> It is only my intent that the advice offered here be used to download media that is in the public domain.

Then call it the guide to torrenting?

And yes, a VPN is a requirement. It's reckless to present a guide without a stronger emphasis on this.

1. Torrenting from big open trackers like PirateBay. The main skill here is that you need to be critical of what you download and wrap your traffic up tight in a VPN. Adding at least some info on getting started with Proton's Free VPN service would be valuable, as well as pointers to some that are known to be good for torrenting (for example, Proton has NAT options).

2. Torrenting from private trackers. The main skill here is self control, building ratio, figuring out how to find someone who knows someone who'll send you an invite because the last thing you want to do is wind up on IRC being interviewed by a person for whom audio codec and CD rip validation is their special interest who will use you as a punching bag because of whatever they're mad about in their personal life. One big note here is that they often allow VPN torrent downloads but ban VPN usage on their website.

There are also some places that are a good middle ground. Places like IPTorrents are generally safe enough to download from (with or without VPN in my experience, but Proton Free VPN is so easy and good that why not?) but generous enough with freeleech that you can build ratio if you try.

Seedboxes are also a good topic to cover for both because they alleviate some of the security concerns as well as letting you leave things to seed 24/7 easily.