Anyone use a VPN?

[ppppenguin]

I'm not at all surprised that the BBC doesn't make it easy to illegally watch their programmes abroad. I cannot condone piracy like this. But is it illegal for a UK TV licence holder to use VPNs and other methods to watch BBC programmes while abroad? Especially since the BBC itself says you can record them in the UK for further viewing abroad.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/quest...outside-uk

They say, rather cryptically:

While we are interested in being able to allow UK licence fee payers to access BBC iPlayer when they are abroad, there are complex technical issues to resolve which we are investigating, and it will be dependent on what legislation is in effect in the UK in the future.

The BBC's entirely legitimate anti-piracy measures can also impact UK users: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/quest...uk-message