This just in from Fjoddes.net: It appears that PayPay is beginning to deny service to virtual private network and smart DNS services. The reason is that these services make it easier for users to pirate media content worldwide and are thus a violation of their terms of service.

It is true that the use of these privacy providing services make it easier to do bad things. They also allow many people who are doing nothing wrong simply to choose not to let others to be able to watch every move they make. Privacy is a right and there is no need to justify it.

As we move into the digital age and the Internet of Things, there is a very real risk that we will come under total government and corporate surveillance. Worse we will come under their total control. They will control our credit cards and other payment systems, our phones, our driverless cars, … The comforts we get from technology might just be paid for with our freedom. And, this is already the case to a large extent.

At just this moment when governments and corporations are trying to consolidate their control, there are also efforts underway to wrest those freedoms back without having to relinquish our rights. Bitcoin is one of those efforts. And we should give thanks to Paypal for helping to convince more VPNs to accept Bitcoin and to convince more people that it’s in their interest to learn about and start using it.