Is streaming live TV with a VPN legal? The short answer is YES! Here's why...

It's happened to you: You traveled to another country and brought your streaming player with you, and when you launched an app to watch a movie or TV show, you run into a message like, "Sorry, this media is not available in your country." Aaaahh!! Well, you won't have to run into this problem anymore. Here's why...

It’s always a good idea to use a VPN for streaming, but not all content is accessible from every country. However, you can stream from your favorite device with NordVPN to access geo-blocked content that some streaming services may not be willing to show you. 

Unfortunately, this is a problem with most streaming services. Netflix, for example, is notorious for blocking users around the world from viewing US-specific content. Keep in mind, however, that accessing geo-blocked content may violate the terms of service with your content provider.

VPNs are used quite often for legitimate purposes by government organizations, companies and individuals worldwide. VPNs are also used by government institutions as an additional layer of security to protect sensitive data; while corporations rely on VPN's to secure their workplaces or virtual spaces in home-offices. Best of all, individuals use VPNs to stay anonymous online.

So, using a VPN is legal -- unless you are in a country that has either banned VPNs or made it outright illegal to utilize them (click here for more about this: https://nordvpn.com/blog/are-vpns-legal/). But, as we mentioned earlier, accessing geo-blocked content from a particular streaming service may violate its the terms of use.

A VPN would be especially useful for IPTV (a 'technical' term used for streaming Live TV, called Internet Protocol TeleVision) such as playlists offered by the Free2View TV Project. Beware though, many playlists found through unreliable websites online can also be used to stream pirated content and NordVPN does not condone such usage.

In countries where ISPs regularly practice traffic-shaping or throttling, a VPN can help you achieve better streaming speeds. If an ISP finds that you’re streaming video, they can decide to slow down your traffic – either to improve overall network performance or to squeeze more money out of their clients. Using a VPN makes it difficult for them to do so because they can’t tell who’s streaming.

Whatever the reason, it’s a good idea to secure your streaming device with NordVPN. (Check out the latest NordVPN specials going on RIGHT NOW!)

Best Streaming Services For Movies

Here are our suggestions for the best movie streaming services (in no particular order):

Tubi TV

Tubi TV provides access to over 50,000 different movie and TV titles, quite a few of which are high-quality offerings.

Unfortunately, TubiTV is one of many streaming services that geographically restrict certain content. However, if you watch using NordVPN, you can evade those geo-restrictions and enjoy TubiTV’s full expansive library.

PopcornFlix

You can think of PopcornFlix as TubiTV’s little brother. This vast collection features interesting categories and a few hit movies on its own.

Crackle

Crackle is a 100% free and legal library of movies and TV shows licensed by Sony. The movies are of varying quality, but there are a few standouts as well!

FilmRise

FilmRise is a service that acquires film and TV licenses and hosts that content for free online. Their stuff is available on YouTube, but many streaming devices also provides their dedicated app for viewing on-demand.

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Streaming on your device securely

Don’t forget that your streaming device and VPNs go together like peanut butter and jam! From protecting your privacy to avoiding throttling and unlocking geo-blocked content, NordVPN is an excellent tool for improving your streaming experience. NordVPN apps can be installed directly on most streaming devices, such as Android TV, iOS, and others, but in other cases, such as streaming through Roku devices, NordVPN can be installed on some routers as well (click the following link on how to set up NordVPN on a router: https://nordvpn.com/blog/setup-vpn-router/).

It’s almost as adaptable as your streaming lifestyle! Along with all of the other benefits provided by NordVPN, that makes the choice of streaming a no-brainer.

Editor's Note: This post was adapted from this article by NordVPN authors: https://nordvpn.com/blog/watch-kodi-movies/ -GB.