RD is basically broken (Infringing torrent) - what's actually happening and how I fixed it
the short version: RD isn't down. your account isn't banned. they quietly added a keyword filter that blocks a huge chunk of cached content and didn't tell anyone.
what's actually going on
around May 10th Real Debrid started returning this error on a ton of cached torrents:
>
this is error code 35, called infringing_file. the thing is, it's NOT individual DMCA takedowns on specific files. it's a blanket filename filter. if your torrent's filename contains certain strings, it gets blocked automatically, no review, no appeal.
the strings being caught include stuff like:
- WEB-DL
- WEBRip
- AMZN, NF, CR (streaming source tags)
- YTS, RARBG
if you've been scratching your head wondering why the same movie works under one filename but not another, that's why. the content is identical. the filename is the only difference.
someone actually tested around 165 current releases against the filter and found roughly 34% blocked. people with big cached libraries are reporting losing half of it or more overnight.
why RD is doing this
RD is operated by a French company called XT Network. France has been turning up the heat on piracy stuff for a while now. copyright groups including basically the French equivalent of the MPA pushed RD hard in late 2024, which caused the first wave of restrictions back then. this is the second wave.
their official response was something about complying with the EU Digital Services Act and a Paris court ruling from March 2026. basically industry groups can submit keyword lists to "trusted flagger" programs and RD has to act on them. so that's what's happening. every time these groups add more keywords, more of your library breaks.
the uncomfortable part is that RD also keeps user logs for up to a year under French law and will share them under subpoena. they've confirmed this. they've also been handing out account warnings for multi-IP use more aggressively lately. so the situation is kind of a mess on multiple fronts.
the workarounds people keep suggesting and why they're mid
- find BluRay or REMUX releases - these filename tags aren't blocked yet. problem is they're way bigger files and most TV shows don't have REMUX versions at all
- rename the file before adding to RD - inconsistent, doesn't work for cached stuff, and you can't do this at scale through Stremio anyway
- use patched addons - some addon devs (ElfHosted etc) shipped server-side patches that catch the error and show a friendlier message. helps a little but you're still streaming through a service that's filtering out most of what you want to watch
I tried all of these. spent probably 3 evenings messing with it. the patches help somewhat but you're constantly hunting for that one BluRay rip that happens to exist for the TV show you want to watch right now. it gets old fast.
what I actually switched to
TorBox. same idea as RD, caches torrents on fast servers, gives you an HTTPS link to stream. but a few things make it meaningfully different right now:
no content filter. WEB-DL, WEBRip, AMZN tagged stuff, all of it works. this alone is the main reason people are migrating.
the API is transparent. this sounds boring but it matters a lot if you use Stremio. TorBox tells addons like Torrentio and Comet exactly which files are cached and which aren't. RD approximates this so you get a lot of dead links and broken sources before you find one that plays. with TorBox, the addon knows immediately what's available. loading is noticeably faster and you scroll through way less garbage.
multi-IP works fine. RD will flag your account if you stream from two different IPs too close together. TorBox doesn't care. use it at home, traveling, through a VPN, whatever.
you can share the account. not a grey area like with RD, TorBox explicitly supports household sharing.
the one real downside is the cache isn't as large as RD's since it's a newer service. if you watch a lot of obscure old stuff you might notice gaps. for anything from the last few years it's been solid for me personally.
how to set it up on Stremio (step by step)
- go to torbox.app and make an account. there's a free tier and a $1 24-hour trial if you want to test first. paid plans start around $3/month
- go to your account settings and copy your API key
- open torrentio.strem.fun in a browser
- under "Debrid provider" select TorBox from the dropdown
- paste your API key into the field
- check "Don't show download to Debrid links" for a cleaner interface
- set stream sorting to "By quality then seeders"
- scroll down and click Install
Stremio should open and confirm the addon installed. if it doesn't auto-open, right click Install, copy the link, go to Stremio settings, Addons, Add Addon, paste the URL.
that's it. search for anything and your TorBox streams will show up.
Kodi users
works with POV, Umbrella, and Syncler. find the Accounts or Debrid section in your addon settings, select TorBox, paste API key. TorBox is still adding Kodi support so if you're on something more niche check the addon's own documentation first.
Android TV
install Stremio from Play Store, then add the TorBox addon from another device at web.stremio.com. addons sync to your account automatically so you don't have to do anything on the TV itself.
Comet users
same process, open Comet config, select TorBox as debrid provider, paste key, install.
tl;dr
RD silently added a keyword filter that breaks WEB-DL and most standard streaming formats. it's a legal thing tied to French copyright law and it's not getting better. switch to TorBox (torbox.app), paste your API key into Torrentio or Comet, 5 minute setup. no filter, faster source loading, multi-IP support, account sharing.
happy to help if anyone gets stuck on a specific step.