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Last Updated: January 24, 2022 EST
Pirate Bay: All You Need to Know
The Pirate Bay (TPB) is the most famous peer-to-peer sharing website developed by three Swedish developers in September 2003. This site offers millions of torrent files that are free to download. However, you need a BitTorrent client to be able to download complete torrent files from the site. The three Swedish developers of the pirate bay (Peter Sunder, Fredrik Neij, and Gottfrid Svartholm) were prosecuted and found guilty of copyright infringement in 2009. The court gave them a one-year jail term and a fine.
It’s very easy to download files from thepiratebay because everything has been carefully categorized to allow you to find the files you want instantly. For instance, the site has several categories including Movies, TV Shows, Applications, Games, Porn, Videos, and Audio. You can also use the Top 100 option to find the most popular files on the site. And if you want the most recently uploaded content, there is a button for that.
Who’s a Pirate?
Anyone using the pirate bay is a “pirate”, even the registered users who contribute magnet links and torrent files to the site. Since the development of piratebay and the subsequent raid and prosecution of its developers, the site has grown to become the most famous P2P sharing platform in the world. The site is estimated to have over 5 million users currently.
What’s the Legality of Pirate Bay?
Although this website offers a vast catalog of popular TV shows, movies, music, videos, applications, games, porn, and other types of content, some people are hesitant to use it because they fear being prosecuted for copyright infringement. Others are afraid of sharing or downloading content from the site thinking it’s illegal. But the truth is that this is a peer-to-peer sharing website, which is permitted.
However, it is important to check the copyright status of each file before you share or download it, even the ones that are offered for free. Avoid files that have universal copyright protection. But you are free to share or download any content that is in the public domain. You can also freely share or download the file if you’ve produced it or genuinely own the right to download or share it.
The piratebay will not be held liable for any copyright infringement by its users because every user is expected to exercise their own discretion when determining the legitimacy of files. Unfortunately, the site has faced many legal battles with content developers, with some creators taking the site developers to court on allegations of copyright infringement. It also continues to face increased censorship.
Is It Illegal to Torrent with Your IP Address Hidden?
It is now easy to hide your torrenting activities from your internet service providers thanks to the current advances in technology. With a VPN, you can remain anonymous on the internet because it hides your IP address. Without this program, it is very easy for your ISP to monitor your activities on the internet, including the sites and web pages you visit and the files you download. Since ISPs are free to share this information with the authorities, even without your knowledge, you can easily find yourself on the wrong side of the law, especially when you share or download illegal content.
With a VPN, it will be very difficult for your internet service provider to monitor your activities, and therefore you can torrent without worrying about lawsuits. This program also hides your personal info by hiding your identity when surfing the internet.
While VPNs are legal, it is unlawful to use them to download or share illegal content. Therefore, you should only use a VPN to share or download legal content. You can be prosecuted for using a VPN to share or download copyrighted content.
Why You Should Access the Pirate Bay Using a VPN
The benefit of using a virtual private network (VPN) to access pirates bay is that you can browse the site unanimously even when on a public network. The main role of a VPN is to hide your identity when browsing the internet. Furthermore, it prevents your internet service provider (ISP) from monitoring your online activities by hiding your location and IP address.
Is this important? Yes, it is absolutely important to use a VPN when accessing TPB so that nobody can know which sites you visit or which files you download. Remember, ISP is supposed to share your browsing history with the authorities for security reasons, even without your consent. So, it will be risky if your government discovers that you are accessing the pirate bay, especially if the site has been banned in your country. But with a VPN, you will be able to hide this information from the authorities.
Importance of Using a VPN to Access thepiratebay
Pirates bay is one of the most trusted peer-to-peer sharing websites for torrents. It has a vast catalog of hundreds of thousands of movies, applications, TV shows, music, games, audio files. However, the website does not condone sharing of copyrighted or illegal content. Its main objective is to offer a platform for sharing files through different user networks.
This means that the site will not be held responsible for any illegal content shared on the platform. Every user is in control of their own safety when accessing thepiratebay. It is for this reason that you should always use a VPN when browsing or downloading from the site. It protects you against potential lawsuits when you accidentally share or download illegal content.
How to Download Files from Pirates Bay with a VPN
Before you open a magnet link to download content from the Pirate Bay, you need to have an active VPN. Here is a simple guide on how to download torrents from the site using a VPN.
- Installing the VPN – simply download and install your preferred free VPN. There are many free VPNs on the Internet including Ivacy VPN, ExpressVPN, HotSpot Shield, Tunnelbear, and NordVPN.
- Open the VPN – once it’s fully installed, double click on it to open its interface. You will be required to choose your preferred country. Choose the safest countries to access Pirate Bay from, such as the United States, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
- Connect – to connect your VPN, just click Connect. If this option is not available, use any other option meant to activate the program. If the country you’ve chosen doesn’t connect, choose another one.
- Download torrents – once your VPN connects successfully, you can open the files you want on The Pirate Bay and start the download process.
- Disconnect – once you’ve downloaded the files you want, disconnect your VPN because you don’t need it to watch or use the files.
This is the only reliable and safe way to obtain files from thepiratebay.
How to use Piratebay – A Simple Guide
If you don’t know what to do to download a file from TPB, here is a step-by-step guide.
1. Find and Download the Torrent File
Just open your browser and search for thepiratebay.org. give it a few seconds to load. There are several easy ways to find files on the site.
- Using the search bar provided by the site on its home page. Just type the name of the file and hit search.
- Open your preferred category and look for the file you want. The site has a vast database with all kinds of torrent files. So, it should be easy for you to find what you want.
Once you’ve found your preferred torrent file, click on Get This Torrent link to start the download process. The speed of the download depends on the speed of your internet. Before the download begins, you will be required to choose the storage location of the downloaded file on your PC.
2. Use a Torrent Client
A torrent client helps you to obtain a complete torrent file from the site. Luckily, there are many torrent client programs you can choose for your downloads. Here are some of the most common torrent client programs.
3. Running a Torrent Client
You can either drag the file to the client’s interface or double-click on the link to start downloading. The client will ask you to choose where the file should be stored on your PC. If you don’t choose any storage location, the file will be automatically stored in the Downloads folder.
Although the speed with which the file is downloaded depends on the strength of your internet, it can also be affected by the number of seeders and leechers available. Seeders are the people sharing the file from their devices while leechers are the people downloading the file. Torrent files with many seeders are faster to download.
Tips for Using Pirate Bay
It’s very easy to find your favorite files on the pirate bay if you follow the right steps. Here are important tips to help you find what you need on the site:
- Top 100: The site offers a list of the top 100 files, including movies, music videos, TV shows, apps, among others. This list may not have everything you need but it’s quite safe.
- Virtual Private Network (VPN): A VPN will help you to access Pirate Bays and download content anonymously. It also hides your IP address to stop authorities from monitoring your activities on the internet. With this program, you can access TPB even if it has been blocked in your country.
- Use It Cautiously: You shouldn’t download files from the pirate bays continuously to avoid being detected by the authorities.
- Use Made-up Names: You shouldn’t use your real names when signing up on the pirate bay. Make sure you remain anonymous.
- Leave Feedback: If you like a file on the site, leave a comment. This helps other users make the right decisions when choosing the files to download. It’s advisable to check the comments before you download a file on thepiratebays to know if it’s trustworthy.
These tips will keep you safe and enable you to find the best content on the site.
How to Choose the Right Files on Pirate Bay
The hundreds of results listed by the pirate bay when you are searching for a single file can be overwhelming. Fortunately, there are several ways to pick the right file, in terms of quality and download speed from the long list. For instance, you should choose the file with the highest number of seeders and fewer leechers.
Abbreviated on the website as SE, seeders are the people with the file on their devices and are willing to allow other users to download from them. Leechers (LE) are the people trying to download the file. This means that the fastest file to download is the one with 400 seeders and 50 leechers. You will find the abbreviations (SE and LE) clearly indicated on the right side of each column.
So, if you are downloading a 100GB file that has 400 seeders and 50 leechers, you can get it in a few hours provided that you have fast internet access. But if you download the same file with one seeder and a few leechers, it might take you the whole day or several days to get the file. Furthermore, downloading a large file with few seeders leads to multithreaded download which prolongs the download process.
You will also notice that similar files in the list of search results can have different sizes. This inconsistency occurs due to quality variations. For instance, the quality of YouTube videos ranges from 360p to 1080p. so, even though the video has the same length, it will have a different size when you download it, depending on the quality you choose.
Apart from quality, the difference in size also depends on the type of file you are downloading. Different video formats and containers generate different sizes. This difference can also occur when you are downloading software because some unscrupulous users share applications with additional tools, patches, and extensions. Therefore, you should be careful when downloading such files because some of them contain malware. You can also know the quality of a file on pirates bay by reading the comments sections. Through comments, you will know how other users feel about the file before you hit download.
Why Does TPB Put Skulls Next to Some Files?
Although skulls are normally associated with death, the ones found on pirate bays symbolize honor and respect. Any user with this symbol next to their files has been on the site long enough to be trusted. Since the sign is commonly used by pirates, the developers of TPB saw it fit to use it to identify their most trusted users. Don’t forget that anyone who uses the site is referred to as a pirate.
Therefore, you can use this sign to separate trusted users from the unscrupulous ones who upload content laced with malware and harmful viruses. Additionally, this sign comes in two main colors: pink and green.
A pink skull sign means the user is trustworthy because they have shared high-quality content on the site for a long time, while a green skull sign means a user is an important person who has used the site responsibly for a long time. The green sign also means that the user has more privileges than other users.
The admin and moderator tabs found on TPB indicate that the users have volunteered to manage the site for free. Users without the skull signs are fairly new to the site. And although this doesn’t imply that they have any ulterior motive, they pose a higher risk in terms of sharing illegal and harmful content. But this is not a good reason to discriminate against them because most of them are genuine users.
How Much Does It Cost to Access Piratebay? Nothing
You won’t be charged a dime to access, share files, or download content from the pirates bay. Also, the site doesn’t charge any membership fees. Its only source of income is the money donated voluntarily by well-wishers in the form of cryptocurrency. It’s not a must to make these donations, but it’s cool to give them something little once in a while to keep the site running.
The only cost you are likely to bear is to install a VPN. This is a program designed to help you stay anonymous when using the internet. It hides your IP address, making it hard for authorities to track your online activities. This is important because there’s no absolute way of knowing which files on TPB are legal and which ones aren’t.
So, without a VPN, you are likely to be prosecuted for unknowingly sharing or downloading copyrighted content on the site. Although a VPN isn’t mandatory, it will keep you safe.
Benefits and Setbacks of Piratebay
Benefits:
1. Honor Code
There is an unwritten rule that controls the peer-to-peer sharing of torrents. You automatically become a pirate the moment you open the website either as a seeder or leecher. Therefore, you have to abide by this code of conduct. For instance, you should keep the file you download from the site in your computer long enough to enable other people to download it from you. The idea here is to have a balanced ratio of seeders and leechers for a better experience on the site.
2. Resuming Download After Interruptions
In the past, you couldn’t resume downloading a file after a power outage or any other kind of interruption. This made it very difficult for torrent lovers to download large files. Today things have improved because you can now pause and resume the download process whenever you want.
3. Finding Files
It is now very easy to find the files you want on the pirate bay because the site has a search bar where you can type the name of the file you want. You can also use the pre-defined categories to find the files you want. This search process takes just a few seconds.
4. Better Seeding
Previously, TPB only allowed you to seed from one source only. But today you can seed one torrent file from several sources. That way, large files can be downloaded faster, even with slow internet access.
5. Better Accessibility
Since some governments are always blocking the main pirate bay site, you can continue to download your favorite files from the various pirate bay proxy and mirror sites available. You can also use a VPN to access the main website.
6. Free Content
The files shared on the pirate bay and its proxy sites are absolutely free. Also, it’s free to register an account on the site.
Setbacks:
1. Sensitive Content
Although pirates bay doesn’t encourage the sharing of sensitive and illegal content, it doesn’t have control over what users upload to the site. Therefore, it’s very easy to download an illegal file or one that has malware that will damage your device. So, it’s your responsibility to make sure that the content you download is safe.
2. Difficult Downloads
Some of the files available on this site are protected with sophisticated copyright technologies, making them difficult to download. This means that you need to have additional programs on your devices such as CD-Key or Keygen codes to help you bypass these restrictions. The good thing is that some users are very quick to figure out ways to avoid encryptions.
3. Slow Internet
Torrent client programs consume loads of bandwidth. Therefore, although The Pirate Bay is fast, the torrent client program you are using might slow down your internet. But you can fix this problem by setting the right bandwidth for your torrent client.
4. Expose Private Info
Once you open Piratebay, you reveal your personal details like your IP address and location to other users. But you can avoid this by installing a VPN. Fortunately, most VPNs are free to download and install.
5. Impossible to Check Content Quality
With pirates bay, it’s not possible to know the quality of the file before you download it. Even though the site offers various ideas about the quality of some files, you can’t be completely sure that it’s the right quality. What’s more, some users are malicious. They will upload files with malware just to damage your device. So always read the comments and feedback left by other users to have an idea of what you are downloading.
Is the Pirates Bay Safe?
Since thepiratebay doesn’t offer content of its own, it is generally considered not to be illegal. It is just a P2P-sharing website. This means that it cannot be held liable for any illegal content shared on the platform. If you are living in a country that allows the site to operate, you can access it freely without fear of prosecution. But if it has been banned in your country, you can still access its content through proxy and mirror sites.
You can check these proxies:
- https://www.pirateproxy-bay.com/
- https://www.thepiratesproxy.org/
- https://www.pirateproxy.space/
- https://www.tpbproxypirate.com/
- https://www.tpbaysproxy.com/
- https://www.thepirateproxy3se.com/
- https://www.thepirateproxies.org/
These are alternative sites that offer the same content found on the main site. However, they use different domain names and IP addresses. But it’s not easy to know how safe these proxy and mirror sites are. Some of them have been found to contain a lot of adware and malware. But it’s also important to understand that even the original pirate bay site might contain some unsafe files, especially since the files are stored in different users’ devices where they are completely unregulated. So, you should exercise caution when accessing these sites or downloading anything from them.
What Are the Substitutes for Pirate Bay?
Since its establishment in 2003, thepiratebay has grown to become the most popular torrent site in the world. Unfortunately, this popularity has made the site the number one target for censorship by authorities around the globe. Therefore, you might be prosecuted for accessing the site. Furthermore, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to bypass the restrictions imposed by authorities. The good thing is that there are several alternatives to Pirate Bay that you can use.
Kickass Torrents
This is a P2P sharing platform where you can find hundreds of thousands of downloadable movies, applications, TV shows, games, and others. The site can be accessed freely from any part of the globe. If it has been banned in your country, you can easily access it using a VPN.
EZTV
This site is perfect for streaming shows. It also features a calendar that contains release dates and an anonymity checker. It is very easy to use.
Zoogle
Although this site contains a lot of pop-up ads, it offers hundreds of thousands of great content including movies, TV shows, and games. Plus, you can use an ad blocker to block pop-up ads.
ExtraTorrent
This site features an amazing layout and offers a search bar to make your search for files easy and quick. It also has a vast BitTorrent system with loads of content.
IDope
This website is one of the most recent P2P sharing platforms dedicated to Kickass. It is estimated to have over 12 million torrent files. It also features an updated layout for ease of use.
How to Access the Pirate Bay with a Mobile Device
In the past, it was impossible to access thepiratebay using a mobile device. This was mainly due to the lack of torrent clients that were compatible with mobile devices. Plus, the catalog on the site appeared messy. One of the developers of Piratebay admitted that the experience trying to access the site using a mobile device was “crap”.
Nonetheless, the invention of more sophisticated mobile devices has led to the creation of torrent clients that are compatible with mobile devices. Android users can easily find their preferred torrent clients on Google Play. This has improved the site’s mobile experience significantly. It’s the same case for Blackberry users. However, iOS users have to jailbreak their devices to be able to access the pirate bay.
The RSS feeds on the website make it easy for mobile users to enjoy its content. With these feeds, you can download content remotely and customize your mobile experience. Since the site receives over 75,000 new torrents from contributors every month, you are assured of finding your favorite content. Luckily, you can now access the content on your mobile device irrespective of the operating system.
How Frequently Is the Pirate Bay Inaccessible?
The pirate bay may be inaccessible in your country for a number of reasons. Also, the duration of its inaccessibility depends on where you are. For example, if authorities in your country have restricted downloads from torrent sites like pirate bay, then the forced downtime will be continuous. But if the authorities have restricted access to certain areas of the site like the Porn section, only those areas will remain inaccessible.
Unfortunately, you can’t take any legal action against the authorities for blocking your access to torrent sites like piratebay because internet service providers (ISPs) are free to restrict access to sites that are deemed to infringe on copyrights. So, the easiest and most effective way to evade these restrictions is to use a virtual private network (VPN) or spoof your location. But location spoofing will not remain effective for a long time.
You can also use mirror sites to access the pirates bay. Mirror sites replicate the content offered on the original TPB site. They’ve proved to be quite useful in countries where the main site is always inaccessible. However, even the mirror and pirate bay proxy sites can be blocked. Therefore, you have to search extensively for the best mirror sites.
In some cases, the main piratebay site may be inaccessible because of various server issues like overloads. Much like a congested hallway, URLs also get overloaded, causing digital jams. When this happens, you just need to give the site time to resolve the jam naturally. The restoration of the system may take a few minutes or hours, so just be patient.
Original Pirate Bay Site Banned in Many Parts of the World
The original Pirate Bay website (Piratebay.org) has been banned in many countries around the world due to conflicting copyright laws. Some of the nations where this site has been blocked include Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Austria, Romania, Turkey, Russia, etc.
But even if the website has been blocked in your country, you can still access it and its content using a virtual private network (VPN) or altering your DNS. It is also important to note that the developers or owners of the Pirate Bay can’t be held accountable for any content shared on the platform because all files are uploaded by individual users.
What Are Piratebay Mirror Websites?
Simply put, a mirror site is a replica of another site. Many owners of original sites create mirror sites to help ease traffic on their main sites as well as enhance the speed of their accessibility. But pirate bay mirror sites belong to people who are not affiliated with the main site.
Pirate bays mirror sites work the same as piratebay proxy sites, allowing you to access the content on the original site without restrictions. While VPNs and pirate proxy sites can help you evade these restrictions, mirror sites have proved to be more dependable because you can still access them even when the main domain name is inaccessible.
In a word, there is no major difference between a pirate bay mirror site and a piratebay proxy site. Both of them will provide you with the same content.
Can You Be Prosecuted for Using Pirate Bay Even if You Don’t Download Anything?
If you live in a country where piratebay is forbidden, you can easily be prosecuted for accessing it or its content, even if you are not downloading anything. That’s why a VPN is extremely important because it will protect your identity when accessing the pirate bays. It is also important to note that the sites you visit record cookies. These are digital traces of your IP address. If authorities in your country acquire digital traces of your IP address that prove that you have accessed the prohibited site, you can easily be prosecuted.
How The Pirate Bay Has Withstood All Censorship Through the Years
The pirate bay has managed to remain accessible in many parts of the world despite the current technological advances and all the attempts by governments to limit its accessibility. Even with these restrictions, millions of its users from all over the world continue to enjoy its free content. Developers and tech-savvy users of TPB always come up with ways to circumvent the restrictions to continue accessing their preferred TV shows, music, videos, movies, applications, games, and other content available on the website.
Currently, several countries have banned the pirates bay including the United States, France, Germany, United Kingdom, China, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, France, among others. However, the site is still accessible in many other countries around the world including Brazil, Hong Kong, Belarus, Switzerland, and many others.
So many torrent websites have ended up closing their operations completely due to unrelenting lawsuits, market oversaturation, and censorship. But surprisingly, the pirate bays has withstood these challenges over the years, allowing its users to continue accessing their favorite content without a problem. The site has survived endless legal scrutiny, fines, and national censorship.
The main reason why this website has managed to overcome all these hurdles is its large pool of its followers. Since the website doesn’t charge subscription fees or sell content, its main source of income is donations and adverts. You can offer your donations using Bitcoin, Monero, or Litecoin. With these funds, TPB developers are able to develop tools that help their millions of users to continue accessing their favorite content freely, even if they are in countries where access to the site is restricted. However, it’s not very clear whether this will cause serious legal challenges in the coming days.
Top Five Pirate Bay Alternatives
1337x.to
In December 2019, this site got an Alexa ranking of 333, which means that it is the 333rd most-visited website on the world wide web. Its user interface is among the most friendly. The site provides links to a wide range of popular content. But it has been banned in many countries.
KickassTorrents
This site offers a user-friendly interface, a wide range of popular files, and a reliable team of staff dedicated to offering the best user experience. However, some users say it’s not quite up to the standards of the original.
EZTV
EZTV has the most amazing basics. It features a friendly interface with millions of safe files. Other great features include an integral anonymity checker to keep your IP address unavailable. However, this site is not available in many countries due to censorship.
YTS
YTS is specifically designed to offer high-quality video files that have been compressed using the x264 video codec. It’s ideal for users with slow internet or small storage drives. However, it continues to face frequent censorship, which has forced its developers to keep changing its domains.
Zooqle
Zooqle offers millions of reliable torrents via magnet links. Thousands of these links are added every day. However, it is relatively new and has not faced many restrictions. Therefore, it doesn’t have some of the popular files.
New Pirate Bay for NFTs Has Been Launched
A new pirate bay for NFTs (non-fungible tokens) has been created by an Australian developer to help people invest in NFTs wisely. Geoffrey Huntley, says that the inspiration to develop this platform came from the ongoing whim in the cryptocurrency industry. These tokens allow artists to create unique pieces and sell them directly to collectors and fans through Blockchain.
The new platform is called The NFT Bay and it displays NFTs in their original image form rather than the Blockchain-secured version. This platform is aimed at discouraging collectors and fans from purchasing NFT art. According to CoinDesk, The NFT Bay currently has at least a 17.96-terabyte catalog of NFT copies in their image form, and it has attracted over 1.2 million active visitors. This educational platform uses a layout and logo that are almost similar to those of the Pirate Bay.