how to block file sharing

[tokyopunk]

I want to know if it's possible to block filesharing programs from the Apple Airport Extreme?
My brother and I share the same internet connection and he spends his days downloading movies and music from various filesharing sites. When i told him that downloading movies illegally was a crime that I could get in serious trouble for he seemed to be completely surprised that doing so is wrong. Simply talking to him has done nothing cause he has a teflon attitude and has figured that he would not be the one to get in trouble, I will. It also makes my connection extremely slow all day long. Is there a way either from the router or wherever to shutdown his ability to continue using filesharing? I thought about just locking the network so he can't use it but he pays for 50% of it's cost. Thanks for your help.

 

[Hellhammer]

I'm not a networking expert but you could call to the ISP and ask if they could block torrent sites. You won't get into trouble because you haven't downloaded anything, all is in his computer. You could also report him if you really think it's that big issue, or just kick him out/move out. Also, if you both have your names on the contract paper, you can't really do anything without his acceptance. If only you have your name on it and he pays you afterwards, you can do whatever you want as you own the connection

 

[tokyopunk]

thanks but no thanks

thanks but I really don't wanna call my ISP and say "hey, were downloading movies illegally". There is a way to block ports from the router, i'm just asking how to do that. Your advice wasn't helpful, but thanks anyway

 

[Full of Win]

You won't get into trouble because you haven't downloaded anything, all is in his computer

My information could be wrong, but don't they only care who is the subscriber (who the IP is assigned to) in assigning blame initially? Even if you do nothing wrong, the mere fact that you are the subscriber makes you at fault. Again, I'm not saying this is fact; just my understanding.

 

[tokyopunk]

lets just stay on topic

would it just be possible to get an answer to the question instead of stearing into other topics? Don't wanna sound nippy but this seems to always happen!!

 

[Hellhammer]

My information could be wrong, but don't they only care who is the subscriber (who the IP is assigned to) in assigning blame initially? Even if you do nothing wrong, the mere fact that you are the subscriber makes you at fault. Again, I'm not saying this is fact; just my understanding.

I'm not sure actually. Depends on what is the title of the crime. I would guess it's possession of stolen items or copyright violation but that's just my guess.

would it just be possible to get an answer to the question instead of stearing into other topics? Don't wanna sound nippy but this seems to always happen!!

Take a look at your routers manual, most routers have built-in filtering/firewall which let you to add blocked sites. That doesn't completely solve it as there are thousands of torrent sites and he doesn't need more than the .torrent file to start downloading and that he can download at his friend for example. You can't really block file sharing as there are thousands, even millions of seeders who share the file.

You could be able to gap his connection so that he could download 2GB of data per month for example so he would have to decide whether he wants to use that in one day and then have no access or stop downloading and have access for whole month.

Anyway, by doing this, you just throw fuel to the fire so in my opinion, your best bet is to move out (or kick him if it's your apartment) or simply accept that he does it.

As I said, I'm not networking expert, so maybe someone else has a better option

 

[Full of Win]

I'm not sure actually. Depends on what is the title of the crime. I would guess it's possession of stolen items or copyright violation but that's just my guess.

The problem, at least it used to be, was not criminal prosecution as much as civil prosecution. From media reports, I thought that if your own the line, you get the lawsuit. You could either pay it or challenge it, but a challenge was costly.

As to the question about blocking, can't you block the port(s) that uses the torrent client? Here is a post from Apple.com forums on how to do that.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/t...EA37C440CF.node0?messageID=11418934&#11418934

 

[Hellhammer]

The problem, at least it used to be, was not criminal prosecution as much as civil prosecution. From media reports, I thought that if your own the line, you get the lawsuit. You could either pay it or challenge it, but a challenge was costly.

As to the question about blocking, can't you block the port(s) that uses the torrent client? Here is a post from Apple.com forums on how to do that.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/t...EA37C440CF.node0?messageID=11418934&#11418934

Yeah, that can be done but you can easily change the port that the torrent application use from it's preferences so if his brother ain't stupid, this doesn't fix it. I had a talk with few networking professionals yesterday and asked is this possible they made a conclusion that it's up to his brother and his smartness. Can't remember exactly what they said about port blocking but there is always a workaround. There didn't seem to be an easy way to do this as it would likely require a new modem/router and a professional to set everything up to get more or less total block for his downloading.

Probably the easiest thing is to setup a guest network that he is going to use and then limit its bandwidth if OP's router can do that, maybe even gap him

 

[Fishrrman]

"I thought about just locking the network so he can't use it but he pays for 50% of it's cost. Thanks for your help."

I'm not sure if you'll consider this helpful, but if you REALLY want to rid yourself of the "brother problem" on your internet connection, kick him off, pay 100% yourself, and tell him to get his own connection.

Just sayin'....

 

[jamone13]

As others are saying, depending on how smart your brother is he can always get around any router based blocking you set up.

So your only real recourse is to get him to stop or just transfer the internet to his name. Make him pay a larger portion of the bill because of him slowing it down and don't worry about his potential liability.