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Sites that offer links to illegal files hosted by file hosting websites. (Direct Download Links)

Now, thanks to the arrival of file hosting websites such as rapidshare.com and megaupload.com, warez site operators can actually offer warez instead of just a barrage of inane popups, false promises of free software, and links that never work. Introducing DDL - the second-generation of warez sites.

The DDL ‘file sharing’ method has got to be the easiest way to obtain copyrighted material on the Internet. Period. There’s no software to install, no programs to configure, no ISPs getting wise to your P2P traffic. Detailed instructions are explained at the bottom of the page.

What’s Available:

Everything. Movies, music, games, applications, cracks, pr0n - you name it. If you can swap it, you’ll find a DDL for it.

How it works:

There are two websites involved: The first site (the ‘Direct Download Link’) hosts only the link to the file, and the second site (a ‘File Host’) actually hosts the illegal file. Simply put, users visit a website that hosts links to illegal files that have been put up onto legal file hosting websites such as www.rapidshare.com. Clicking on the desired link (or more likely, ‘pasting’ the link) will launch the hosting website, where you can then download the file.

Why it works …

The first site hosting the link is technically not doing anything illegal. Hosting a link to illegal content is not the same as hosting the illegal content. The second site, like rapidshare, is only offering a service and doesn’t condone the sharing of illegal content (yeah, yeah!) and will remove such content/links if ordered to do so. And they do. And new ones appear! They rely on it!

…and why websites host these links:

These sites typically generate a lot of traffic, especially ones that have fresh updated content. Ad hosting generates a steady stream of revenue for both websites involved.

The PROs and CONs of DDL file sharing vs. other P2P methods.

PROs of File Hosting Sites/DDLs	CONs of File Hosting Sites/DDLs
You’ll max out your Internet connection: the speeds are incredibly fast for most file hosting websites.	There is a long waiting period to download if you don’t have a paid account at most of these hosting websites. (30 minutes and up on occasion at rapidshare.com)
Anonymity almost assured. There will be no MPAA or RIAA snooping on your traffic in all likelihood. But use PeerGuardian just to be safe!	Files may or may not contain viruses, spyware, malware. Always scan everything after downloading. Some sites are more unsavory than others (Popups, browser addons, etc.).
No torrents to download - therefore no issues with seed/peer ratios or bad torrents.	Sometimes the links don’t work. It’s common that the illegal file gets deleted by the file hosting company.
Users don’t have to worry about ISPs (like Comcast) that limit the user’s P2P traffic. No traffic shaping whatsoever.	Larger releases (such as movies) are usually broken down into smaller parts (4-8). Each piece must be downloaded using a different link. Increases waiting time, user time.
Completely free to use both websites. Although many serious file sharers using this method have a paid account at rapidshare.	Available content is not necessarily “fresh” like a BitTorrent website. Files are often a day old or longer.
Users don’t need to share files in order to download. No ’shared’ folders, no uploading like with BitTorrent.	Available content is limited. Unlike BitTorrent (public) sites where anyone can upload torrents, these sites only include links that they provide.
No IRC ‘XDCC queues’, no one-on-one connections. No downloads stopping in the middle, no ‘bad connections’.	Some sites are more confusing than others. Links to the rapidshare files must often be cut/pasted into a browser window, not clicked on.
The file is either available, or it’s not. No ‘need more sources’ issue like with Limewire.	Files can only be downloaded one at a time (unless you open multiple tabs in your browser).
Easy learning curve! No programs to learn, nothing to configure. A NoObs ideal way to share files.	You truly never know what you’re going to end up with until you’ve opened it. Much riskier than other file sharing methods.

Direct Download Links Websites (DDL).

Just a short list of public DDL-related websites that host links. And there are more - hundreds and hundreds more.

— http://www.ddlspot.com/
— http://www.phazeddl.com/
— http://www.warezomen.com/
— http://www.ddlset.com/
— http://www.wareznova.com/
— http://www.phatwarez.com/
— http://www.softlinkers.org/ - loads of links
— http://katz.cd/ - even has an RSS feed for latest additions

DDL sites that require an account/login.

Some DDL sites require users to first register with them before any links can be downloaded. In all practicalities, the sites that require some form of registration are a little bit better in terms of links and content. As long as it’s free, this isn’t a bad option. Here’s a few that offer free memberships via registration:

— www.filecyb.org
— www.warez-bb.org
— http://forumw.org

Finding your own sites:

To find sites that host these links, the keywords we’re looking for are ‘Direct Download Links‘, or ‘DDL‘. Enter it in a search engine and you’ll get all kinds of sites that support this method of file sharing. Moreover, the sites listed above have tons of links to other DDL sites doing the exact same thing.

The ‘Caveat Emptor’:

Many of these types of ‘link’ sites are crooked in that they’re only interested in generating revenue through ad popups and redirects. Others will even try to make users ’subscribe’ to the service first (for a flat-rate fee) in order to access the links that are available freely on other ones. Here’s two examples of what to avoid:

http://www.infinitewarez.com/ - a nuisance site with lots of re-directs and popups.
http://www.sharingzone.net/ - a site that charges money to access the links.

Tips.

Keep it free: But have patience.

You can always upgrade your account on rapidshare.com if you want to. This cuts out the waiting time, but we found that it doesn’t affect the download speeds. Speeds are superb both ways. If you have to wait 30 minutes just to start downloading four movie files, and another 30 minutes to actually download them, it’s still a lot faster than waiting 2 or more hours for the movie to come through using BitTorrent. Users with a high-speed Internet connection can easily max out their download speeds!

Downloading multiple files at the same time:

You’ll need to open a new tab (or more) in your browser to do this. Simply ‘paste’ each link in a new browser tab (or window) - this will launch rapidshare (or other) in more than one instance. This is advantageous when downloading a 4-to-8 part movie - we’ve checked this out and it seems that many file hosting sites will make non-members wait only an ‘X’ amount of time regardless of how many browser tabs are open waiting for files. So if you have to wait 31 minutes for a download, you might as well wait 31 minutes for four downloads. To display/re-check the updated current waiting time for a file, click the ‘refresh’ button in your browser for each tab - most sites won’t update it for you.

Downloading Movies/Large Apps & Games:

All file hosting websites offer a free uploading service, but have limitations imposed on the allowable sizes of each file. The going rate is usually 100MB per part, thus a movie being 700MB or more must be broken down into, well, 7 or 8 parts. It’s much less common to find a complete movie in one *.rar file (although they are common with Megaupload.com DDL links) - this would’ve had to have been uploaded by someone who owns a premium account. And almost all of the uploading is done with no account, anonymously.

Archived Files (.RARs/.ZIPs)

Almost all of these files offered are in *.rar archive format and sometimes *.zip files. This is done to make the files as small as possible, and so that the file doesn’t arouse too much attention. They are often renamed something completely different from what it really is - don’t worry, this is just to keep the file online as long as possible. Here’s an example of a download not matching the name of the link:

Archived Files inside Archived Files (.RARs inside .RARs)

This is a common occurence. You’ll find that once you open the 7 or 8 .rar files, it contains another set of 49 .rar files (or sometimes just one). The second set will have to be extracted as well. Unrar all parts from the first .rar group into the same folder, then extract the second set to get to the movie file, etc.

Passworded Archives (.RARs/.ZIPs)

Often the set of RAR files will be password-protected, and the password will need to be entered into the RAR program before you can extract the files (after downloading them). This is done so that anyone who may stumble across it on the hosting website won’t be able to detect what it is. The password will always be listed at the link site (usually right underneath the linked file), so make a note of it (or leave the browser window open until the download finishes). Always look below these links for a password before downloading them (each site will display them differently). Here’s an example of where you can find a password:

There’s always the option of searching for the same file from a different DDL site that offers the same release without any password protection.

Finding ‘Free’ Premium accounts at rapidshare.com.

Some sites purportedly offer ‘free’ premium accounts to popular file hosting sites such as rapidshare.com. In all likelihood this is just asking for trouble. In our belief there is no such thing as a ‘free’ rapidshare account (unless, of course, your nice buddy gives you his username and password to his valid account, otherwise you’ll likely be sadly mistaken). We checked out one of these scam sites, and be certain that your credit card absolutely will be charged if you proceed with the offered method, regardless of what they claim:

www.free-rapidshare-premium-accounts.com

OK, this is a scam through-and-through. They promise that your credit card won’t be charged - then why must you have to enter it? The first signup screen looks like this:

When you click a chosen link, the next screen launches an “Adult Website” sponsor, which indeed asks for credit card information. You’ll not be able to get the ‘code’ required for an account unless this page is filled out completely. It’s anyone’s guess what happens to your credit card info (think bad, very bad).

Detailed downloading instructions.

Procedures for downloading from both sites. (DDL and File Host).

1. Visit a link hosting website, and select a file to download. For this example, we’ll use www.phazeddl.com. Click the desired file (link).

Usually this will launch another instance of the browser, to where the link is really hosted. (Note: many of these sites are just aggregated links from other link hosting sites).

2. In the new browser window, look for the link or links for the selected file (usually between 1 and 8 links per movie). The location of these links varies drastically from one site to the next, so look around.

3. Normally you won’t be able to just click on the link (this is done so that they’re not technically linking to the file at all, just displaying the text of it). You’ll need to select the text from each link one by one and copy/paste it into the browser window. With the mouse, hilight the first line, right-click and select “Copy” as shown:

4. Go to the top of your browser and open a new tab, without closing the first window (you’ll need to come back to it 6 more times in our example). In the new tab, “Paste” the copied text. Hit ENTER or click the green ‘GO’ arrow.

5. Since this is a file shared on rapidshare.com, the rapidshare window will now open. Scroll down to the bottom where it says “FREE”. Click it.

6. A new rapidshare.com window will open, in the middle you’ll see where your ‘download request’ is. In our example we have to wait 1.5 minutes to start downloading the file. This can get as high as 45 minutes (and even longer), so be prepared to wait. Shown below that is an example of having to wait 39 minutes for a file on rapidshare. (For long waits, refresh the page to update the remaining time).

7. After the time runs out, you’ll be able to download the file. This new screen will show (see below). Enter the text in the window (shown as JB4G), and click download. Downloading of the first file will begin.

8. Repeat steps 3 - 7 for all remaining files. Again, this can be done in new tabs in the browser, for as many tabs as you prefer. If you (and you will) get long wait times, the counter will not atuomatically tick down the remaining time - so it will appear stuck. Click your browser’s refresh button periodically to update the remaining time. Or get a premium account to bypass all the waiting.

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• Date Wednesday, 16 Jan 08 at 10:34 pm
• Under Other File Sharing Methods
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