Is using VPN illegal?

Most people who use VPN (virtual private networks) are trying to circumvent IP address (internet protocol address) blocking by certain publishing entities eager to protect their copyrights in certain countries. Based on this, we could wonder whether a system aimed at circumventing copyrights is legal, at least in the United States.

I certainly am no lawyer, but I have done some legal research following a conversation I had yesterday on the subject. Based on my findings, it would seem that the answer to that question will vary a lot depending on the local jurisdiction.

In other words, there are many jurisdictions where the "common law" principle applies, meaning (roughly) that the law is actually made by judges, so any case without precedent is in some sort of legal limbo. In the case where a service publisher puts in place an IP-based blocking system to restrict service from a specific country like, say the USA, and a user goes through a VPN to bypass that blocking system, it's fair to say that the user probably violates the service's usage terms and conditions.

Whether this is actually illegal is another story, because usage terms and conditions have no force of law until someone sues somebody and a legal decision is rendered. Furthermore, it seems that a lot of clauses in "usage terms and conditions" documents, as they exist today, are not actually sustainable in court.

As a result and a conclusion for today, it would seem to me that until content providers decide to clamp down on VPN through specific legislation or by launching massive legal action as was the case for illegal downloads of copyrighted material a few years ago, we can quietly continue using our VPN for quite sometime. In the meantime, enjoy the show!