While it’s legal to possess Popcorn Time software, it’s illegal to use the software to watch copyrighted content. My team and I don’t condone illegal activities, but it’s important to know how to access the program safely, especially if you’re in law enforcement or researching the app for work. Using a VPN with Popcorn Time keeps your personal data safe, and removes the risk of hackers, web trackers, or other malicious third parties spying on you.
A Brief History of Popcorn Time
Popcorn Time started as a kernel of an idea by a group of programmers in Argentina who combined the best of BitTorrent’s shareability with the clean, colorful look of Netflix. Not only could users upload and download movies and media, but it also used an interface of titles and thumbnails similar to Netflix that made it very easy to use. Popcorn Time also provides a player to watch files on, making it more of a one-stop shop than the traditional BitTorrent software. Available for nearly every platform, including Linux, Mac, Windows, and Android, Popcorn Time made an immediate splash with mainstream media attention from The Washington Post, CBS News, and PC Magazine. Just as quickly, Popcorn Time came under siege on the legal environment. By March 2014, its original website and coinciding GitHub repository were gone. Its creators said that legal threats and debates about copyright violations were not something they were interested in. Fortunately for users, they left the open software code and other groups forked it – meaning they copied the base code and started their own versions of Popcorn Time. In 2015, the original owners endorsed popcorntime.io as their choice to carry on the Popcorn Time name.
Popcorn Time vs. The Courts
While admirers and successors were propagating the Popcorn Time in other locations, the legal powers across the world were gearing up against them. Between April and August of 2015, courts in the UK, Israel, Denmark, and Germany all ordered their countries’ ISPs to shut down access to various incarnations of Popcorn Time. Israel reversed the ban after realizing it could not block users who had already downloaded the software. Law enforcement in Denmark suffered a black eye when two arrests were made as popcorntime.dk was shut down, only to realize that the website was not affiliated with the developers and only provided information about the service. In the same time interval, The Netherlands also banned its ISP from granting access to Popcorn Time, no surprise given how the country had treated other torrenting sites, including The Pirate Bay. In the few years since Popcorn Time first entered common use, eight other websites offering the same service have been shut down based on legal rulings. Its community of users and developers keeps it afloat, with Popcorn Time CE and popcorntime.sh still humming along at present.
How a VPN Works With Popcorn Time
A VPN works by connecting your computer to a remote server. All of the requests you make on the internet and all of the data you download from them passes through this remote server in encrypted packets. This hides your real IP address and encrypts your online activity, keeping your personal information private from online attacks and hackers. Otherwise, anyone can see your real IP address, which can be used to trace your identity. When you choose a VPN provider, such as ExpressVPN, you download the app and use it to select a remote server. ExpressVPN is one of the top providers in that it has more than 3000 servers in more than 94 countries. Once the connection is secure, everything you request online is encrypted and sent to the remote server. There it is decrypted and paired with a new IP address, which then sends it to the Popcorn Time service. When you begin downloading files from Popcorn Time, the data travels through the remote server, gets encrypted, then comes to your device, where it is decrypted. Keep in mind that it’s against the law to watch copyright-protected content on Popcorn Time. Make sure the content you access is copyright-free, and use a VPN to keep your personal data and identity safe from third-party hackers and web trackers when you’re on Popcorn Time.
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