Morality of VPN

[Fidem]

Is using VPNs to bypass geographical restrictions immoral?

I’m not sure if the use of VPN is immoral or the fact that something is only available to a certain country or even is more expensive for a certain country.

 

[Cecilia2017]

That’s an interesting question. A colleague who pays for his YouTube Premium in a different currency through a different country via VPN justifies it thus: he uses the example of two countries (or states perhaps?) having two different sales taxes but an open border. Wouldn’t you consider a road trip to save money on a new washing machine by buying it in the cheaper location? Anecdotally this happens between Eire and Northern Ireland quite a bit.

It seems to boil down to whether you feel there is a moral difference between breaking the law (not usually the case when using a VPN in the west unless you’re using it to actually commit a crime) and breaking a company’s terms and conditions …pretty much guaranteed if you pay for YouTube Premium in rupees instead of sterling but live in London or if you ‘switch’ countries to access a different Netflix.

So, not an answer as such, but food for though.

 

[Sarcelle]

I know if I were living in China I would use VPN.

VPN can also help ensure cyber security.

 

[phil19034]

Using VPN in of itself is not immoral. There are PLENTY of legitimate reasons to use it. VPN is a tool (like a crowbar or screwdriver)

However, using VPN in order to view something for free that you would normally have to pay for is stealing.

It’s no different that using a screwdriver to illegally pick a lock or using a crowbar to illegally open a crate.

NOW: with that said, whether using a VPN to watch something that is legally free in one nation and not free in your country is a different question, above my pay grade. I can see legitimate arguments both ways.

HOWEVER, using a VPN to watch an illegal feed from another nation is wrong.