Private Internet Access and Hulu...

[joenewbie]

Just an observation, Hulu confronts me with this screen.. 

Makes me wonder if other services will be doing this soon, Netflix doesn't, presently.  But I'm not going to take my VPN down just to access Hulu either. 

[Pugs501]

TRY Using a Proxy and see what happens

[werto165]

Hola still works and it's free. 

[Pugs501]

Hola still works and it's free. 

Hola?

[helping]

TRY Using a Proxy and see what happens

private internet access IS a proxy

[Pugs501]

private internet access IS a proxy

Derp me...

[werto165]

Hola?

It's a chrome extension. 

[joenewbie]

I've tried several of their servers from around the country, also a no go... wrote them the following email.... 

"I'm attempting to access your site from a location in the US, I use a VPN to access the internet in order to keep my security.  But I can't view videos with a VPN active because you folks apparently need to know for sure I'm in the US, which I am.  

 

I was gonna sign up to Huluplus for that new Miniseries you folks have coming up, but if this is what I'm to expect, there is no way I'm taking my VPN down just to access your site, which even if you pay for it, you still get commercials.  

 

Your policies are exceedingly restrictive, charge 2 bucks more and open things up more and I might reconsider.  Otherwise, why would you make people compromise the security of their computer in order to access your site?"

Awaiting the prepackaged unsatisfactory response. 

[joenewbie]

It's a chrome extension. 

Was just reading up on Hola, it's a free VPN, but there is also a question of them injecting ads into your browser.  I'd rather pay for PIA, or IPA, even the beer. 

[werto165]

Was just reading up on Hola, it's a free VPN, but there is also a question of them injecting ads into your browser.  I'd rather pay for PIA, or IPA, even the beer. 

I don't care tbh, I just use adblock, and disable it for YT and LTT.

[joenewbie]

I don't care tbh, I just use adblock, and disable it for YT and LTT.

The big question is, can you watch videos on Hulu from Hola?  If so, why are they picking specifically on PIA?  I don't think they should be doing it to anyone, but it would be much worse if they allow one VPN service access and others not.  

[William12h]

Use Hola from Hola.org, I live in the uk and watch hulu and shows on other USA region locked websites.

[joenewbie]

Use Hola from Hola.org, I live in the uk and watch hulu and shows on other USA region locked websites.

That's the thing, I'm in the permitted region, yet they're locking me out because I'm using a VPN service.  Is that what's in store for other VPN customers and a slew of sites in the future?  Scary that they'd force you to identify yourself and risk your security just so they can invade your privacy. 

[joenewbie]

Got a response.... 

"Hi >>> Name withheld <<<

Thanks for writing in. We appreciate your feedback, and I'm happy to explain more about our policy regarding proxy servers.

Because the agreements with our content providers are so strict, we need to be able to verify that anyone who watches videos through our service is a valid user connecting from a territory within the United States. Proxy servers make this verification difficult, especially since international users could use U.S. VPNs to access Hulu Plus from outside the U.S. In order to prevent that from happening, we unfortunately have to block anyone using a VPN even though we know there are legitimate users in the U.S. who use them. We simply would not get the content rights we've been able to get without agreeing to this provision.

That said, I understand where you're coming from, and I'll definitely pass your feedback along to our content team. We're always working to improve our product, and perhaps we'll be able to loosen these restrictions in the future.

I hope this is helpful, though I apologize for any disappointment or frustration. Please let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks,
>>>Name withheld<<<
Hulu Support"

Pretty much the excuse I was expecting.  So now what?  Netflix is next?  Amazon Video?  Who else?  Such total horseshit, especially coming from Hulu which shows ads in their shows.  The bigger picture though is how this bodes for VPN services.