Ashton, we can’t lose the valuable work y’all do here. Can you at least use a mastodon instance and bridge it here until you figure out a VPN solution?

Does Mastodon even have the money to comply with the law?

It’s not centralized as part of its protocol, so they’d have to file suit against individual instances and you can always shut one down and open up another, which is a pain in the ass, but so is filing suit against every instance that pops up

Well shit. I guess I might have to join Mastodon as much as I hate it.....

It’s a pain in the ass interface but there’s at least a bridge to bluesky that works well if you’re stuck in MS behind that godawful law

If you have any suggestions for any specific VPNs we should reach out to, my dms are open @bencollins.bsky.social

I’ve had good luck with Proton, and TorGuard is very good too. An option for extra security is to stack VPNs, which apparently works at the expense of speed

Genuinely, how would that work? Would it be routing all of your traffic through multiple VPN provider's servers or routing different parts of your traffic to different VPNs? I feel it would be unnecessary given you're just trusting *more* companies with your traffic.

Idk I don't double up but I've read about it as a security measure

Lots of options but the easiest is to use a provider like iVPN who includes double-hop as a default option in their client. I can go from the US to a country that doesn’t love the USA, and from there to a privacy friendly exit location like Switzerland.

Mullvad is the best out there. It preserved anonymity, allows crypto payments, and does not register email addresses or names.

I’ll second Mullvad! I have a Linux server in my office that I set up with a kill switch on the Internet if it ever loses connection. The switch has never been thrown because of Mullvad going down.

Third Mullvad Payment options are simple, flat price always Been using it for years.

NordVPN would sponsor a ham sandwich if it thought it might bring one more user to them. "Use code MISSISSIPPIHAM for 10% off your first month with NordVPN!"

Ben has a good idea, maybe you can harness the public radio stations to cover the story, too. I get the demographic issues you are dealing with, Ashton. Let’s brainstorm. I know it’s a lot, right now. I’ll do some thinking and ask some MS folks I know in those communities.

📌 MFP

I haven’t used it but ExpressVPN has a budget for sponsoring podcasts and small creatives. I learned of them from Uncle Roger

proton is fine, as is PIA, Tor, etc. all of them will probably have security/privacy concerns, tbh. would check out the EFF for stuff like this, or DM me (Mississippian in the security and software development space)

I’ve been pretty happy with Proton. Haven’t heard of Mullvad but sounds worth checking out.

Some helpful info on what VPNs can can’t do. www.instagram.com/reel/DLvZfDW...

NordVPN is nice and cheap and you basically just pick a city outside of MS and that's what bluesky should see (?). (I'm in Canada fwiw)

NordVPN sponsors every YouTube channel I watch.

NordVPN is what I use. No issues.

Proton Mail folks offer a FREE VPN @ ProtonVPN.Com. But you must look hard for it a read everything. Otherwise you get sucked into paying.

There’s also the idea of hosting your own ATProto server, or maybe joining one of the other small groups who do so. You don’t have to authorize any posts through Bluesky

riseup.net/en/vpn

mullvad.net/en