Private Trackers are effectively websites which provide torrents, with the same functionality as a public tracker (think ThePirateBay or KickassTorrents). However they are invite only (generally speaking). This means that you must be a member of these sites to utilize and download “their” torrents. Generally you cannot register, and instead you must be invited by an already active member, usually these members have also been authorized to actually invite new users.
Within these trackers, there are usually long-ass rules most people don’t bother to read (read them and follow them or get banned). These rules usually cover how much an individual user can download, what content can be uploaded, etc. Depending on the tracker these rules can be pretty lack-a-daisy to turbo-autismo.
Advantages of using Private-Trackers
This depends entirely on the precautions of the operator. Some are shady and will use your information for profit, some are not. Two important precautions to take:
Before doing this, you gotta sit down and really ask yourself: “What do I actually need?”. If you’re fine with downloading off ThePirateBay then you might not need to join. Mainly due to Private Trackers being a long process to join most of the time. Joining these trackers aren’t hard persey, just time-consuming. Effectively if you’re looking for some normie shit in like 480p yiffy mp4 files then just stick with TPP or KAT. But if you want to build a nice comprehensive library of consisten and superior quality with decent encodes, and proper tagging then you’ll want to heavily consider joining a tracker.
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joining an OPEN-SIGNUP TRACKER. These are the easiest to join. A lot of trackers start out very small and require an open-sign up to attract users before they offer limited entry (or are just always open EG: BakaBT.) There are numerous websites that keep track of the aformentioned (opentrackers.org, opentrackers.net, btracs.com, /r/OpenSignups). UNless you’re looking for something very specific, just go to RUTRACKER (Rutracker.org). It’s in Russian. RuTracker is a really good website since it’s an open website, with decent comprehensive collections, high seeder rates and high standards, despite low ratio-restrictions (you dont need to seed for that long). Honestly speaking unless you’re an autist, you’ll probably be content with whatever you need via this site.
However, it isn’t always this easy.Some other methods of joining will be noted.
Paying to illegally download stuff (kek). Some trackers will let you join for a fee (For instance IPTorrents). This is basically to prevent cheaters from abusing the system (paying for another account, yet this doesnt stop CSGO hackers lmao), as if they fuck up they lose their account, thus their money. As a BTW IPTorrents is aids for a plethora of reasons, and even having a good rep (EG: Good Upload Ratio) from them wont really bring you anywhere (like putting “Assistant Janitor” on your resume when applying as a Lawyer).
Interview some trackers have an interview system (see: what.cd before they got the Z U C C ). It basically means you join an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and answer questions asked by their staff (What.cd had like 50+ wtf). It’s mostly a way to review if youre autistic enough to upload shit in the most obscure file-types and also to see your “origin” as almost all of them will ask that you join via your home connection.
Invite Forums This is more of a “after you get good rep” type of entry. Basically once you’ve established a good reputation (good upload ratios, rare uploads, organized downloads etc) you will be able to move onto more restrictive/elite trackers. Most top trackers required new users to have a good history and good standings (EG: Power Users/Elite Userclasses) on a tracker that they trust (EG: What.CD and Waffle.CD). The tracker scene is a very small world, and tracker staff are often friends/will cooperate with other trackers (or hate each others guts). As such there are often recruitment threads on various trackers, so they can exchange good-standing users for the benefit of all.
Kool Kids Klub Once you’ve made it to the big boys league, the rest is really up to you - you can try to join some of the ultra-exclusive trackers like EXIGO or HDbits (Dont bother with Art of Misdirection unless you’re an actual professional magician lmao) - but by now these should have covered pretty much all methods of joining trackers, unless you’re trying to find something really specific, or youre just trying to do it for E-Peen.
Seedboxes
"A seedbox is a dedicated server at a high speed datacenter with a public IP address for the downloading and seeding of bittorrent files. Persons who have access to a seedbox can download these files to their personal computers at any time and from any place that has an internet connection." - Whirlpool
Seedboxes are often unecessary for most members. Honestly speaking it’s pretty easy to do quite well even on hard-af websites such as Bibliotik (even with a 100kb/s upload speed ((provided that you actually upload))). However, individuals who want to use additional features from Seedboxes (for instance VPN) or download a fuckload of shit (HD 1080 BD rips or FLAC collections ((mfw i download 1tb of Touhou music))).
Don't do this