Is Private Internet Access Broke?

What is the future of Private Internet Access?

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Recently we covered a story on Private Internet Access leaving Russia. In this article, we noted how Private Internet Access claimed it was getting out of Russia to uphold it’s no logging policy–but we also noted how the whole thing was a bit fishy.

There are many places like Russia that retain data logs–places like Australia, Canada, or even India that Private Internet Access still has a presence in. The question then becomes, why did Private Internet Access pull out of Russia?

Why did Private Internet Access leave Russia?

Just today we found a user on the AirVPN forums discussing an interesting theory with some logical evidence behind it. This user, go557a83nk explains that he researched the prices of the server’s Private Internet Access was using and found out it was around $400 a month. It turns out that Private Internet Access changed to use PinSPR.ru to get lower prices of 150$ per server. However, soon after this price transition, PinSPR.Ru soon increased prices to $250.

Go557a83nk explains that “Since me and my clients have a few ISP services from PIN as well (traffic transit) I asked the owner what the story with PIA. He said that the after mentioned services on the IPs I quoted are free again, and there were no seizures or anything alike. Just a simple termination of contract with unpaid future invoices.

While we cannot verify that Go557a83nk’s story is entirely factual, it does make sense. It’s not very hard to own servers in Russia. Even with this new law, Russia would have to prosecute these VPN providers and send Russian lawyers over to the US to gather their fines. As we mentioned already, similar laws are active in other countries–so why pull out here? Well, the issue might just be the cost of the servers.

This is where things get interesting. THE MONEY!

Is Private Internet Access Broke?

Earlier in the year, in case you missed it, there was quite an interesting story about Private Internet Access’s founder Andrew Lee and his new hired CEO Sung Park. The gist of this story is that Andrew Lee (PIA Founder), handed the keys of his business over to someone who he didn’t know (Sung Park).

Lee didn’t keep close enough tabs on him, and the guy was using PIA bank account for all kinds of stuff including purchasing a Korean American Magazine called KoreAM Journal as well as a down payment for an L.A nightclub called Feria. If only all VPNs held nightclubs. Free encrypted Wi-Fi eh?

Unfortunately for Private Internet Access, the complicated legal suit is still ongoing, costing Private Internet Access significant fees. This year Private Internet Access has also stopped supporting Netflix which has cost them significant revenue loss (this is our speculation–but we’ve seen a lot of mad PIA customers leave PIA for other services like TorGuard, ExpressVPN, or NordVPN–working VPNs as seen in this article here), as well as recent complaints about speed slow downs. To make things even more suspicious, Private Internet Access’s live chat service now is completly offline. 

So what is the future of Private Internet Access? Will they keep trimming down their service, speeds, and quality of their product? Or will they just die altogether? 

If you need to replace Private Internet Access, check out these top 5 VPNs, or, stay with Best10VPN.com and subscribe to our newsletter—we’ll keep you up to date.

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