I am already looking forward to the upcoming VPN witch hunt. When US provider are really going through with the six strikes "warning" system [1], VPNs will become more and more mainstream. It is going to be interesting which kind of CP/Terrorism yadayada they are going to pull this time.
As a VPN user for closed to ten years nw (yes, I am that paranoid/live in a tough-on-downloads region) I can honestly say, that its benefits outweigh the negatives by far. But it takes some time to find a stable VPN service, that fits to your expectations.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always had the understanding that VPN providers would give you up to the feds in an instant if they came knocking on their door with a court order for suspected criminal activity.
I'm in the process of looking for a solid VPN provider myself, and this is the impression I'm getting after reading the terms & conditions for services like Private Internet Access and VyprVPN.
As a VPN user for closed to ten years nw (yes, I am that paranoid/live in a tough-on-downloads region) I can honestly say, that its benefits outweigh the negatives by far. But it takes some time to find a stable VPN service, that fits to your expectations.
[1] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/six-strikes-inter...