Why Use Kodi VPN in the UK
While there is nothing illegal about Kodi as software or Kodi as a basic box, the advent of “fully-loaded” Kodi set-top boxes has made streaming football and TV shows for free a lot easier. It comes as no surprise then that companies like Netflix, Amazon, Sky, BT, and even some sports associations have joined forces to lobby for a massive anti-piracy crackdown. That’s a lot of big-name corporations lobbying for something together.
The Digital Economy Act
As a result, the UK government has raised the maximum sentence for piracy from two to ten years in a sweeping move to combat illegal streaming. The Digital Economy Act is now law, and it targets primarily those who sell the said “fully-loaded” Kodi boxes and those who provide or sell digital content illegally.
What worries the regular Kodi streamers is the rumor that they, too, could be targeted.
The Snooping ISPs
The bad news is that the leading English Internet service providers are now tasked with pinpointing users downloading copyrighted content for free and nailing them down with infringement notices. Sky, BT, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media have already sent out their first batch of such letters.
It is believed that users who torrent and download copyrighted shows illegally are prime targets rather than those who stream content with Kodi. But those streaming the English Premier League might actually get targeted ahead of torrenters because the football association is going bonkers about losing a part of its streaming revenue.
It’s too early to panic since the infringement notice does not lead to prosecution but merely explains where you can download content legally. But we’ve yet to see what happens if you receive multiple letters and ignore them.
Users of Fully-Loaded Kodi Boxes Could be Targeted
However, the crackdown on the traders of the “fully-loaded” Kodi boxes brings more bad news to Kodi users. The thing is traders get swept along with their customer databases. What do you think happens to their client list once it’s in the hands of law enforcement? It’s safe to assume the British ISPs will be closely monitoring users known to have purchased a fully-loaded Kodi box.
With that in mind, you are well-advised to use a VPN whenever you turn on your Kodi to stream. A VPN will protect you from:
- Your snooping ISP
- ISP bandwidth throttling
- Annoying streaming geo-blocks
- Hackers and spy agencies
It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially in the UK, so check out the following VPNs to protect your Kodi streaming.
Best VPNs to Use with Kodi in the UK
According to YouGov, over 5 million Kodi boxes have been sold over the last few years, while their impact on the UK television and film producers is estimated at £820 million. That amount does not include losses of pay TV providers and sports rights holders. At least a quarter of Britons stream content illegally, according to FACT, which is a lot of money lost by the entertainment industry. So we might hear more news about the crackdown on Kodi streaming.
IPVanish
- No limit on the number of devices you can connect at the same time
- SOCKS5 proxy, which its main rivals don’t have
- More VPN servers in more US cities to dodge blackouts
- Five simultaneous connections
- Excellent speeds for streaming
- Robust security
- 1000+ servers across 60 countries
- 7-day money-back guarantee
- P2P is allowed
CyberGhost
- Precise locations
- Very large VPN server network
- Offers a 45-day money-back guarantee
- Five simultaneous connections
- 1,283 VPN servers in 60 countries, eight in Denmark
- Streaming-optimized
- Romania-based provider, zero logs
- Kill switch, DNS leak protection
- 7-day free trial
- 30-day refund policy
Hide.me
- Five simultaneous connections
- Top-tier speeds for P2P and streaming
- 88 servers in 24 countries
- DNS leak protection, kill switch, port forwarding
- Malaysia-based, no logs
- Has a free plan