Will Netflix block VPNs?

In May earlier this year, Hulu, the hugely popular movie and TV streaming service blocked a number of VPN users from being able to access its network.

The question on the lips of thousands of Netflix customers in Australia at the moment is whether they will be blocked from accessing the American version of the streaming service. At the moment, Netflix isn’t available in Australia so many Australians reportedly pay for a Netflix subscription and use a VPN to bypass the geo-restrictions put in place. This means that they can ‘virtually’ reside in America, and watch Netflix as Americans do.


However, according to Torrentfreak some members of major entertainment studios including Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox and Sony Pictures who are represented by The Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association (AHEDA) want Netflix to block users or even ban users who use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to gain access to the service.

Why is this happening? Well, it basically boils down to licensing costs and how rights are handled for TV shows and movies. For example, studios who hold the rights in America lose money when users access content outside of the States, and they aren’t happy about it. Not one bit.

Banning VPNs is wrong!
Of course, it’s impossible to ban all VPN access as Hulu discovered, but it’s also wrong.
For example, an American, who travels to Australia, wouldn’t be able to access their Netflix account even though they have paid for it. That doesn’t seem quite fair, now does it? And if Netflix did bow to down to pressure and block VPN users they would also be blocking Netflix users in the States who use VPNs to protect their private and confidential information. One or two ISPs in the United States have been found to throttle bandwidth and download speeds on many video streaming sites such as Netflix, so many Americans use a VPN to bypass this so that they can stream TV shows and movies without any speeds issues.

A VPN isn’t all about accessing geo-restricted content, it secures devices when using public Wi-Fi and protects your data from prying eyes and also allows you to surf the web anonymously. Privacy tools should be encouraged, not discouraged!

Netflix users have paid for the service; it shouldn’t matter if they are in the US, UK or Australia, they are legitimately paying for it, not illegally downloading the material from a torrent site. TV and movie studios would be wise to remember that!
For more information, please visit our website.

Iranians use VPNs to bypass governmental website blocks

Iran is well known for censoring the internet, prohibiting access to hugely popular social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Since being sworn in as Iran’s leader last year, President Hassan Rouhani is widely seen as an advocate for an open internet. Last year in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour when asked whether he would reduce censorship in Iran, Rouhani said “All my efforts are geared to ensure that the people of Iran will comfortably be able to access all information globally and to use it…I believe that all humans beings have a right, and all nations have a right to use them.”


A year on, and Rouhani, seen as the “moderate” President, is still determined to push this through. Recently he called on some of the countries most hard-line clerics to relax their attitude towards the web, saying that an open internet is essential to be able to educate the nation’s youth, to give them greater “knowledge and science” capabilities.

Recently, the Iranian government granted 3G and 4G licences, a popular move with young Iranians, and also increased much-needed bandwidth on home connections.
However, this has raised concern for some of the countries most conservative clerics including Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makaram Shirazi who sees high speed internet as “haram” meaning forbidden by Islamic law and violates “human and moral norms.”

One stumbling block which could setback or even decimate Rouhani’s vision, was the news of 11 Iranians who were recently arrested in the country after messages criticizing the Islamic republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini were found. In Iran WhatsApp, Viber and Tango are monitored for content that criticizes the government and its leaders. Freedom of speech is not tolerated. Period.

Happiness is also not permitted in Iran. Back in May, a group of Pharrell Williams fans produced their version of his hit song “Happy”, which attracted tens of thousands of online viewers on YouTube. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, an Iranian court found them guilty of producing a “vulgar” video conducting “illicit relations” and they received a suspended sentence of six months prison and 91 lashes. However, Rouhani, who has a Twitter account, stood up for the Happy fans tweeting “Happiness is our people’s right. We shouldn’t be too hard on behaviours caused by joy.”

Rouhani’s government has been given one month to ban social networking apps, or else the judiciary will take matters into their own hands. What this means exactly hasn’t been revealed, but it can only mean upset and frustration for the millions of people who use the platforms. Currently, in-house fighting between Rouhani’s administration and Iran’s judiciary is taking place, with neither party , currently willing to back down. Unfortunately, the decision to press forward for internet freedom is not Rouhani’s. Filtering and censorship of the internet is controlled by Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace – a bunch of right wing conservatives who strongly disagree with Rouhani’s vision.

Many Iranians bypass websites blocks, but how?
A study recently published by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, found that nearly 70% of Iranians, aged between 15 and 29, use VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) to bypass websites blocked by their government.
VPNs give Iranian netizens and other web users such as those in China access to a free and open internet, allowing them to access news, and allows them to freely communicate with the outside world using Facebook and Twitter.

Bypassing governmental blocks is easy with HMA! Pro VPN – and in fact, bypassing this kind of censorships was the main reason our service was originally establised. Just select a server from our vast country list, (choose a server in a country where you know the webpage is not blocked) and you’ll be surfing the net in no time at all as you should be able to – no restrictions, no blocks whatsoever.

If you, a friend, family member or work colleague is planning a trip to Iran or you know anyone who lives there who would benefit from using a VPN, tell them about HMA! Pro VPN. It’s always best to be prepared, so I highly recommend that you purchase an HMA! Pro subscription and get it set up on your iPhone, PC, Mac, or Android before arriving in Iran. Feel free to give them our email address info@hidemyass.com and a member of our support team will assist if any help is needed.
Purchase HMA! Pro VPN and stay connected!

For more information about HideMyAss! please visit our website.

We’ve added 16 servers, 3,142 IP addresses, and 9 NEW countries to the Hide My Ass! VPN Network

We have a huge server update for you. Since our last update, we’ve added 16 servers, 3,142 IP addresses, 9 NEW countries, and 1 NEW virtual location to the Hide My Ass! VPN Network.

Oman, Salalah (252 IPs) (New country)

Lebanon, Beirut (252 IPs) (New country)

Syria, Ad Darah (252 IPs) (New country)

Iraq, Baghdad (252 IPs) (New country)

Afghanistan, Kabul (252 IPs) (New country)

Palestine, Bethlehem (252 IPs) (New country)

Bahrain, Manama (252 IPs) (New country)

Bangladesh, Dhaka(252 IPs) (New country)

Yemen, Sanaa (251 IPs) (New country)

Netherlands, Amsterdam – Virtual USA (Loc 1 Servers 1-2) (249 IPs) (New virtual location)

Austria, Vienna (Loc 1 Server 2) (122 IPs)

USA, Florida, Miami (Loc 2 Servers 1-2) (253 IPs)

Australia, New South Wales, Sydney (Loc 1 Servers 3 – 4) (251 IPs) 

 

If there’s a country or a location that you would like to see a server in, please let us know by commenting on our blog.

Visit our main site for more information on our VPN server network.

Great news – Turkey lifts the ban on YouTube!

Hide My Ass! is very pleased to hear that Turkey has lifted its ban on YouTube, two months after blocking the video-sharing website. Twitter was the first site to be blocked by the Turkish government on the 21st March, and a week later a block on YouTube was imposed after it too was used to air accusations of government corruption.  The ban on Twitter was lifted in April, but the block on YouTube remained in place until Tuesday 3rd June, after Turkey’s highest court ruled that the block was against free speech.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has widely criticized social media websites, and this decision to lift the ban is widely seen as a slight to the government.

We at HMA! are proud to have supported Turkish citizens beat the ban on Twitter and YouTube during this period by providing existing and new customers a free extension on their HMA! Pro VPN account.
We greatly welcome the decision to overturn this ban. At HMA! we believe in an open internet; that free speech and communication is a human right and that the internet should be available to everyone around the world, with no restrictions.

The ban on YouTube and Twitter has now been officially lifted. The HMA! free VPN offer is now closed.

The HMA! team

It’s Summer Sale time at Hide My Ass!

We love the summer, bbq’s, beaches and maybe the odd beer – plus the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off today, making today the perfect day to launch the start of our summer sale.

Save BIG this summer
You can save a huge 56% discount off the price of a 12 month HMA! Pro VPN subscription which brings it down to only $4.99/month.  A 6 month subscription is now $39.99, and 1 month is only $9.99.

And if that’s not the best news you’ve heard this year – don’t forget that if you order an auto-recurring subscription, the discounted price will be locked in on every renewal!

You can use HMA! Pro VPN in so many ways; to secure your devices when using public Wi-Fi, surf the net anonymously and access videos from any country!
Click here to grab a bargain today!

Google and YouTube blocked in Tajikistan

Over the past few months a number of social media websites including Twitter, Facebook, Google and YouTube have been blocked (and in some cases, unblocked) in countries including Turkey, and Pakistan. Now Tajikistan can be added to the list.

Reports surfaced earlier last week that internet users were unable to access the video-streaming service YouTube, and now many users have found that Google, including Gmail has been blocked.Tajikistan’s communications chief put the connection issues down to “possible technical problems” but as yet both sites remain blocked or partially blocked, and no further comment has been made.


Tajikistan authorities have blocked a number of websites over the past two years including Facebook, and a number of Russian news websites, yes you’ve guessed it, blocked – due to technical problems!
It is all too easy for governments to demand that blocks be put on websites which they deem a threat to their political standing and beliefs. Countries that deny their citizens the right to voice their opinions and communicate with the outside world are taking away freedom of expression, and that is unacceptable. Period.

Luckily, there is a solution for internet users in countries like China, Pakistan and Tajikistan whose governments deny them the freedom of expression – a Virtual Private Network (VPN) – and of course, I recommend HMA! Pro VPN.

When you select a server from our vast country list, (choose a server in a country where you know the webpage is not blocked) and you’ll be surfing the net in no time at all as you should be able to – no restrictions, no blocks whatsoever.

Save money in our Summer Sale!
We’ve slashed our prices in our Summer Sale – so don’t delay, click here to grab a bargain, and keep your personal and confidential information safe from governments, protect your data when using public Wi-Fi, access blocked websites and surf the net anonymously!

Tajikistan Facts
If you are not quite sure where Tajikistan is located, well it’s bordered by Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China, and has a population of around 8 million. It is a mountainous country – in fact 97% of the country is mountainous!

• Russian soldiers are reported to have seen the Abominable Snowman or the ‘Yeti’ in the Pamir Mountain ranges. The legend of the Yeti still exists in Tajikistan today.
• Tajikistan is amongst the smallest nations in Central Asia, in terms of area.
• Its domain is .tj

HMA! Tip: Receive emails anonymously and stop spam with Hide My Ass!

HMA! Pro VPN protects and encrypts all of your internet traffic by routing it through one of our servers, and of course that includes incoming and outgoing email traffic as well. But that doesn’t mean that you receive less spam when giving out your email address over the web, especially if you haven’t registered your email address anonymously.


There are a number of different ways that our anonymous email service can help you, for example:

1) You may come across a website that won’t let you view its pages until you sign up via Facebook or provide them with an email address. Many of these websites collect your details, known as email harvesting, in order to send out bulk email, aka spam!

2) You’ve scoured the internet and finally found the perfect birthday present for a friend, but when you check out, you’re asked for your email address.  Chances are you won’t be purchasing anything from that company again, so the best thing to do is give them an anonymous email address. You won’t be bombarded with their newsletters, special offers and other deals all clogging up your inbox.

3) “Sign up to our newsletter to get full access to our site!”  Sounds great, and many times, yes you do want to check out their site, but as soon as you hand over your email address,  get constant emails from them, and their partners and their partners’ partners!

Avoid website registration where you can, and use our anonymous email service. As soon as you stop using your ‘real’ email address, and start using our anonymous email account, the sooner you’ll see less spam in your inbox.

The HMA! Anonymous Email service is not just another trash-mail service as it offers much more:

• Complete anonymity – no personal information is required to register
• Full HTML support for displaying emails
• Daily email alerts to your alternative email address (optional)
• Ability to set an expiry date for the account (24h, 7d, 1/6/12m) to ensure secure deletion of account and emails
• Stop spam by never using your real email address on shady websites again

Give it a try – over 800,000 users can’t be wrong!