encryption

D

DenizenofEvil

New member
I have been using Newshosting for quite some time now and generally, have been pleased with their service, retention, and most of all their price. As anyone does, on occasion, I worry about getting a letter from the MPAA or RIAA. My question concerns the use of encryption for downloads so they cannot be monitored. Newhosting does not offer encryption and Giganews does. The price difference is 5 bucks per month between the two. Is encryption, as well as better retention, worth the price difference? Is encryption alone worth the extra price?
 
4play said:
not all usenet servers log what people download just the amount.
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This is true. Here is a quote from Usenetserver's FAQ.

" At Usenetserver.com, it is our goal to keep your personal information as private as possible. Our news servers remove the X-TRACE header and NNTP-posting-host header, thereby removing where you posted from. Other users only see from which UNS server you posted. We also do not monitor what you download. We only monitor how much you download in accordance to your chosen account. Please understand that we only see byte data and nothing else."

I will sleep better using encryption. My ISP is Roadrunner, owned by Time Warner, who coincidentally, produces movies.

It's like practicing safe sex, why take a chance?
 
What price difference are you comparing to get $5 difference? I know that it costs $5 to add encryption to any of the lesser accounts (not diamond) at Giganews. The Diamond account at giganews is $19.99 for the first month only ($5 more than the highest account at newshosting) and then becomes $29.99 so it is a bit more than regular news services. I personally use UseNetServer as they offer free 256 bit SSL included in their plans and they are relatively cheap. Encryption may be worth the piece of mind to you so I suggest weighing your options.
 
We count every byte of information that flows from our server to your pc. This includes all files from binaries groups, text groups, and headers. We do not count transfer amounts for posts you make to groups. WE DO NOT HAVE VISIBILITY OF WHAT YOU DOWNLOAD, ONLY HOW MUCH YOU DOWNLOAD.
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this also taken from FAQ for Newsdemon.

so looks pretty safe, they also offer SSL now
 
Holy Moley... I guess I didn't realize the diamond account price was only a one month special...DUH!

Certainly, my peace of mind is not worth paying twice the amount per month for service.

Fletcher 25
Usenetserver seems like a good deal. Do you use SSL, and if you do, does it affect your download speed?
 
So SSL just encrypts the data so it's theoretically harder for the ISP to tell what you are downloading? Might be useful on some university campuses or other places where the "ISP" may closely monitor your connection.

How much does the encryption slow down your download though? I like to run a slow p3 533mhz and 256 ram box for usenet downloads so I wonder if it would bog the system down.
 
colonblow87 said:
Holy Moley... I guess I didn't realize the diamond account price was only a one month special...DUH!

Certainly, my peace of mind is not worth paying twice the amount per month for service.

Fletcher 25
Usenetserver seems like a good deal. Do you use SSL, and if you do, does it affect your download speed?
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I use SSL (they offer 256 bit encryption) with usenetserver and speed is just fine (max of my connection 5 Mbps).
 
if you are afraid of mpaa letters just do not post. the mpaa does no have a way to monitor what is sent between you and usenet company.
 
SSL encrypts data between my PC and the newsgroup servers, that is right? It is similar to the P2P clients like Azereus or UTOrrent which also gives encryption on the traffic.

The purpose of something like http://www.secure-tunnel.com is slightly different. Your request goes to secure tunnel servers first, they then forward the request to the newsgroup servers or any internet website (Zonealarm has introduced something on the similar lines, though different recently), there by your IP is not shown to anybody in the outside world. Add a few bucks for that feature.
 
encryption on usenet is pointless for defending yourself against the riaa/mpaa.

Usenet knows what you download encrypted or not. Only purposes it serves is if your ISP monitors or is forced to monitor you.
 
avominex said:
SSL encrypts data between my PC and the newsgroup servers, that is right? It is similar to the P2P clients like Azereus or UTOrrent which also gives encryption on the traffic.

The purpose of something like http://www.secure-tunnel.com is slightly different. Your request goes to secure tunnel servers first, they then forward the request to the newsgroup servers or any internet website (Zonealarm has introduced something on the similar lines, though different recently), there by your IP is not shown to anybody in the outside world. Add a few bucks for that feature.
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i would NOT reccomend secure-tunnel. i signed up with them; used the vpn tunnel; and canceled my account 3 days later. i found www.findnot.com


muuuuch better :yup:
 
usenet just log the amount of bytes you download - not the particular files you download ! if ISP in the future DO monitor our habit on what we download then that will be a different matter !
 
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