On 20/01/16 13:01, Neil J. McRae wrote: > How many customers will buy VPNs though? How many actually have a clue what > DNS is?
I was quite surprised to see just how many Netflix customers have learnt about VPNs, just by the prevalence of "hey if you run this at the same time as watching Netflix, you get to see the US version!" In the same vein, I recall the stories of kids pre-building distros with VPNs, on to USB sticks to take to school. All so they could bypass the restricted software on the machines there (or at home). Some of them will be adults now, and I'd be surprised if they felt any different about it. (And as if most of us don't have similar stories from our youth.) But even if VPN use isn't that widespread now, the more the Government encroaches on home communications (be it with filters, or snooping) the greater the reaction will be from the general public to find ways around it. And there will /always/ be a vendor. And of course, the age-old argument; criminals. The minute the Government realise that they can't see 'into' VPNs terminating in $other_country, is the minute they'll want to mitigate their use. "We're not breaking encryption, we're just blocking criminals from using it. There will be no safe spaces for criminals and terrorists! The IP Bill 2016 says we can interfere with whatever we like, so suck it up." > Neil. > (who isn’t in favour of a lot of this bill but loves engineering challenges). Steady-on Spiderman. I sincerely hope you weren't this enthusiastic about mass surveillance* when the HO came and asked BT what was possible to implement. The ramifications of what BT say (and the big four, in general) could seal the fate for the rest of us real quickly**. * Because even if you were gravely mortified on purpose, it's quite perturbing to see how excited about it you are here. Despite being Engineers, history teaches us that we all need a sense of morality above all. ** I still haven't forgiven anyone for backing-down to the 'default-on porn filter' demands. That set a shocking precedent. -- Tom
