Quote:
Originally Posted by lovekeiiy 
I may be able to answer this part of question. Plenty of others have address the technology part of it. Yes, it's true part of the reason some people use it is to hide their activities. In places such as China, UAE, the national firewalls really limit what you can do on the net. And getting caught going on a site's the government does like, can get in some pretty big trouble.
In the USA, it's a slightly different story. One use would be if one is using public WiFi and want an extra level security, say like having a paying to bill you forget to do that is due now. Another use, the one I do, is to get access to services outside the USA. This is stuff like a lot online broadband sports packages such as NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB to name a few. I'm able to watch my local teams, not have to worry able blackouts, and cut the cord.
The video below shows the NFL Game Pass service, it's like DirectTVs Sunday Ticket, but from the NFL and cheaper, and a local broadcast via HDHomerun and Media Center. The system was choking from trying to display two HD feeds.This isn't illegal, but a TOS voilation because I'm circumventing the blackout rules. Since I'm not publcly showing the game, the odds of being caught are next to nil. If caught, they cancel my service, and charge an extra $100 to $150. If I was a bar, then I would have to worry about being sued.
This same concept is used for other services such as BBC iPlayer, CBC online service. Others use this to access USA services such as Netflix and Hulu.
It's not always about hiding your hiding activity, but accessing content.
As for worth, that's purely subjective. I pay $100/yr for my service. I still get the sports packages so that cost is even. But I don't have to pay $50 or more a month to have access to what little content I want to see (I got sick of having to have 100 plus channels I don't watch to have 10 I did.. Heck, one package was free based on location and saved me $280. Plus, being able to access this content any time, any where I have internet, is worth it to me.
Hopefully that helps.
I may be able to answer this part of question. Plenty of others have address the technology part of it. Yes, it's true part of the reason some people use it is to hide their activities. In places such as China, UAE, the national firewalls really limit what you can do on the net. And getting caught going on a site's the government does like, can get in some pretty big trouble.
In the USA, it's a slightly different story. One use would be if one is using public WiFi and want an extra level security, say like having a paying to bill you forget to do that is due now. Another use, the one I do, is to get access to services outside the USA. This is stuff like a lot online broadband sports packages such as NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB to name a few. I'm able to watch my local teams, not have to worry able blackouts, and cut the cord.
The video below shows the NFL Game Pass service, it's like DirectTVs Sunday Ticket, but from the NFL and cheaper, and a local broadcast via HDHomerun and Media Center. The system was choking from trying to display two HD feeds.This isn't illegal, but a TOS voilation because I'm circumventing the blackout rules. Since I'm not publcly showing the game, the odds of being caught are next to nil. If caught, they cancel my service, and charge an extra $100 to $150. If I was a bar, then I would have to worry about being sued.
This same concept is used for other services such as BBC iPlayer, CBC online service. Others use this to access USA services such as Netflix and Hulu.
It's not always about hiding your hiding activity, but accessing content.
As for worth, that's purely subjective. I pay $100/yr for my service. I still get the sports packages so that cost is even. But I don't have to pay $50 or more a month to have access to what little content I want to see (I got sick of having to have 100 plus channels I don't watch to have 10 I did.. Heck, one package was free based on location and saved me $280. Plus, being able to access this content any time, any where I have internet, is worth it to me.
Hopefully that helps.
I'm sorry, but you ARE hiding your activities with what you're doing by circumventing the TOS of the media content provider and ultimately the owner of the actual content. How can you say it's not illegal and under the same breath say you're knowingly violating the TOS?
The only thing you've said of merit is in the situation where one wants to use a public hot spot and want to do something sensitive like online banking. But there have been cases where the use of public hot spots posed other security risks as there have been known honey pot or man in the middle attacks.
