In Hulu’s ever-escalating battle to keep pirates at bay, the online media site has blocked access to its service via the more popular virtual private network (VPN) providers. While it will undoubtedly curtail international visitors, it has, unsurprisingly, caught legitimate users too.
According to a report by TorrentFreak’s “Ernesto”, Hulu began denying VPN users access sometime last week. Instead of seeing whatever video you’ve pointed your browser to, you’ll receive the following message:
Based on your IP address, we noticed you are trying to access Hulu through an anonymous proxy tool. Hulu is not currently available outside the U.S. If you’re in the U.S., you’l need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu.
Unfortunately, this measure is also capturing US users who simply want to protect their privacy, going by Hulu’s own support forums. It appears the company is addressing these on a case-by-case basis.
How effective the endeavour will be in the long term remains to be seen, however, the bigger VPN services have already begun deploying countermeasures, with TorGuard preparing to set up dedicated IPs as required.