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A free ride to US content? Sorry, no.

The world wants a piece of America. Not the real America mind you, with its ugly highways, guns, and inequalities, but fantasy America. US entertainment is a highly desirable commodity that is denied even to international netizens. Access to services like Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and Spotify is stymied by an invisible Copyright wall where the wrong IP Address leaves you out in the cold.

Fortunately, there are ways to tunnel through that wall and get a piece of that US action. Two common methods are through a proxy or through a VPN. A proxy (such as hidemyass) allows you to piggyback on a US server so that your connection requests are made using an IP address originating in the US. A VPN (such as proXPN) encrypts your data by emulating a LAN network over the internet.

Fortunately, there are many free proxies out there (VPNs not so much, although proXPN is free). Unfortunately, these free editions have severe bandwidth restrictions. This limitation means that your dreams of streaming all that juicy US Netflix content can die right now. Unless you’re willing to pay for unlimited bandwidth. As in real life, there is no free ride to America, but money can buy you anything. 

Pirate’s sanctuary?

Last month, the Swedish government recognized The church of Kopimism as an official religion. The central tenet of this church is that the exchange of information is holy. The church has its own constitution, symbols, and even hymns. Worship consists of a digital service in which files are shared. Of course, to avoid litigious persecution, participants in “worship” must encrypt their traffic.

Now, you may have gotten sufficiently caught up in the recent SOPA and PIPA protests to think this is fantastic. Except, it isn’t. A free and open Internet is a noble cause, absolutely. Free = good. But listen: piracy = bad. When does the free and open exchange of information cross over into base thievery? Who knows anymore. The debate over creative ownership and copyright rages on and a complete solution continues to be elusive.

But one thing I do know - The church of Kopimism (Copy+Me+ism - get it?) is a thinly-veiled mockery. Take a look at this video as a Christ-like figure bathed in an eerie blue glow shows us how to perform the sacred Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V cut and paste gestures:

These guys make The Jedi Church and The Church of Scientology seem mildly credible. A pirate’s sanctuary? More like a desperate joke that undermines the whole open movement.