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Dodgers Fans Find Ways Around Local Blackout

Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the first inning at AT&T Park on Wednesday, April 22, 2015 in San Francisco. (Credit: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

John Franks doesn’t subscribe to Time Warner Cable, but that didn’t stop him from putting his feet up on the bed to watch Clayton Kershaw lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a win on TV.

The die-hard fan hasn’t missed any games lately despite the ongoing partial blackout. It’s all thanks to a legally dicey solution being whispered across parts of Dodger nation that’s roiling content providers everywhere.

Fans are subscribing to virtual private networks, or VPNs, which are Internet services that enable them to sidestep local blackouts of Dodgers games on MLB.TV, Major League Baseball’s popular online broadcasting platform.

Franks’ VPN routes his MLB.TV sign-on to computer servers in Mexico, outside the Dodgers’ exclusive broadcasting zone. That allows him to masquerade as an out-of-region viewer and access local games through his MLB.TV subscription.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.

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