Ohh honestly get a grip!
Guys, understand P2P and VPN technology please.
The VPN does not have to be a full VPN to achieve what these crooks at the piratebay are trying to do. They are trying to hide the identity of the people that connect to their network, this stops the boys in-between from seeing what's going on and therefore they cannot identify each individual request for torrents. A split-tunnel-vpn can be used - You 'can' then continue to connect P2P with the other like-minded criminal downloaders like yourself and share data un-encrypted. Or they could create a second(..third...fourth) VPN to each 'chunk' holder and transfer these chunks encrypted. Or they can do as suggested here, and remove the P2P element entirely - very unlikely.
In the second multi-vpn example the actual traffic is also encrypted and difficult to determine the contents as a third-party snooper.
So for the future... Dont underestimate the power of the recording industry.
What I suspect will begin to happen is that the chaps at the DPI manufacturers work out patterns and rules to spot what 'might' be illegal downloads inside a VPN. e.g. large quantities of traffic from 'home' listed IPs and not business connections / hosting will trigger a 'monitor' of the traffic. Once this happens, all they have to do is determine that you connected to Pirate Bay (or similar) first, then connected to large numbers of 'home' connectons and print a request for a court order to inspect your computers storage. If they at this point discover you are 'clean' you will be ok, but if they discover one dodgy download, your in for a rough ride, a fine, a criminal record or a stretch inside for repeat offences. In some countries you can be banned from accessing the internet for extended periods (see: some Peado Restrictions in the UK!).
Whilst the laws in many countries will currently prevent these sorts of random 'no proof' raids, dont expect the laws remaining this way for much longer!
Basically they will get you, and in the process I will lose some of my privacy rights. And this REALLY pisses me off that once again you criminals (otherwise known as freetards) will have fucked it up for the rest of us. THANKS!
As for the legality of being a P2P freedard this is best left to the legal boys, but my understanding of copyright stuff is that most P2P traffic is thieved by P2P freetards and it is quite clear to me that the artists (and their route to market Studios/Distributors) are being ripped off by them.
I personally like to get paid in my job, and expect my employer to pay me for my work/time. I therefore refuse to download material that I am not paying for, as these artists are also 'workers' (of a slightly different sort it may be argued, but workers none-the-less).
So, if a product I want is too expensive for my pocket... guess what, I don't purchase or ever own it (unless some nice person gifts it to me legally). This is why I also do not own a Ferrari or even a Learjet.
I like most responsible and law abiding members of society believe in this set of rules. You criminal leechers clearly do not, and anything the authorities can do to prosecute you I am happy with!
My personal feeling is that these P2P channels that exist that are clearly breaking the law should be warned a number of times and then shut down. And if the country the service exists in does not have these laws, then the local law should allow and force ISPs to block access to these IP addresses entirely and forever, as well as all Proxies. Whilst this does mean that some 'legit' services get killed in the crossfire, this is life, especially in our violent world of today.
If society begins to understand and believe that you freetards are criminals (basically thieves) and we begin to ostracise you the world will become a better place. Personally, I treat you chaps like drunk drivers... I shop you and feel all the better for it.