A while back, I reviewed a number of VPN services that route your Internet connection through a local IP address and make you appear to be a "local".

For me, it's increasingly become a necessary part of my net experience. Not only do I use it to feed my filthy Glee habit and watch Doctor Who on the Beeb- but increasingly I have to use it to watch videos on VideoSift.

We all know that embedded Hulu clips and Comedy Central posts are *blocked for many countries- but many other video providers are throttling their bandwidth for international viewers. I have anecdotal evidence that this is happening with CBS and MSNBC for me here in Australia. The reasoning must be, well- we don't have any international advertising lined up for these clips- why should we pay for the bandwidth?

I'm still using a standard VPN Service, but I've moved on from the ones I reviewed. I'm now using "Hide My Ass". I like that it doesn't use Tunnelblick- which I've always found a little clunky- at least on the Mac. They've got a good list of servers, that lets me jump around to many different regions in the US- as well as other countries- Canada, UK, Sweden etc. I pay $10 per month.



Beyond watching videos, it's useful for me to be able to view the advertisements on VideoSift that are displayed to other countries.

Anyone who thinks the Internet is a wonderful borderless free-for-all is kidding themselves. Maybe at first- but these days it's a tightly controlled, geo-targeted world.