Hulu and the VPN block

From the USA spy allegations to revelations that governments are selling private data to companies, more and more Americans are turning to VPNs to protect their privacy and secure their information away from prying eyes. VPNs have never been so popular and are becoming the norm – a VPN is now as important as your internet connection!


Many businesses in the States, both large and small, use a VPN for many purposes, such as connecting out-of-office staff to their networks, and of course, the necessity to safeguard their privacy when out and about using public Wi-Fi.


Recently news come to light that Hulu – the United States largest movie and TV streaming service have blocked many VPN users from accessing the network. Blocking VPN IP addresses which thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Americans use for safety and privacy reasons, is leaving Hulu subscribers out in the cold.

Hulu, apparently has a large list of IP addresses that frequently use its site to gain access, however, Hulu are not checking to see if they are connecting using a VPN, they have a list of IP addresses which they block. At HMA! 85% of our American servers remain unaffected.

When Hulu subscribers connect to a VPN to access their favourite TV shows and movies such as 30 Rock and American Idol, they are receiving the following message:

“Based on your IP-address, we noticed 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.

“If you think you’re receiving this message in error, please submit this form.”

Let’s look at this sentence again “If you’re in the U.S you’ll need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu.” 

So, if someone in America is in an internet cafe and using a VPN to protect themselves whilst using public Wi-Fi to stream a show on Hulu, they will be blocked. Surely that’s not right? Those who want to safeguard their privacy, and stream shows using a VPN are being punished by Hulu. The only way they can watch is to lift the VPN – thereby opening the doors to thieves and hackers.

Is Hulu saying, that they do not care about the privacy and security of their customers?
Maybe Hulu has forgotten that one of the main reasons people use a VPN is to provide them with online security and encrypt their personal and confidential information.

Is Hulu prepared to lose thousands of its American subscribers? As yet, Hulu has not made any comment, but for the thousands of US Hulu subscribers, this is a great concern which needs to be addressed.
Over to you, Hulu!

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