I think maybe the point of the GP was that using public trackers exposes you to ISP sanctions or even legal ramifications (depending on your jurisdiction) that are less likely on private trackers.
I suppose. This is true for more than just Bittorrent use, though.
If you live in the any country that closely monitors (or has industry-rights organizations that monitor) its citizens' internet activity, then immediately, without fail, go pay the $5/mo or whatever to get a tiny little server somewhere nicer!
You can:
• set your server up as a seedbox
• set up OpenVPN on it (which has been beautifully simplified by Docker-containerization; no need to create and forward an extra bridge interface)
• run an MTA daemon, so you can actually obey the semantics of SMTP (mail is supposed to arrive in your own possession before it's considered "delivered", etc.)
• run an IRC bouncer, or whatever the modern IM-network equivalent of that is (is there one? we've regressed, if not)
• run a web server, e.g. nginx, with (authenticated) WebDAV support enabled, and thus have a place to push arbitrary temporary files when you want to share them by URL
Or, in short, you can fully participate in the Internet.
Disclosure: I'm working on a business in this space. :)
• run an IRC bouncer, or whatever the modern IM-network equivalent of that is (is there one? we've regressed, if not)
The modern equivalent is the IM-network itself. You don't need a bouncer to store messages sent while you were offline or to keep your nickname when the IM servers already do that. If you want to hide your IP, you can just use the VPN.
