"How Netflix Will Deal With Australian (and New Zealand) VPN Users"

Forums › Online streaming services › "How Netflix Will Deal With Australian (and New Zealand) VPN Users"

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1208082 4-Jan-2015 18:02

Sigh. The studios go after people who are trying to actually pay for product, and meanwhile the pirates are unaffected.

It does make me wonder why I persist in trying to do the right thing, when the studios put so many roadblocks/annoyances (region coded disks, unskippable trailers, geolocation restrictions, faulty and intrusive DRM....) in the way of doing so. All of which only affect actual paying customers.

Thanks to this type of nonsense, my once strong moral aversion to just going "meh" and downloading the pirated versions instead of buying is slowly weakening. It may be gone soon.

Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1208084 4-Jan-2015 18:08

Interesting bit of news on this at Torrent Freak::

Netflix is starting to block subscribers who access its service using VPN services and other tools that bypass geolocation restrictions. The changes, which may also affect legitimate users, have been requested by the movie studios who want full control over what people can see in their respective countries.

http://torrentfreak.com/netflix-cracks-down-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-150103/

jonb

1771 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1208204 4-Jan-2015 22:32

Also reported in the Sydney Morning Herald..

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/is-netflix-declaring-war-on-geododgers-20150104-12hlvq.html

Glassboy

850 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1208215 4-Jan-2015 23:11

old3eyes: Heres and intersting article from Sony Pictures on Netflix

sony-pictures-mad-at-netflixs-failure-to-block-overseas-vpn-users/

"he latest data leaked from Sony Pictures Entertainment by hackers reveals that Sony executives had accused Netflix of breaching its licensing contract for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) shows by allowing customers in foreign markets to use virtual private networks to stream them, calling it piracy that is “semi-sanctioned by Netflix.”"

What a greedy pack of w#$%ers Sony are..

They're a company, they are legally obliged to protect the return to shareholders. In fact in most jurisdictions the directors can be prosecuted if they fail to make sure the company does protect revenue.

Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1208271 5-Jan-2015 05:21

Glassboy:
old3eyes: Heres and intersting article from Sony Pictures on Netflix

sony-pictures-mad-at-netflixs-failure-to-block-overseas-vpn-users/

"he latest data leaked from Sony Pictures Entertainment by hackers reveals that Sony executives had accused Netflix of breaching its licensing contract for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) shows by allowing customers in foreign markets to use virtual private networks to stream them, calling it piracy that is “semi-sanctioned by Netflix.”"

What a greedy pack of w#$%ers Sony are..

They're a company, they are legally obliged to protect the return to shareholders. In fact in most jurisdictions the directors can be prosecuted if they fail to make sure the company does protect revenue.

It's not like sony aren't getting their money because they are you can't use netflix without paying for it no matter where in the world you live sony still gets their pound of flesh

SaltyNZ

8234 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#1208297 5-Jan-2015 08:57

Glassboy:
old3eyes: Heres and intersting article from Sony Pictures on Netflix

sony-pictures-mad-at-netflixs-failure-to-block-overseas-vpn-users/

"he latest data leaked from Sony Pictures Entertainment by hackers reveals that Sony executives had accused Netflix of breaching its licensing contract for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) shows by allowing customers in foreign markets to use virtual private networks to stream them, calling it piracy that is “semi-sanctioned by Netflix.”"

What a greedy pack of w#$%ers Sony are..

They're a company, they are legally obliged to protect the return to shareholders. In fact in most jurisdictions the directors can be prosecuted if they fail to make sure the company does protect revenue.

I look forward to the prosecutions over the repeated security breaches. Pretty sure each of those have cost a hell of a lot more than the tiny amount missed by letting Netflix slide.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

wasabi2k

2096 posts

Uber Geek

#1208304 5-Jan-2015 09:05

It's not like sony aren't getting their money because they are you can't use netflix without paying for it no matter where in the world you live sony still gets their pound of flesh

You're looking at it the wrong way.

Someone in AU/NZ may pay a significant amount for the rights to show a Sony show - exclusive rights at that.

Netflix bargains with Sony for the rights to play in the US on their streaming services.

If someone in AU/NZ uses US Netflix - those people who paid for exclusive rights potentially lose out as someone can get that content through a different channel.

Is this idiotic, last generation thinking? Yes.

Is that going to stop them pursuing it? No.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

old3eyes

9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1208310 5-Jan-2015 09:15

freitasm: As above, old news. You can just configure UnoTelly on your router, then easily configure the firewall on your router to block outgoing connections to Google DNS, or null route these requests (if your router has more configuration options), or route to the DNS of your choice.

Nothing really to see here...

My post can't be too old news as the new posts from today are saying the same thing..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Glassboy

850 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1208314 5-Jan-2015 09:20

The same "news" is on about an eight week repeat.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#1208315 5-Jan-2015 09:21

Athlonite:
Glassboy:
old3eyes: Heres and intersting article from Sony Pictures on Netflix

sony-pictures-mad-at-netflixs-failure-to-block-overseas-vpn-users/

"he latest data leaked from Sony Pictures Entertainment by hackers reveals that Sony executives had accused Netflix of breaching its licensing contract for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) shows by allowing customers in foreign markets to use virtual private networks to stream them, calling it piracy that is “semi-sanctioned by Netflix.”"

What a greedy pack of w#$%ers Sony are..

They're a company, they are legally obliged to protect the return to shareholders. In fact in most jurisdictions the directors can be prosecuted if they fail to make sure the company does protect revenue.

It's not like sony aren't getting their money because they are you can't use netflix without paying for it no matter where in the world you live sony still gets their pound of flesh

Netflix are getting the money. Sony are not.

Netflix generally licenses content on a flat fee per region basis, I.e. X million for usa rights, x million for uk rights etc. people accessing netflx in the regions they havent paid for are just cash cows for Netflix. The studios get nothing.

Not to mention the other point already raised that it devalues the rights that sky, tvnz etc have paid for in nz. If Sony let Netflix get away with it, then sky etc won't pay as much to Sony for nz rights in the future.

Glassboy

850 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1208318 5-Jan-2015 09:26

It's probably a waste of time trying to explain the commercial realities. We'll still hear how it should be from the business "geniuses".

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1208320 5-Jan-2015 09:30

And the whackamole game continues.

DaveB

1139 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1208326 5-Jan-2015 09:39

The blocking is certainly making news elsewhere. Here is an article (Slingshot mentioned as well).

http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/03/netflix-clamps-down-on-vpns/

lchiu7

6477 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1208331 5-Jan-2015 09:51

Interestingly one of the articles links to a KM article on the Unblock web site about how to overcome Google's DNS servers being hard coded into the Android app. I have even a later version of the Android app (3.8.3 build 3955), can ping Google's DNS servers from the phone and yet still access Netflix fine.

As I mentioned earlier, I wonder why Netflix just doesn't block non-US credit cards. That won't catch all but it's an easier solution and might appease the content holders unless they don't really want to block that revenue so use "technical" solutions so "block" users knowing full well that they are pretty easy to get around.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

trig42

5815 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1208332 5-Jan-2015 09:53

Hopefully that keeps Sony et al. happy for now.
They see it in the media that Netflix is doing something, they leave Netflix alone. Everybody on social networking and forum sites stops talking about how to circumvent geo-restrictions to get Netflix and everyone is happy :)

The sooner that video is opened up like music, the better, global releases, global availability will equal more revenue for the studios. Some middle men may be hurt in the process however.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4