In 2016, the Federal Court ordered ISPs to block five popular torrent websites including The Pirate Bay, TorrentHound and IsoHunt within 15 business days. Since then, a swathe of additional sites have been added to the block list in a bid to eradicate piracy.

Torrenting itself is completely legal of course, and it's not all that difficult to circumvent ISP blocking of torrent websites. For instance, you can do it through a VPN, which often requires a monthly subscription fee. Here are some ways to gain access to blocked torrent sites for free.

In December last year, the Federal Court ordered Australian ISPS to block a number of popular torrent websites in a case brought on by Foxtel and Village Roadshow. The court gave ISPs 15 working days to implement site-blocking technology to prevent subscribers from accessing the torrent websites. Today is the deadline.