If it was legal you would be able to view directly from the UK TV websites. All non UK IP's are blocked. Google is your friend.

Well that's cleared that up then. Thanks.

CREAC, CRuPAC, IDAR ILAC, IRAC, MIRAT or TREACC please!

FB, Jerseygirl is right. I've sent people to prison for copyright infringement. Of course, once I'm no longer in the job, who knows what my view might be...

JG makes a broad statement and then doesn't back it up. You add an anecdote which is neither here nor there.

CREAC, CRuPAC, IDAR ILAC, IRAC, MIRAT or TREACC please!

It seems like a bit of a grey area from the research that I have done.
I'm sure it is illegal, to the letter of the law. But then a vast amount of law-abiding citizens the world over perform illegal acts everyday but are never brought to justice because the acts they perform are either overlooked by the authorities (as being too minor) or the law is unenforceable in any meaningful way.

On my way to work today I drove over the speed limit along a stretch of road. There was a cop behind me all the way but he didn't pull me over or get involved in any way. A crime was committed but was overlooked by the authorities.

If everyone involved in copyright infringement issues was brought to justice, half the world would be in jail.

It's just FB trying to be difficult...best to ignore him when he gets this way.

In the US, it's the downloading/uploading of copyrighted material and using anything that circumvents DRM that's illegal.

If you were in Canada, the downloading would be legal under fair use, but it would be the uploading that would be illegal.

Copyright infringement is different from theft though, and piracy of tele/movies/software is copyright infringement and not theft so generally would likely get you a fine rather than time unless you were distributing the stuff.

That's the kibbles and bits in a gist.

To ExPatDave, re your message about UKiVPN
I paid for this yesterday, for a year, and I have received no acknowledgement or instructions. What should I do now?

You can always contact your CC company and cancel if they don't get back to you.

That's strange. Did you ever get this sorted out? They have fallen over themselves to help me a couple of times.

Did you sign up with a hotmail address or similar free e-mail account? If so, the website does warn that it takes longer to clear those payments.

VPN doesn't have any legal issues for users. The only problem would be if you download and record AND THEN break the DRM. Since UKiVPN doesn't do this and doesn't subsequently upload the content (a la p2p), users are in the clear. The same goes for proxies and IP hiding technologies.

I'm glad you sent this message, Dave; I just promised UKiPVN I would let British Expats know that while I could not get it to work at first, I now have it working on both MAC and laptop PC. As you attested, they also helped me a great deal; initially when I did not get timely replies I began to smell a rat, but it turned out the person emailing me was away in Australia at the time which accounts for the time lapses. Anyway, in the end all is well and today I saw "The Bill" live. I am very puzzled why this one programme is singled out by ITV NOT to be viewed except live, which means for me I have to arrive late at my sculpture class. Does anyone know how to turn it on and save it for later? Anyway, that's ITV, not UKiPVN's fault. They have been great and I must especially mention the clarity of their written instructions - not geek-ese, proper clear English - Bravo!

Streaming/downloading via a VPN connection is not illegal.
Allowing others to download from you (uploading) IS illegal.

Since P2P networks mostly insist that you keep a decent up verses down ratio, then you have to upload to use them. That's when you get in trouble. Just streaming stuff over VPN does not have such repercussions.

A slightly odd case is where you stream LIVE BBC and you're in the UK: then you DO need a license; but not for watching recorded stuff of the iPlayer.

OK, clear as mud. Carry on

In the US, downloading is also illegal, it isn't in Canada though. VPN is irrelevant.