If you're considering getting a VPN service that allows you to connect with your Android device, you're well ahead of the security curve based on that fact alone. Android devices include tablet computers and smartphones. There are very real reasons why people should consider getting a VPN provider that allows these devices to enjoy the same protection that VPN providers offer for desktop computers.

As of 25th February, 2013, copyright holders will begin to actively track millions of internet users throughout USA. In a move to tackle online piracy, Hollywood and Record industries will be able to monitor copyright infringement through file-sharing, particularly BitTorrent.

The newly imposed 6-strike law, will allow your ISPs (under pressure from the copyright holders) to send out regular warnings to BitTorrent users, with consequences that will include a severe reduction in download speeds, as well as certain browsing restrictions.

The new law was proposed in 2011, when the MPAA and RIAA began cooperating with 5 major US ISP’s, subsequently coming up with a radical way to punish BitTorrent “pirates”.

More than a year ago TorrentFreak took a look at a selection of the web's VPN providers to see which ones really take privacy seriously. During the months that followed they received dozens of emails begging them to carry out an update and today here it is. The first installment in their list of VPN providers that due to their setup cannot link user activity to external IP addresses and activities.

With our findings we compiled a report of providers that due to their setup were unable to link their outbound IP addresses with user accounts. Ever since we have received countless emails demanding an update.

It's taken a long time but today we bring the first installment in a series of posts highlighting VPN providers that take privacy seriously. Our first article focuses on anonymity and a later installment will highlight file-sharing aspects and possible limitations.

We tried to ask direct questions that left providers with little room for maneuver. Providers who didn't answer our questions directly, didn't answer at all, or completely failed by logging everything, were simply left out. Sadly this meant that quite a few were disregarded.

This year we also asked more questions, which are as follows:

1. Do you keep ANY logs which would allow you or a 3rd party to match an IP-address and a time stamp to a user of your service? If so, exactly what information do you hold?

2. Under what jurisdictions does your company operate and under what exact circumstances will you share the information you hold with a 3rd party?

3. In the event you receive a DMCA takedown notice or European equivalent, how are these handled?

4. Which payment systems do you operate and how are these linked to individual user accounts?

The list of providers is a tiny sample of the thousands out there today and is not comprehensive by any means. Providers not covered this time around will be added during the coming weeks. All responses listed below are in the words of the providers themselves and the order of the list does not carry any meaning.

The leader of the Pirate Party has slammed yesterday’s High Court orders to block three more Internet piracy sites from British IPs, claiming these measures could harm Manchester’s economy.

The UK's six leading ISPs have been ordered to block the websites Kickass Torrents, H33T and Fenopy, much to the annoyance of music pirates.

Internet campaigners, including Pirate Party Manchester candidate Loz Kaye, have reacted angrily to the news, insisting the harsh measures won’t deter them.

The case was brought to the courts by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), on behalf of the entertainment publishing industries in a move which Mr Kaye claims could prove detrimental to Manchester’s economy.

We somehow have come to believe that information is free, but people with Internet access pay substantial sums to get it -- sums many can't afford.

The mantra of a "free" Internet has shaped the prevailing view of how we access information and entertainment in the digital age. This enduring myth is actually a misnomer. It continues to obscure a serious problem faced by significant sectors of society unable to take full advantage of the Internet or meet the high price of cable and cellular phone systems that are at the core of today's personal technology.