Blog10: Let me watch my damn Netflix!
Situation
I moved, more than half a year ago. I am living not in the U.S. and this has come with some perks and some drawbacks. The newest pain in my back is streaming services. I want to sit down and enjoy my favorite shows that I payed for in my subscription, only to be greeted by “This show is not available in your region” why can’t I watch House MD! The whole reason why I got this stupid subscription is because I got tired of watching it on 123movies.
Determined to succeed, I get my VPN ready, but to my surprise, they are one step ahead! No VPNs Allowed. But I am undeterred, I am watching House MD, one way or another. So I setup a proxy in my VPS, turns out that won’t work. I simply don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Do I need to download the Tor browser just so I can watch House MD? You see, the whole point why I even payed for a subscription was convenience, I payed to not be bothered, and it ended up back firing, I am down some dollars, and I can’t watch House MD still. 123movies never did me like that. What’s the point of paying for multiple streaming services when they just fail to deliver?
Staying Private Online in the big 26
How ridiculous it is that a streaming site fights so hard to combat your privacy. Please please tell us where you’re right now!! We must now!!. It’s insane, it feels like sailing the high seas might be better for my wallet and my privacy. Modern add blockers are good enough, and even then, If I am paying for the pirated content with adds, and my personal data that they steal, what’s the difference between that and a Netflix subscription?
Being private online in 2026 is an uphill battle. Being private online has always been an uphill battle. I have been advocating for digital privacy for years, but it is only until recent times that it has finally became mainstream, but only because we have started to suffer the consequences that we warned about years ago. It feels that today we have reached a new low, where companies are actively trumping efforts by individuals to stay private.
What is to be done?
I want to think of a world where we get back to the driving seat of our online privacy, but this is nothing less than a utopian dream. The cat’s out of the box, as some would say. I don’t know what is to be done. It is possible to stay private, but it is impractical. I am sorry to disappoint but I am pessimistic on this front.
I think I have a more interesting take on why are things the way they are, I wrote an essay about it years ago, it might be good to revisit some of those ideas as an article in this site.
Why is this happening is very simple, American capitalism today has found itself at a crossroads, falling rates of profit force the hands of corporations to squeeze every mechanism at their control to try and extract every ounce of profit out of their business. More or less.
Tell me of any frustrations you’ve felt?