Netflix could soon block VPN & DNS users
dazn12
Posts: 6,912 Forum Member
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http://o.canada.com/technology/personal-tech/movie-studios-are-pressuring-netflix-to-block-vpn-users
This is very worrying. I think I'd have to cancel my Netflix subscription if this happens as the UK offering just doesn't cut it imo.
This is very worrying. I think I'd have to cancel my Netflix subscription if this happens as the UK offering just doesn't cut it imo.
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:yawn:
Its not just down to the greedy rights holders though.
They've got to keep their customers happy otherwise they'll lose their business. The rights holders customers also have their own customers and then potential customers which they'll want exclusive content to entice them.
If every service had the same content then there wouldn't be any competition to choose one service over the other.
This for me the £6p/m would go towards the sky movies pass on nowtv which with a bit of haggling can be got these days for £6p/m.
Not free but...
Available for Giganews subscribers - but as you have to pay, I guess many free VPN users will not bother. Shows what is possible though.
As i said in another thread the providers should be grateful people are at least willing to pay for their products.
Let the providers play their games i say end of the day it's them who'll miss out on the extra income as you correctly state there's always torrents amongst other things.
People should read the article.
Netflix of course don't want to block VPN/DNS users - it gets them extra income.
The movie studios, however, do, because it generally costs them income - why buy overpriced boxsets in the UK when for a small monthly VPN fee you can access it as part of your existing Netflix subscription?
The problem for Netflix comes if the studios say, "OK, fine, don't block VPN users - but you have no more access to any of our films".
Either way, Netflix are in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. And, ultimately, they will of course side with the content owners, rather than the content watchers.
The studios will take note when the money offered starts to reduce or broadcasters look elsewhere possibly favouring more homegrown shows.
Really hope so. They'll lose a lot of customers if ever this one pushes through.
There won't be anything like we currently have now if Netflix only allow access to the region the account was originally setup with.
The only potential workaround would be to setup multiple accounts for each region youd like to view which would be an insane thing to do.
But what if people move countries or travel a lot? They won't expect people to create new accounts. No matter what they do there just always seems a workaround created by some clever people. I remember when UK isp's blocked the Piratebay and people I knew were pissed off. 2 days later and there was a workaround.
UK Netflix has a massive range of TV and films, and promises some exciting stuff ahead like Marco Polo and Better Call Saul.
Sky Movies isnt worthy of comparison. Ironic really that it's RRP is higher than Netflix's bargain £5.99, when I'd only take Sky Movies if it was about half that price
That wouldn't work so well if you fly to a different country and then want to watch Netflix, so I don't see how they could do it.
If the movie companies are whining they might just tackle the most popular VPN/DNS services to make it seem like they've done something.
Really the whole country-specific rights system is stupid - why can't they just licence content on a worldwide basis?
I don't see how it really loses the movie companies any money whether you are physically located in the US or are using a VPN
Exactly this is the whole point, you wouldn't be able to log into your account from abroad other than using a VPN to access your native region.
Its no different to using Amazon Instant Video in that respect.
Hopefully this will never happen, but if it came to it then that's the only way they're gonna stop users having access to other regions outside of their native region.
Even cheaper than £5.99p/m if you did what i did accidentally signed up via US Netflix lol it works out at £5.20p/m
Studios just seem to want to control our internet it seems these days, this will end one way very badly for the studios because people will just use torrents instead.
When I first signed up to Netflix I was living in Ireland and it cost €6.99. I'd be billed from my UK bank account, and it usually came to around £5.50, give or take a few pennies.
When I moved back to the UK I decided I wanted to be billed in pounds sterling, so I had to cancel my subscription, then restart it with my new British address.
Interestingly the Roku I'd been using in Ireland would still play the Irish on demand app TV3 Player, and I couldn't download BBC IPlayer etc even though I was obviously now at a UK IP address. But a reset of the Roku and an update of my account details and I could then get all the UK apps that are blocked in Ireland.
The TV3 player was free in Ireland, and is available for UK Roku users, but costs something ridiculous like £6.99 a month. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but there is literally next to nothing on it: just catch-up clips of TV3's breakfast telly show, their This Morning equivalent and a few cheapo fly on the wall documentaries. A lot of that channels most popular output is UK and US imports that they'd never be allowed to show via catch-up. Needless to say, I don't subscribe, but it's funny that if I'd not reset my Roku I could get that "great content" for free!
But we'll see.
Many thanks
PJ