How to watch country-restricted videos
Unblock country restricted videos and websites
Did you get an error message when trying to watch a video?“Sorry, this video is not available in your country"
"Sorry, currently our video library can only be watched from within the United States"
"We can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S."
etc.
In this article learn how to gain access to and unrestrict:
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Why am I restricted?
How to Unblock restricted videos + websites
Best VPN service.
It's a global revolution
Why am I restricted from watching videos in the United States or elsewhere?
"Sorry, this video is not available in your country", but why?! You may be able to access the basic content and web pages of certain websites, but you come across a video of a tv-show that you want to watch, or perhaps a movie, documentary, or other in-depth content, and find it is restricted. You will likely have received a message that says “Sorry, this video is not available from your country" Well what’s the deal? Can’t we all just enjoy the same content no matter where we are accessing the internet we are from?Unfortunately licensing and big business takes over. It would cost the business and website more money to distribute the content to more countries. They have to make a decision – will buying the extra licenses to provide the content to more markets pay off? Often they decide no, or just ignore the smaller international markets. I think this is unfair. If people in other countries want to access the video, and are willing to watch commercials during the video, they should be shown the video! Or at least given the option to pay to see it. I regress, there is a solution for you, so that you can watch Hulu, or listen to Pandora Radio, use Spotify, access American iTunes, etc.
Unblocking and gaining access to restricted websites.
Well you could just access the internet from a country that the video is allowed to be played in. And for once that is actually easier done than said - which is quite unusual in this world. No you don’t have to physically go to the country and access the internet in some internet café to unblock access to your desired website (although that would work). You can just “bounce" (or relay, or route, etc) your internet connection off of a server in the country where access is granted.This is often done by internet experts, big websites, businesses, etc, for various purposes, such as providing the fastest connection possible to their customers. But you too can do it with only basic computer skills and knowledge. Skip to the next section to find out the best way how.
Gaining access to restricted or blocked websites has traditionally been done through the use of “proxies". A proxy is just like I described above, a server with a static IP address that can be used to route your connection through. This is often a difficult and complicated task, and proxies are often dead shortly after they become public knowledge. Proxy connections also tend to be very slow and clogged, as everyone rushes to use the same IP. Finding the proxy address is also a difficult task, generally leaving you sifting through ad-ridden, Trojan-horse infested shady websites trying to find one that works.
Best VPN service for watching restricted videos and websites
So that leaves us with the best solution to unrestricting websites such as Hulu that only work in specific countries: a dedicated virtual private network. Also known as a VPN service or tunnel. It is basically a service which will provide you with at least 5+ servers located in the desired countries of your choice. They are not bogged down with random internet traffic, only subscribers have access. They are monitored for quality by the professional VPN service who operates the servers.Personally I have been using ibVPN for about a year,
and have tried a couple others. It is inexpensive, about $3-5 per month depending on the service you choose, you really only need the cheapest service. I’ve never had any problems or down-time with them.
From the moment you turn on your VPN service and choose a server in the United States or the country of your choice, you will notice websites offering you American-related services and ads. You won’t be redirected to your country specific domain name (like google.ca instead of google.com), and when you go to access videos on Hulu, you will no longer see the “Sorry, that video is not available in your country" message - the video will simply play, as if you were in that country.
For all purposes the internet will think you are connecting from within the country that you are bouncing your internet off of. The websites will be receiving the requests for information from the VPN server, not from you.
It's a global revolution...
A noticeable side benefit of using ibVPN, is the privacy it provides you. The name of the service I suggested actually stands for "invisible browsing VPN". Marketing companies won’t be able to track you, or store data on you. Browsers and search engines won’t be able to keep track of your habits. It’s an added layer of security that you may decide is beneficial to leave on all the time, not just when accessing those pesky country restricted videos.Using a service to unrestrict access to these websites and videos is really part of a global revolution of sorts. A movement to freedom of choice and movement around the globe. Blocking certain countries from accessing your media, information, news, videos, etc, is really protectionist and old fashioned at best. At worst, it is censorship, authoritarian and on the road to communism and anti-free speech! So there you have it. Stand up for democracy and freedom by getting past those restrictions!
Last Updated: December 10, 2013