Well, like the title says, I finally got tired of companies forcing me to walk the plank and I just decided to take the plunge myself. For years, I've decided against dropping my streaming services and resorting to piracy full time.

My reasons were the usual: I didn't want to get in trouble, not just legally, but because where I live, we're lucky to have internet, ~60mbps DSL, unless I go satellite or cellular (no thanks!). As I am not the only one who lives here and uses the internet, I couldn't risk it. 

But the one reason why I decided to do this is EXACTLY the same reason why I decided to sail the high seas full time: we can't get good quality internet. I thought it better to download an episode all at once and tie up the bandwidth for only a little bit, rather than everyone trying to stream at once & consuming what little bandwidth we have, causing almost constant buffering, even the lower quality resolutions.

Yes, the streaming platforms constantly changing pricing tiers, and the ever-increasing amount of commercials definitely factored into my decision, but it was the fact that a decent ISP doesn't exist here was my primary reason.

I have looked up tutorials on all the different pirate platforms, so I feel confident there, but trying to find a VPN that I like is a little difficult. 

So far, I've read to stay away from N0rd, and I've pretty much settled on Proton. But before I take that plunge, what does everyone think Proton? I've seen a lot of mixed feelings from people online, and thought I'd ask myself. Asking the people around me is a no go, most of those people aren't tech savvy enough to make that kind of recommendation.

But I have an even more important question to ask people: Do you hide the fact that you pirate from the people personally around you? Are you ashamed to talk about it in public? 

I am a proud pirate, but at the same time, I'm not going to go around telling everyone that I do this out of fear that a law enforcement officer with some initiative might overhear. I mean, what I plan on putting on my phone alone might get me nothing more than three-hots-and-a-cot for the rest of my life, probably... 

So, are you a sneaky pirate, or a loud and proud pirate in person...? 

I finally got tired of companies forcing me to walk the plank and just took the plunge myself. But I have one question: are you a sneaky pirate, or a loud and proud pirate when you're offline?