How to get a Finnish IP address
The easiest way to improve your digital privacy is to switch your IP address using a VPN. We’ll …
When an Internet user is prevented from accessing online content (e.g. websites, games, videos), it could mean that the content that’s being accessed is not available in his location. This is called geo-blocking, a form of online censorship where a user’s access to certain online content is determined by his geographical location.
Most content providers enforce geo restrictions for their multimedia products primarily because of copyright and licensing issues. Other companies use geo-blocking for a lot of other reasons, such as for blocking malicious or unwanted traffic, prevention of fraud, enforcement of regional pricing, and to enable location-aware authentication.
While majority of Internet-enabled content today can be accessed anywhere in the world, there are still a large number of content and services that are restricted to only a few territories. Below are some of the most popular streaming sites, mobile apps and video games that are available only in selected countries and regions.
Content |
Type |
Availability |
Vevo | Video Streaming | US, UK, AU, BE, BR, CA, CL, FR, DE, IE, IT, MX, NL, NZ, PL, ES, TR |
YouTube Red | Video Streaming | US, AU, MX, NZ |
Amazon Instant Video | Video Streaming | US, UK, DE, IN, JP |
Sling TV | Video Streaming | US |
Funimation | Video Streaming | US, UK |
Pandora | Music Streaming | US, AU, NZ |
Slacker | Music Streaming | US, CA |
Napster | Music Streaming | AR, AT, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, CR, DK, EC, SV, FI, FR, DE, GR, GT, IE, IT, LU, MX, NL, NI, NO, PA, PE, PT, ES, SE, CH, UK, US, UY |
Samsung Milk Music | Music Streaming | US |
iHeartRadio | Music Streaming | US, AU, NZ |
Spotify | Mobile App | 50+ countries only |
Miitomo | Mobile App | US, CA, MX, BR, UK, IE, FR, BE, DE, AT, LU, ES, IT, NL, RU, CH, ZA, AU, NZ, JP |
JioChat | Mobile App | CA, US, UK, UAE, ZA, SG, AU, CN |
Google Voice | Mobile App | CA, US |
Ragnarok Online II | Video Game | KO, SEA, NA, EU, ID |
Elsword | Video Game | KO, TW, HK, JP, TH, ID, BR, PH, NA, EU |
ArcheAge | Video Game | NA, EU, RU, JP, KO |
Rift | Video Game | NA, EU, AU |
Blade & Soul | Video Game | CN, JP, KR, TW, US, RU, EU |
Lineage II | Video Game | NA, KO |
There are a lot of reasons why content providers are restricting their products and services to selected regions, most of which are understandable. There is nothing wrong with using a VPN to bypass these restrictions, though, and the best VPN for this purpose is Hotspot Shield VPN.
Hotspot Shield is a great website access VPN that lets you enjoy content, even if that content is not available where you are. Not only can it grant access to geo-restricted content, it can also remove restrictions for those that are filtered by your local network administrator.
Aside from these, Hotspot Shield also allows you to surf the web anonymously, hides your IP address from snoopers, secures all your data using advanced encryption technology, and protects you from hackers when connected to public hotspots.
Additionally, in exchange for a small subscription fee, you will be able to upgrade to the Elite version. Doing so allows you to access more than 20 virtual locations all over the world, making more geo-blocked content accessible to you.
Access apps, games and content wherever you are in the world by downloading Hotspot Shield VPN now! Visit the Hotspot Shield website to know more about its benefits, or go to the Hotspot Shield blog for tips on how a VPN can make your online experience better.