If you’ve been streaming movies online, you may have come across Putlocker. While Putlocker offers links to a great number of titles, you ought to ask some serious questions, such as: “Is Putlocker Safe?” and “Is it legal?”
Watching the latest movies on Putlocker is enjoyable, but you wouldn’t want to get into trouble doing that. Before you start streaming on Putlocker, let’s dig further into what Putlocker is all about and how you can be at risk when using it.
In this article, we’ll cover the following:
Putlocker is often mistaken to be a file-hosting service or a streaming service—it’s neither. Launched in 2011, Putlocker is an indexer that points to movies that are hosted elsewhere on the Internet. It’s like a directory for watching movies online.
The original Putlocker was hosted in the UK but was shut down in 2011 due to copyright infringement controversies. However, the clampdown gave rise to mirror Putlocker sites offering the same indexing that directs users to third party-hosted movies.
Despite the fact that Putlocker is a non-hosting site, most of the contents it directs to are infringing copyright laws. Accessing such movies in certain countries can be illegal. The European court order that resulted in the shutdown of the original Putlocker also resulted in ISPs blocking access to similar streaming sites.
If your country has strict laws against accessing pirated content, using Putlocker to stream movies may likely land you in trouble with the law. The legality isn’t about accessing Putlocker, but streaming movies that are breaching copyright laws.
In some countries, copyright infringement carries harsh penalties. In 2011, a Minnesota woman found downloading music illegally, was fined $220,000 by the court. Another case in 2014, involved the makers of The Cobbler comedy suing 11 individuals for $150,000 for illegal streaming.
We’re not condoning copyright infringement, but we’re pointing out the fact that using Putlocker may land you into legal troubles even if it’s unintentional.
Legality aside, watching movies on Putlocker may land you into other forms of troubles. Navigating around the Putlocker mirror sites isn’t possible without triggering pop-ups and redirects. The site itself is littered with ads of questionable nature.
Clicking such ads increases the risk of your device being infected with malware. You'll need to be aware that the movies are hosted on third-party servers, which may be tracing your IP address and snooping on your information while you’re enjoying the movies.
You don’t want to risk getting a legal letter on copyright infringement, nor do you want to be a sitting duck for hackers and malware when using Putlocker. Using Putlocker isn’t safe without taking the necessary precautions.
To use Putlocker safely, you’ll need to have an antivirus program, ad-blocker, and a VPN installed. An antivirus program is crucial as there are chances that you may unknowingly click on suspicious ads.
Activating an ad-blocker helps to prevent pops up when navigating the Putlocker sites. However, it may not be effective for inline ads that are served through the Putlocker pages itself.
You’ll also need to install a VPN to prevent unnecessary trouble from ISPs, enforcement agencies, or hackers while streaming movies on Putlocker. A VPN masks your device IP address with one from the VPN server. It also encrypts data connection to ensure attempts at intercepting and reading the data will fail.
In other words, using a VPN allows you to be untraceable when using Putlocker.
There’s so much at stake when streaming movies on Putlocker. It’s important to choose the right VPN when accessing Putlocker sites. This means the VPN must fulfil these minimum requirements:
It’s also essential that the VPN you’re using is user-friendly and offers excellent customer support.
Here are our top picks that keep you secure when streaming on a Putlocker site.
NordVPN is undoubtedly one of the most popular VPNs available. It is built with the AES-256 encryption, which will frustrate any snooping parties. The VPN operates in Panama, which does not have any data retention laws. Coupled with its no-logs policy, you can be assured that you’re totally anonymous when connecting to its servers.
With more than 3,000 servers, ExpressVPN provides top-notch download speeds that make it ideal for streaming. It uses AES-256 encryption to protect users on the Internet. ExpressVPN’s solid security is complemented by its no-log policy and TrustedServers technology that doesn’t write on harddisks.
Besides offering unlimited device connections, Surfshark’s industrial-grade encryption, and ads-blocking feature are pivotal in keeping your device safe on Putlocker. The VPN also boasts a decent download speed that makes streaming a pleasant experience. All of Surfshark’s 1000+ servers are also optimized for P2P downloads and speed.
As tempting as it is, it’s foolish to stream movies from Putlocker without at least installing a VPN. While we strongly discourage copyright infringement, it is in your best interest to not expose your identity when streaming on Putlocker. Also, there’s a chance that you may get infected with malware from the tons of ads popping up on the site.
Stop taking foolish risks and install one of the recommended VPNs right now.
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