Hacker News Reader

Comment by 867-5309 | Hacker News Reader

in this instance a simple vpn or proxy should suffice. they could get by on free subscriptions for textual content

> vpn

> proxy

These are solutions for ME and YOU when we are there as tourists (if we really want to chop off that $10 from our travel budget). Probably not a solution for people who have never heard of websites like Wikipedia.

if you are introducing them to a new website, they will have to remember the address, or create a shortcut/homepage

vpns have "set and forget" autoconnect functionality

it's quite common practice for the more liberal East. how do you think they access the wider internet otherwise?

They are talking about people in Laos, and the sponsored $10 subscription is considered to be a significant portion of their spending already.

Why are you then comparing to rich people in China where VPN is commodity?

>they could get by on free subscriptions

> all these kids had were Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok, everything else costs ~10$

I don't think any of those four products includes free VPN. You'd need to tunnel Wikipedia through WhatsApp instead, or something.

I don't think that's a representation of the full picture. a cheap android phone would undoubtedly also come with google preinstalled, thus cache/AMP access to Wikipedia

I don't think a telecoms company or phone manufacturer could reliably restrict the ever changing landscape of internet access without affecting usability and social media consumption

I don't think they are using customised iPhones where perhaps such limits may be imposed

I don't think any determined Laotian kid would consider a free vpn an obstacle

I don't think it's unreasonable to say where there's a will there's a way

I don't think it's an impossible feat

> a cheap android phone would undoubtedly also come with google preinstalled

Plenty of Android phones don't come with Google preinstalled.

> thus cache/AMP access to Wikipedia

Even if you have Google on your phone, that doesn't mean you won't need a paid data plan to actually use it.

> I don't think a telecoms company or phone manufacturer could reliably restrict the ever changing landscape of internet access without affecting usability and social media consumption

But that's the point? If you want better usability, you're expected to pay for full internet access.

I think you are trying to find a technical solution to a social problem. Eventually technical solutions will be needed, yes.

Right now it's unreal to even think about VPNs and proxies and customized phones etc. It's not a technical obstacle for that Lao kid, it's a different universe, they never even heard of, nor their peers, parents, teachers, or anyone in their surroundings.

If they whitelisted only social media rather than blacklisting websites, I highly doubt a VPN or proxy would work unless it was provided by Google, Facebook or Tiktok.

How would a VPN work if there is an allowlist of domains? The VPN traffic would get blocked, no?

they operate at a lower OSI level and use various obfuscation techniques

I don't see how that change anything

They obviously charge for anything that is no whitelisted

And the IP of the VPN all the traffic would pass through is definetly not whitelisted...

If they allow Google you could MAYBE host a VPN on google cloud but besides that there is absolutely no way this changes anything

Reply on news.ycombinator.com