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Hulu Blocks VPN Users

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-can't-get-there-from-here dept.

New submitter electronic convict writes: "Hulu, apparently worried that too many non-U.S. residents are using cheap VPN services to watch its U.S. programming, has started blocking IP address ranges belonging to known VPN services. Hulu didn't announce the ban, but users of the affected VPNs are getting this message: 'Based on your IP-address, we noticed that you are trying to access Hulu through an anonymous proxy tool. Hulu is not currently available outside the U.S. If you're in the U.S. you'll need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu.' Hulu may make Hollywood happy by temporarily locking out foreign users — at least until they find new VPN providers. But in so doing it's now forcing its U.S. customers to sacrifice their privacy and even to risk insecure connections. Hulu hasn't even implemented SSL on its site."

13 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. Privacy is bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How dare you try to bypass our arbitrary and senseless restrictions, and how dare you try to obtain a bit of privacy!

    1. Re:Privacy is bad by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because you need my money to exist. I don't need your product to exist.

      Guess who needs who.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. I don't think, they worry about non-US users by mi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you're in the U.S. you'll need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu.

    I suspect, it is the anonymity, that they wish to defeat — to be able to track users and sell the information.

    Hulu may make Hollywood happy by temporarily locking out foreign users

    That may be only a secondary concern.

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:I don't think, they worry about non-US users by pushing-robot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Also, Hulu is ad-supported. If I was one of their 'sponsors', I might be a bit annoyed that Hulu was billing me for ads delivered to countries where I don't even do business.

      --
      How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    2. Re:I don't think, they worry about non-US users by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you're in the U.S. you'll need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu.

      I suspect, it is the anonymity, that they wish to defeat — to be able to track users and sell the information.

      Hulu may make Hollywood happy by temporarily locking out foreign users

      That may be only a secondary concern.

      No. Hulu is owned by Hollywood. This is entirely about them controlling content. Hulus biggest problem from the start has been all the disparate interests of all the media companies involved in its ownership and operation. It benefits from sweet deals with those companies, but suffers from their idiotically uncreative ideas about how video on the Internet should work.

    3. Re:I don't think, they worry about non-US users by Mashiki · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why, when Hulu detects a visitor arriving from a country other than the United States, does it not refer the user to the licensee doing business in that particular country?

      Because in most cases, there is no licensee doing business in that particular country. Sure here in Canada we have Netflix, but there sure isn't anything close to Hulu. Same hold true in many other countries, but really since I didn't use it I don't care too much, but I'm sure this is going to tick quite a few people off. It's quite similar as to the whole bit with HBO and Game of Thrones, and their other TV series. They *could* be making money hand over fist by selling it people online, but they don't. Instead it has to go through cable companies, which require you to buy into HBO via a part of a package which may cost you upwards of $100-200/mo on top of your normal cable bill.

      And they wonder why piracy is running wild for that show. Derp.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    4. Re:I don't think, they worry about non-US users by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm fairly sure if such a service was offered in their country, people would not resort to VPN hoops to jump through.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. There is no conspiracy. by um...+Lucas · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Regardless of the users IP, Hulu can track those users and sell their information, VPN or not. They've got those subscribers billing credentials, after all. A VPN is useful if you don't want someone else looking into your connection, but for the site you're visiting, especially one that needs your credit card, a VPN isn't meant to be a protection from them getting your info. Your ISP won't (or at least shouldn't) have a clue that you're visiting Hulu, should you be using a VPN, though.

    So no, there is no attack on anonymity here.

    1. Re:There is no conspiracy. by BiIl_the_Engineer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Missed this bit of garbage:

      This just seems like more nerd entitlement syndrome to me. It's Hollywood's content, not yours.

      Entitlement? So, criticizing a company means you're entitled? You're holding a gun to their head and demanding they change their ways, or saying that you deserve everything? If not, then there is no entitlement; just criticism. If you think criticizing a company for its actions means you have "nerd entitlement syndrome," then you're a god damned idiot, and your definition of "entitlement" is completely worthless. I'm tired of people abusing these terms and using them to describe anyone who says anything they don't like about a company.

      As for whether it's "Hollywood's content," I don't believe you can own content, although they certainly try. Problem is, it's not working out for them, and no matter how much people cry and scream, it will never work out. If Hulu is going to kick people off for using VPNs, many of those people will likely just find alternatives, 'legitimate' or not.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  4. Welcome to the 21st century by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Insightful

    where you can find TV set the size of the Berlin wall with a resolution so high you can't see the pixels up close, so thin they can be hung on the wall and look like paintings, able to display movies in 3D, almost affordable by ordinary people, and that display content controlled by cartels who decide who can watch what, where, how and for how much, like in the middle ages.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  5. Re:And people will just bend over too. by BiIl_the_Engineer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Right. I'll just drop Comcast and switch to the other ISP with decent speeds in my area: Comcast.

    Well, the situation is most certainly not the same with Hulu. It's trivial to find another place to watch such videos, 'legitimate' or not.

    --
    These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  6. Re:Not their fault by rogoshen1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    man, while DRM is total bullshit, suggesting someone to do something that almost certainly would end with them getting fired (that's the best case, worse is being sued into oblivion) is just as bad.

  7. Re:And people will just bend over too. by bloodhawk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    yep, I use a VPN for Netflix and Hulu, I happily pay for the service, but if they block those I won't bother finding new ways around it, I will just go back to pirating the content, if they don't want my money fine!