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jonathan18

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#139306 4-Feb-2014 11:06
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Today Stuff has published an article on the growing use of technology to access overseas streaming services such as Netflix.

It's good to see this matter being picked up by the mainstream media but... I'm not terribly knowledgeable in this area, but I wondered if they've made some significant errors in their reporting (nothing surprising with journalists not understanding and/or reporting accurately on technology issues!).

There is in the article a constant (and singular) reference to the use of VPNs for these purposes. Now, while I understand some people do go down this route, I thought services like Unblock US and Unotelly weren't VPNs but proxy services.

Are there significant differences between the two, or am I just being a (potentially ignorant) pedant? My reading of this article is that it's quite misleading and doesn't give those potentially interested in doing this accurate information on the options available - and that setting up a proxy service is probably easier and certainly cheaper than a VPN.

Your thoughts??



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nakedmolerat
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  #979984 4-Feb-2014 11:10
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Unblock-Us marketed themselves as a 'smarter faster VPN'. This can cause confusion.



NonprayingMantis
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  #979988 4-Feb-2014 11:16
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Reads like a press release for orcon.

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  #979989 4-Feb-2014 11:17
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Whatever they're trying to say, it's certainly the worst attempt at defining VPN that I've ever seen.




 



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  #979990 4-Feb-2014 11:17
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Also the article says "A VPN doesn't redirect data; it just changes the information available to the source, so your internet speed is rarely affected."

Well, it does, a VPN does redirect data. A proxy doesn't. There's a difference between those. Mostly people here use VPNs. And yes speed may be affected if you use a VPN - sometimes better sometimes worse.





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jonathan18

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  #979991 4-Feb-2014 11:19
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NonprayingMantis: Reads like a press release for orcon.


Good point. No doubt part of the rise and rise of business-driven "articles". Media Watch on NatRad spent a couple of episodes discussing this - both main newspapers have employed personnel to manage this business/media relationship. They're doing a great job of further bluring the boundaries between reporting and marketing.

But as to the accuracy and fullness of the contents?

jonathan18

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  #979992 4-Feb-2014 11:22
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freitasm: Also the article says "A VPN doesn't redirect data; it just changes the information available to the source, so your internet speed is rarely affected."

Well, it does, a VPN does redirect data. A proxy doesn't. There's a difference between those. Mostly people here use VPNs. And yes speed may be affected if you use a VPN - sometimes better sometimes worse.



That's the exact line I was going to quote as I thought it had it totally wrong - thanks for confirming my concerns!

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  #980070 4-Feb-2014 12:57
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NonprayingMantis: Reads like a press release for orcon.

Quite possibly ... but apart from the WHAT IS A VPN? section, which is riddled with errors, I think that the article gives a reasonably balanced view of a neglected topic for non-technical readers.




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znockeek
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  #980440 5-Feb-2014 03:23
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The "What is a vpn" section is not entirely accurate. VPN could slow down your speed. Invisibler explains this better. http://invisibler.com/what-is-vpn/

jonathan18

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  #980446 5-Feb-2014 06:42
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Cool, must just be me then! My logic is that if using a proxy service is not the same as a VPN then the article has failed to mention one of the two main methods of accessing such sites. This article clearly gives the impression that a VPN is the primary (if not only)option so has missed the opportunity to provide a comprehensive view.

Jaxson
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  #980491 5-Feb-2014 08:25
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I missed the original article so thanks for the heads up. Hard to read though without spending all day adding to the comments section ;-)


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  #980499 5-Feb-2014 08:53
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Isn't it a bit redundant to mention accuracy issues when you've already said the source is Stuff?




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  #980505 5-Feb-2014 08:58
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unblock.us is a type of proxy. It uses DNS to redirect some of the authentication traffic via their proxy servers, but the actual content comes direct from their CDN's.

So they are partially correct I guess.

freitasm
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  #980511 5-Feb-2014 09:06
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NonprayingMantis: Reads like a press release for orcon.


I actually looked around for any previous relationships between the freelancer writer and said company. Because, as you noted, I also thought it was an "advertorial".






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NonprayingMantis
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  #980555 5-Feb-2014 10:52
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freitasm:
NonprayingMantis: Reads like a press release for orcon.


I actually looked around for any previous relationships between the freelancer writer and said company. Because, as you noted, I also thought it was an "advertorial".




Definitely something fishy going on there. They didn't get feedback from any other ISP, and had extensive quotes from orcon CEO, who doesn't even seem to know what he is talking about.

I imagine slingshot would be especially miffed at the lack of journalism being one of the 'big guys' that actually gives global mode away for free, something orcon doesn't do!

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  #980600 5-Feb-2014 12:13
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freitasm:
NonprayingMantis: Reads like a press release for orcon.


I actually looked around for any previous relationships between the freelancer writer and said company. Because, as you noted, I also thought it was an "advertorial".




It is very difficult to tell if their stories are an advertorial or a real article, when reading the story online. If it was in the paper, they will have a heading so say if it is an advertorial. But they don't seem to do this when the same story is online. If anyone has a paper, was this story advertised  as an advertorial?

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