British Minister: VPN is a ‘Key Technology’

VPN technology should not be outlawed or banned, according to Britain’s Minister for Intellectual Property.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe. Photo: Matthew Jordaan/World Economic Forum

Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe was recently in Singapore for an official visit and to sign a memorandum of understanding between Britain’s Intellectual Property Office and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. The agreement will lead to joint efforts between the two offices to protect IP in each other’s countries.

Neville-Rolfe told The Straits Times that it would be unwise to ban technology like VPNS, even if they are used to access geo-blocked content, a practice opposed by rights holders. “You can’t outlaw a key technology,” she said.

Talk of banning VPNs is common and as more people have reportedly been accessing US services like Netflix via VPNs, the discussion has heated up. Australia too has considered similar blocks.

Recently the Singaporean ISP ViewQwest released a new set top box with a built in VPN-like function so customers could use foreign streaming services.

Netflix will, however, launch officially in Singapore next year but concerns remain over the quality of the catalog compared to the US version.

“I’m paying about US$50 (S$71) a year for my VPN service, which is a small price to pay for full, uncensored content,” said one Singapore user. “I wouldn’t want to miss out on any parts of the TV show, so I wouldn’t switch to Netflix’s Singapore service if it is going to censor that.”

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