buy VPNs and that everything else is just window-dressing to give them
an air of legitimacy.
Second, the global rise of far-right politics has spurred interest in VPNs.
People in places that usually weren’t concerned about privacy or
censorship suddenly had reasons to use VPNs. In the US, the collapse of
our net neutrality rules, ISPs monetizing user activity, and a generalized
concern over surveillance in a post-Snowden world haven’t helped.
7KLUG¿QDOO\LVPRQH\6WDUWLQJDVPDOO931FRPSDQ\LVLQH[SHQVLYH
And thanks to cloud servers and open-source VPN protocols, spinning
up a few servers is pretty easy to do. Hell, I made my own VPN in
perhaps 30 minutes. Now, mine had only one server and not the
WKRXVDQGVRIVHUYHUVLQPXOWLSOHORFDWLRQVR̆HUHGE\PDMRUSOD\HUVEXW
the low barrier for entry has certainly made it easier for bad actors to
enter the market along with everyone else.
The problem for VPN entrepreneurs isn’t building the product—it’s
JHWWLQJSHRSOHWREX\LW7KDW¶VZKHUHḊOLDWHPDUNHWLQJFRPHVLQ
:LNLSHGLDGH¿QHVḊOLDWHPDUNHWLQJZHOO ³LQZKLFKDEXVLQHVV
UHZDUGVRQHRUPRUHḊOLDWHVIRUHDFKYLVLWRURUFXVWRPHUEURXJKWE\
WKHḊOLDWH¶VRZQPDUNHWLQJH̆RUWV ́,I\RX¶YHHYHUZRQGHUHGZK\WKHUH
DUHPLOOLRQVLWHVZLWK85/VWKDWDUHVRPHFRPELQDWLRQRI³931 ́DQG
³5HYLHZ ́RUZK\HYHU\ZHEVLWHIURP&1(7WR:LUHFXWWHUKDVVWDUWHG
UHYLHZLQJ931VLW¶VEHFDXVHRIḊOLDWHPDUNHWLQJ
M
a
x
E
d
d
y
