OkayFreedom to let you watch iPlayer on holiday

Posted on 7 Nov 2012 at 17:22, by Kat Orphanides

Steganos has launched its OkayFreedom service, a VPN application which allows users to circumvent IP address-based content blocking and provide private, encrypted and untraceable web browsing by assuming a US, German, Swiss or British identity at the click button.

Free users are permitted 500MB of monthly traffic, which can be upgraded to a maximum of 1GB by inviting friends. This won't go far if you're watching a lot of on-demand video, which is where Steganos is hoping its paid-for packages will come in. £5 a month will buy you 10GB of traffic, or you can opt for an unlimited service for £10 a month.

With catch-up TV services growing in popularity, frequent travellers are discovering that they are unable to access their home country's content when on the move. The BBC’s IP address detection blocks foreign viewers from watching content paid for by licence payers, but doesn't recognise legitimate licence payers who happen to be travelling and want to keep up with their favourite programmes. OkayFreedom will automatically select the country you need to appear to be from to make various sites work for you.

Steganos managing director Gabriel Yoran notes that there’s “a dismaying increase in internet restrictions through many countries that are popular with expatriates and business travellers”, including Pakistan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and China."

Needless to say, you’ll still need a UK TV license at your place of residence to be able to legally watch BBC TV on the move, while other localised streaming services such as US Hulu services may also bear conditions or restrictions on their use from overseas. It’s also worth noting that OkayFreedom can be prevented from working by some firewall configurations.