A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a technology that allows anyone to create a secure connection over a public or private network, such as the internet, enabling users to tunnel through the web and access specific servers. VPNs have a few different uses. One way to use a VPN is to set up a network to protect your online privacy. Another way you may already use a VPN is to access an intranet, or a network used by individuals belonging to large organizations such as schools and corporations, remotely. Arguably, however, the coolest way to use a VPN is to get around various restrictions.
Many of those restrictions are government-imposed, famously in recent years in countries restricting many civil and personal rights including tightly restricting access to media and other information. Here, in countries such as China, Iran, and Turkey, VPNs grant people access to a wider world web. A similar-ish use of VPN technology allows others to access geo-blocked content, such as streaming services for music and video which, depending on your location, might be inaccessible.
My Experience
One year ago, I said goodbye to my country and began an adventure as an expat. I anticipated missing my mom, my friends, and buffalo wings but I learned on that first day, September 15, 2012, that the list of “things I miss” would grow. Almost immediately, I sought comfort in Netflix. And then this happened:
(Sree Sreenivasan/CNET)
I first thought “what the heck, I pay for this” (well to be fair my roommate’s mom actually pays for it which is another issue entirely) and I should get what I’m paying for, right? Wrong. Because Netflix’ End-User License Agreement clearly states that you, the user, agree not to “instantly watch movies & TV shows outside of the Territory”. Last year, my concern had been getting around this hurdle and I focused on the technical side of “why not”? But today I’m very interested in learning why this hurdle exists in the first place.
Apparently licensing is complicated stuff. When Sree Sreenivasan realized that he couldn’t stream from his U.S. Netflix account while traveling in India, he argued “While I know there are complicated reasons, especially rights issues with Hollywood, for such services to have constraints outside the U.S., this is unacceptable in 2013.” I recently called Netflix’ customer service and asked why I couldn’t watch movies from outside of the country.
Netflix Rep: There are a lot of legal things involved. Everything that you’re able to access on Netflix and also on Hulu Plus, HBO Go, and VUDU is there because the service has a contract with the movie studios and television producers which authorize this.
Me: So even if you’re in a country that has Netflix, because of these legal issues, you may not be able to see certain movies?
Netflix Rep: Exactly.
The customer service representative was very helpful and admitted to not knowing much about the “legal things” involved but did mention that because my IP address revealed my location, Netflix was able to detect that I was attempting to use the service outside of the county. She was then quick to tell me not to try and change my IP address because that would be illegal and I could go to jail. “I don’t think I can go to jail for that”, I told her. She responded “oh, we’ll were supposed to tell people that”.
So how do I set up a VPN?
This depends on what purpose your Virtual Private Network will serve. For example, if your aim is to get around a restriction, setting up your own VPN for privacy reasons may not necessarily help you because it would only grant you access to the network with which you are already connected. I will discuss using VPN technology in the context of government-restricted internet and geo-blocked content. For these purposes, you don’t set up a VPN; rather you connect with or subscribe to a network that has already been established by an outside party.
Though I didn’t understand the legalities last year, I did know that my IP address was the problem. I was unsure as to whether or not I could change this; however, I believed that there were two possible solutions. I could either:
1. Block my IP address so that it may have appeared that I was browsing from a U.S. city
2. Or figure out a way to access what was considered the “internet”… as I knew it in America, which would also make it so that my IP address appeared to be originating from the U.S.
I chose option 1 in the form of a Google Chrome extension that uses anonymous proxies to block, or hide, IP addresses. Once I accessed Netflix, the extension, Media Hint, went to work and granted me instant access to the geo-blocked content. It was simple and free. Even better, it was ad free.
Option 2, which would have incorporated VPN technology would have allowed me to tunnel through the internet to access a network, specifically the internet, based somewhere else. If I had chosen this route, I would have likely chosen to connect to a U.S. based network so that search results, content, and anything else that I wanted to access would be relevant and familiar.
Accessing the web through a VPN goes beyond simply hiding or blocking your IP address. For this purpose, a VPN actually allows you to browse the same internet as anyone who is physically in the area where that network is based. Currently some VPN providers offer free services but generally, these are plagued with many ads and slow connections. In any case, if one day you’re experiencing a particularly slow connection, it may be possible to change the network but if you choose to route through another country, you may not be able to access the same content.
Subscribing to a VPN is fairly simple but these services generally require subscriptions which may cost you. The Register reported that recently, in countries such as Iran and China where government firewalls routinely block access to most VPNs, network access has been volunteered by people physically outside these territories who wish to share their web. Pretty cool, huh? First you must choose a Virtual Private Network provider. Blogger Shannon O’Donnell shares a list of services here. Once you have subscribed, if necessary, you must install the appropriate software. Using your existing internet, you log in to the VPN with a user name and password. You are now free to browse the network to which you’ve connected.
Although either blocking my IP address or subscribing to a Virtual private Network could have worked for me, only the second option is able to help people bypass government restriction. A person whose browsing activity is highly-regulated by the local authority may not even be able to reach sites such as Netflix and Pandora. And while the Spanish government didn’t stop me from accessing Netflix.com, the service itself did not allow me to stream anything because my IP address revealed my location.
To illustrate the difference, let’s say my friend John and I are both trying to catch the latest episode of Mad Men on Netflix: I from Spain and he from Turkey. We both navigate to Netflix.com. While I’m able to at least browse the catalogue of available programs, it’s possible that the Turkish government may not allow John to get that far. In order to catch up to me, he must enlist the services of a VPN to access the internet as it exists somewhere that isn’t regulated in this manner.
So John subscribes to a London-based VPN and, from Turkey, tunnels through the web to access a U.S. city but may choose to route through another country in case of a slow connection. Now he’s up to speed. And because he’s routed through a U.S. city, he’s actually one step ahead of me because he doesn’t have to block his IP address from the service. However, if he was experiencing a slow connection from the U.S. and chose to tunnel through to a network based somewhere else, we would both get the message which reads “watching instantly is not currently available in your area”. In this case, we would both need to find a way to block our IP address so that the streaming sites would not block us from accessing their services.
Please note that although I am very interested in the technology behind this methodology, I do not endorse these practices. And as I had mentioned previously, there’s more that a Virtual Private Network can do for you. If you’re interested in learning about how VPNs can help protect your online privacy, Eric Geier has posted a great resource here at PCWorld.
Add Comment