
Mozilla VPN exits beta, launches on Android and Windows for $5 a month - input_sh
https://venturebeat.com/2020/07/15/mozilla-vpn-exits-beta-launches-on-android-and-windows-for-5-a-month/
======
dang
Previous threads on this:

1 month ago
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23565192](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23565192)

10 months ago
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20927832](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20927832)

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jianjuzia
This is just rebranded consumer VPN service? So Mozilla is outsourcing their
brand. Seems very risky for them. I don’t know why anyone would trust a
consumer VPN service. CIA or another country’s spy agency could easily be
behind any of them. Just like Crypto AG. Being based in Sweden is no guarantee
at all. Encrypted email services are another obvious thing for spy agencies to
run.

The only useful purpose of a consumer VPN is torrenting and bypass geographic
blocking. Privacy can be either increased or decreased with a consumer VPN
service.

~~~
nafizh
I don't get it. Who are they outsourcing it to?

~~~
byteshock
They’re using Mullvad’s network. Basically reselling it. But it seems to be
around 70 cents (US dollar) cheaper since Mullvad charges in Euros and Mozilla
uses US dollar.

I’ve been using Mullvad for several years now and they’ve been reliable. They
have independent security audits done and are known for their privacy.

~~~
mekster
So, they're just doing it for commercial reasons? Does Mozilla add anything to
it than its name?

~~~
byteshock
As far as I can see, the only thing they've "added" was their own client
applications. The connection limits and server locations are the same as
Mullvad.

One thing that Mozilla does not offer yet, but Mullvad does, are Wireguard
proxies. These are socks5 proxies run internally on every Wireguard server.
Using these you can connect to another server, for example EU --> US, and
achieve "multihopping".

Mozilla also seems to only offer the Wireguard protocol, but this doesn't seem
like a big deal to me.

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judah
This is a great project for users from a privacy-first company. I hope it's
good for users, and that Mozilla gets significant support from this project.

~~~
mekster
Just wondering but what are some of the reasons that you believe Mozilla is a
privacy first company?

I just don't to blindly believe into that.

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dmm
I thought in the past Mozilla had partnered with ProtonVPN[1]. I wonder why
they are now working with Mullvad?

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18277278](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18277278)

~~~
commoner
ProtonVPN charges €6.63 to €10/month (depending on duration of plan) for 5
devices, while Mullvad only charges €5/month. Mozilla might have negotiated a
better contract with Mullvad.

[https://protonvpn.com/pricing](https://protonvpn.com/pricing)

[https://mullvad.net](https://mullvad.net)

------
AnonHP
Direct link to the Mozilla VPN homepage:

[https://vpn.mozilla.org](https://vpn.mozilla.org)

This is an offering by Mullvad, and uses Wireguard.

As of this moment, the homepage says:

> We currently offer Mozilla VPN in the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand,
> Singapore and Malaysia.

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MR4D
In the meantime, send.firefox.com has been unavailable for at least a week now
(probably longer, but for sure not in the past 7 days).

Wonder if this is a resource issue or they are planning on launching it as
well.

~~~
1123581321
FF Send was suspended indefinitely because it was being exploited to
distribute malware. I used it constantly (not for malware!) so I hope it comes
back.

~~~
MR4D
Crap - wasn't aware of that.

Maybe it can come back as a paid service like the VPN. I'd pay $5/month for
it!

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kungato
It's really cool but why does it have to be so expensive. I get that nowdays
"whatever you want costs 5 dollars a month" but realistically things which
should be way cheaper are now 5 dollars a month. I'm in my 2nd Nordvpn 3 year
sub which also increased in price to 3€ per month. I mean if you want 100
things which require 100 subscriptions you end up at at least 500€ a month.
And now there are 5 video streaming platforms which cost even more and you
realistically want all of them. The whole sub life thing might be getting out
of hand

~~~
multiplegeorges
Because Mozilla is an organization worth supporting:
[https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto](https://www.mozilla.org/en-
US/about/manifesto)

As one example: Without Firefox, there would effectively be a single browser
renderer in the market: Chrome

~~~
cxr
This is untrue (for multiple reasons), but WebKit and Safari are a thing and
arguably doing a better job at walking the walk wrt Mozilla's ideals than the
Firefox team. From
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23714401](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23714401):

> it doesn't help the "toppling" effort when you lump WebKit in with [Blink].
> WebKit is an effective check against Google's power, but not if folks
> continue imagining that two distinct projects that diverged years ago are
> one and the same.

(This comment written in Firefox, by the way.)

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terrycody
They also have firefox extension, already used it for several months and its
pretty solid, very quick and easy to use!

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solarkraft
Mullvad is great, but what does Mozilla add?

------
ngngngng
Very excited to pay for this on Linux

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techntoke
Mozilla consistently putting Linux last yet claims to pride itself on open
source

~~~
input_sh
I'm a Linux user myself, but if I were building a product for commercial
purposes, I'd prioritize building it for the platforms where the majority of
the users are. Unfortunately, that majority isn't on Linux.

"Mac & Linux coming soon" is good enough for me for now.

~~~
chrisjarvis
I understand not prioritizing Linux for commercial purposes but Mac? General
assumptions about people with Macs: 1. have disposable income 2. more likely
to care about privacy.

~~~
kd913
1) Market share for Mac is probably on a similar scale to that on Linux. In
this case being low single digits. Of those users, a significant market share
are likely not to be using Mozilla's products over Safari. Unlike Linux
platforms where Mozilla products are the typical default.

2) Anyone on any of these platforms can likely afford 5 dollars a month. I
don't even think platform plays a variable in this at all. It isn't like the
unique iOS apps which bring value/features and are the only mechanism for
attaining those given features.

In this case, there is plenty of competition already in play, and users can
already pick a VPN provider if they want. Same can't be said for say a video
editing app that is the only thing available on the iOS store.

3) Mac users care about privacy less than Linux users. A few weeks ago it was
found that Catalina was sending a hash of every single program you run to
Apple.

[https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/catalina-
executables.htm...](https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/catalina-
executables.html)

Yep, Apple likely knows everything you could potentially be doing on your Mac.
Not very private I would say.

I don't really agree with any of your assumptions in this case.

~~~
chrisjarvis
My message was ambiguous, I meant more likely to care about privacy than
Windows and Android users not Linux users. 1 and 2 of what you said are good
points tho.

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DeepYogurt
This is the VPN to recommend to friends and family.

~~~
koolba
Why would you recommend they use a VPN at all? Is this for the USA or
elsewhere?

~~~
mekster
So that ISP doesn't log the sites they visit under their real names?

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Markoff
does it work in China?

