i'm just sorry that i can't report any good trackers, cause i have no account on them unfortunately..
BCG and TB were my best.

good evening everybody