My routine is always use piratebay, never use a pirate streaming site, no new or big studio releases, no porn, not seeding for long and choosing less active torrents. I can’t say much for how effective it is since I’ve never gotten hit so I can’t (I’ve had five or six ISPs in two different countries).

they literally just pirate the stuff themselves, see which IPs connect to them, then connect those to an ISP and notify them.

And I don’t even understand how this would hold up if it ever went to trial. How can an IP owner “pirate” their own IP? Even when they outsource it to services who do this they’re still giving permission for the IP to be distributed. It’s like if I hired someone to “steal” my own TV, put it in a back alley and then tried to have whoever takes charged with theft.