# Internet geographic location switching services

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-geographic-location-switching-services/671156>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 13, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-geographic-location-switching-services/671156 "2013-10-13T20:02:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-geographic-location-switching-services/671156/1 "2013-10-13T20:02:48Z")

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Although anyone who subscribes to a VPN service can probably do much the same thing if the service allows you to switch servers easily, [this seems to be a different and much cheaper animal](http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-11/the-cheap-way-to-watch-every-nfl-nba-nhl-game-online) although I have to assume it works in a similar way but sans the encryption.

It’s also something of a legal gray area at the moment in terms of using this to say access NFL or Netflix streaming but presumably that will be tested in the courts and the service will be shut down if it’s deemed to violate any laws or int’l agreements.

The article focuses on just one such service but there may be others out there if this sounds like something that may of interest - and of course there is always the VPN route as well.

> [@](#):
>
> The National Football League has [$6 billion worth of annual incentives](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204026804577098774037075832.html) to keep Americans from watching games online. So fiercely does the league guard its lucrative television deals that to watch football online in the U.S., fans still have to pay a television provider: The only Americans who are technically allowed to watch NFL’s live streams are those customers who purchase DirecTV’s all-access Sunday Ticket package, a deal worth [$1 billion to the NFL](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-10/nfl-in-talks-with-providers-on-new-sunday-ticket-contract.html).  
> What’s a cord-cutting fan to do? For just a couple of dollars you could digitally pretend to be from somewhere overseas, which would give you access to every single NFL game, live and in high definition, through your Internet connection. And while doing so almost certainly violates the NFL’s terms of service, it might not be otherwise illegal.

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**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-geographic-location-switching-services/671156/2 "2013-10-13T21:23:04Z")

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Sounds like a simple proxy and they’ve been around for years without being deemed illegal.

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**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-geographic-location-switching-services/671156/3 "2013-10-13T21:47:17Z")

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Most proxies report your true IP though

edit: Unless you specifically mean anonymous proxy servers.