Just wanted to bring this up, as I'm a StrongVPN user who uses the service to watch Netflix and until recently Hulu Plus. I legitimately pay for all the services and consider it stupid for them not wanting to accept my money.
I know a lot of people around here are not living within the United States, and given that Hotspotshield (vpn service that might or might not be affect) is a Tek Syndicate sponsor, I wouldn't want this issue to affect other people without getting the needed exposure.
And then they wonder why people end up Torrenting all the media they want to consume. /facepalm Logan style! :(
Yes, I dutifully purchased and installed VPN software as recommended by TekSyndicate for the sole purpose of hiding my Hulu+ data from Verizon, in case they were squelching my throughput.
Now I can't use Hulu at all.
"Hello,
Thanks for writing in. I'm sorry if the recent updates to our location services have caused any undue frustrations. Looking at your account, I see that our system detected that you're accessing Hulu using either a proxy server or VPN, which can prevent us from detecting your actual Internet address.
Because the agreements with our content providers are so strict, we need to be able to verify that anyone who watches videos through our service is a valid user connecting from a territory within the United States. A proxy may disguise your Internet address and make this verification difficult. However, if you are currently within the U.S., you should be able to watch videos on Hulu again once this proxy server is disabled.
In the meantime, I don't want you to have to pay for a service you're not able to use, so if you'd like me to cancel your Hulu Plus account for you until the issue is resolved, just let me know and I'd be happy to help. You can also cancel it yourself anytime via your account page ( www.hulu.com/account ).
Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.
Wow I was researching VPNs tonight and I have both HULU and Netflix so I guess I will just have netflix. If everybody follows I tend to think HULU would rethink this in about a week. Paul .............Morons!
I asked Hulu to clarify what they meant by the phrase "until the issue is resolved", specifically asking if this was something they were actively trying to resolve. Here's the response...
Thanks for your response. The email was more specifically meaning that, if you needed time to work out a new connection, we could cancel until the issue is resolved. This does mean the user needs to resolve it on their end, as our system will continue to block any type of proxy servers and VPN.
Due to contractual limitations, Hulu is unable to stream videos to users of VPNs. With use of these networks, it completely blocks our way of tracking location, thus enabling user's to watch Hulu from outside of the US. Even if you are within the country, we are still unable to allow access to VPNs. Although we may work to better assist US users who prefer to use them in the future, at this time we do not have the ability to do so.
I hope that clears things up! Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks, Alyssa Hulu Support
So "issue is resolved" = "user disables the VPN". I'm not sure I can blame Hulu as they seem to have contracts with the various content providers which prohibit them from streaming outside the USA. (Of course this could be BS, but that's their story.) It's the same problem they have with obtaining and keeping certain shows available on time and for extended periods of time. They can only do what they negotiate w/ the content providers.
If this is the case, is Netflix far behind? The only reason I use the VPN was to protect my streaming content. Now I'm afraid it will have the exact opposite effect, prohibiting all premium streaming content.
The only reason I use the VPN was to protect my streaming content. Now I'm afraid it will have the exact opposite effect, prohibiting all premium streaming content.
You were using a VPN to protect your privacy, not only your streaming content. What Hulu is doing is forcing you to give up your privacy if you want to use their services. The only sensible course of action is to stop using Hulu, and not give in to this blackmail, or other online services will follow suit (like Netflix). Know and protect your rights.
It's incredible how US corporations continue to disrespect their customers with impunity. (EDIT: reworded this last sentence to avoid people getting offended, since that wasn't my intention)