Using VPNs and movie streaming

Streaming movies through all the usual channels like Amazon and Netflix is, of course, perfectly legal, but it gets expensive, not least when you must have a fixed monthly subscription and there might not be any movies or shows that you fancy watching. 

It’s no surprise that some people turn to illegal ‘pirate’ streaming services (and that’s nothing to do with Johnny Depp in the Caribbean, particularly!) – it’s more because it’s free and you can watch anything that happens to be available whenever you like.

Of course, there’s a risk. In practical terms it’s probably a very small risk, but in theory users of illegal movie streaming platforms could be prosecuted for copyright infringement. By streaming an ‘unlicensed’ film, you’re effectively stealing it from the studio that produced it, even if you’re not keeping a copy on your local hard drive. Both you and the platform you used could be prosecuted.

Over the years there have been many such streaming services all across the internet, one of the most popular being Putlocker. Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access movie streaming platforms is a very good idea, because the authorities, if they were to ‘bust’ the platform and obtain a list of IP addresses of customers, could not trace you as an individual – a VPN effectively places you as an internet user behind an anonymous server shield. One free VPN provider named Urban VPN suggests a number of Putlocker alternatives in this article here.

Technology confounds copyright legislation

 It’s an interesting debate on morals and copyright that is forming due to the nature of rapid technological change in the world that we currently live. 50 years ago in around 1972, the only way you could watch a movie was by going to a theatre or a drive-in, buying some popcorn and watching the show. 10 years later saw the first step to the ability to watch movies at home – on the VHS cassette. And, surprise surprise, tape pirates quickly started copying those movies and selling them on the black market. Movie piracy and copying was effectively born on the 4th June 1977, when the VHS format was introduced to the trade press at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, Illinois.

So piracy is clearly nothing new, but the moral debate really rests on one between free markets versus regulation and copyright law. Clearly, if movie studios like MGM and other Hollywood giants couldn’t protect copyright, they’d go bust because their movies would simply be stolen out of hand. But it’s almost impossible to police over half the world’s population on the internet. The market needs a way to look after itself by selling a quality product to the population at an affordable price, so that they don’t feel the need to use illegal streaming services. It’s already worked with Amazon Music, for example; anyone with an internet connection can legally access virtually any musical artiste on the planet for a few dollars per month.

Movie theaters struggle to compete

It’s no surprise that movie theaters are struggling in the 21st century. Even if you’re a diehard (nothing to do with Bruce Willis, either!) ‘go to the movies’ fan, there’s something of a schlep in getting a bus across town or driving several miles to get ripped off buying popcorn or hot dogs at about a 1000 percent mark-up, then sit next to some fool noisily sucking through a drinking straw, rustling a bag of chips or, worse still, talking through the movie.