There seems to be a sub-group of salty dogs that sail without protection. They are often US saying they get lots of letters from ISP but nothing comes of it, lately. I’m one to hedge on the side of caution and will be continuing to use VPN but just wondering how much this is just a loud minority and how much truth is to it?
In a private tracker, I assume there are no narcs. If there was one they’d have to get a list of IP addresses for their intellectual property, then track down dozens of different ISPs to send them notices. If get a notice, I will delete the media, my account, etc. In court, the only proof they have is that my IP downloaded content. I will show them my public unprotected guest network, letting them know it was probably one of my neighbors. Unless they can find a copy, there’s not much more they can do. This is not legal advice. For actual legal advice see EFF.org.
Afaik in Germany you could be held responsible for not securing and taking measures for unprotected gust networks. That’s why usually those places have easy passwords like “Passwort123” or “WartezeitBeimTermin”. Just to fend of the rogue bypassers