There's always something better. I see 'The Pirate Bay' cited as the go-to place for downloads, but do realize that it's public. Perhaps not as simple to shut down as the centrally controlled (as opposed to distributed) limewire, but make no mistake, those wanting to prosecute for downloads can see you there.
Underground and invite-only torrent trackers are increasingly useful in protecting you from this problem, but even they are vulnerable, as illustrated by the demise of OiNK (of which I was a member). I've participated in the next safest form of trading: darknets. This is a blanket term for several technologies. I'm most familiar with Direct Connect, but the term refers to any network hidden from the casual observer, and requiring a password to get it. Often, transmissions are encrypted to prevent snooping. Unfortunately, darknets are far from the efficiency of bit torrent trackers, and I'm looking forward to the next release of a technology that will combine these traits. Currently, the best balance we have is probably private invite-only trackers.