I only use free VPN extensions or apps and I fully aware of the limitation of this. I use shabby ones, which don’t protect and probably sell my data. It slow and I can’t have only a few location. But I can’t get around the idea that people can pay for a service to refuse to pay to a service. Please help me understand.
Putting aside morality, from a money-in -> money-out perspective you’ll pay much less for a VPN than you would buying your media legit, and it’s much safer to have one enabled if you’re using public swarms. You’re not paying to pirate as much as you’re paying to not be harassed by copyright trolls. If you can make it work with a free VPN, more power to you.
VPNs also have other non-piracy uses, so people might already have one purchased anyway - this is another use for it.