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Netflix could soon block VPN & DNS users


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Old 20-09-2014, 13:27
Kargo
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http://o.canada.com/technology/perso...lock-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.
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Old 20-09-2014, 20:19
mooghead
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Yeah... coz 6 quid a month for thousands of hours of TV and Movies that are a million times better than actual TV would be just horrendous



:yawn:
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Old 20-09-2014, 20:45
Black Hugh
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Netflix would definitely lose some custom. £6 a month isn't much but could go towards Sky Movies for me rather than rely on just UK Netflix which is pretty poor compared to the Canadian and US versions.
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Old 20-09-2014, 20:49
davor
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If they do so, I'm sure someone will find a workaround for it very quickly. If not, I'm sure some new cooler video on demand service will emerge that people wont be interested as much in watching Netflix anymore.
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Old 20-09-2014, 21:41
Peter the Great
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Netflix would definitely lose some custom. £6 a month isn't much but could go towards Sky Movies for me rather than rely on just UK Netflix which is pretty poor compared to the Canadian and US versions.
Personally I would say Sky Movies isn't worth the money. Quite a few notable films never get shown but some do end up on Amazon prime and Netflix. It would be a shame if you couldn't access the other regions anymore but there are still some fairly decent TV series and films available on the UK version.
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Old 20-09-2014, 21:44
Peter the Great
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If they do so, I'm sure someone will find a workaround for it very quickly. If not, I'm sure some new cooler video on demand service will emerge that people wont be interested as much in watching Netflix anymore.
Like the illegal popcorn time that has re appeared numerous times after being shut down? It is about time that the greedy rights holders realise that.
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Old 20-09-2014, 22:11
-GONZO-
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Like the illegal popcorn time that has re appeared numerous times after being shut down? It is about time that the greedy rights holders realise that.
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.
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Old 20-09-2014, 22:28
gother
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Netflix would definitely lose some custom. £6 a month isn't much but could go towards Sky Movies for me rather than rely on just UK Netflix which is pretty poor compared to the Canadian and US versions.
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.
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Old 20-09-2014, 22:50
d'@ve
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http://o.canada.com/technology/perso...lock-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.
Not free but...

Golden Frog's engineers have developed a remarkable new, proprietary VPN technology called Chameleon that is available in the VyprVPN apps for Windows, Mac and Android. Chameleon scrambles OpenVPN packet metadata to ensure it’s not recognizable via deep packet inspection (DPI), while still keeping it fast and lightweight. The Chameleon technology uses the unmodified OpenVPN 256-bit protocol for the underlying data encryption. The result is that VyprVPN users are able to bypass restrictive networks put in place by governments, corporations and ISPs to achieve an open internet experience without sacrificing the proven security for which OpenVPN has long been known. Experience a truly open and uncensored Internet with Chameleon VPN.
Available for Giganews subscribers - but as you have to pay, I guess many free VPN users will not bother. Shows what is possible though.
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Old 21-09-2014, 13:01
gother
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All content providers are succeeding in doing is pissing people of who are happy to pay for the content even though it means using a vpn or smart dns, if these get blocked the content providers will suffer in the long run i think as most will just turn to alternative methods.
As i said in another thread the providers should be grateful people are at least willing to pay for their products.
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Old 21-09-2014, 16:15
Magnum Benno
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If Hulu or Xfinity ever get blocked properly in this country I'd be stuffed. So many TV shows that either don't air in the UK or air on ridiculous delays and a lot of the time, won't appear on the various catchup services. I'd just end up back on the torrents.
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Old 21-09-2014, 16:55
gother
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If Hulu or Xfinity ever get blocked properly in this country I'd be stuffed. So many TV shows that either don't air in the UK or air on ridiculous delays and a lot of the time, won't appear on the various catchup services. I'd just end up back on the torrents.
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.
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Old 21-09-2014, 17:03
ags_rule
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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.
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Old 22-09-2014, 11:42
muppetman11
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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.
This was always going to happen , why should UK broadcasters pay the studios large amounts of money for the latest and greatest TV shows/movies when people are using workarounds and viewing them from sources outside the UK.

The studios will take note when the money offered starts to reduce or broadcasters look elsewhere possibly favouring more homegrown shows.
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Old 22-09-2014, 17:58
couchpotato2011
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There will be some workaround for it.
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Old 06-12-2014, 12:49
scentedtrack
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There will be some workaround for it.
Really hope so. They'll lose a lot of customers if ever this one pushes through.
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Old 06-12-2014, 12:56
-GONZO-
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There will be some workaround for it.
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.
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Old 06-12-2014, 20:34
couchpotato2011
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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.
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Old 06-12-2014, 21:22
Jimmy_Barnes
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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.
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
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Old 06-12-2014, 21:26
moox
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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.
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
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Old 06-12-2014, 22:21
-GONZO-
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But what if people move countries or travel a lot?
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.
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.
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Old 06-12-2014, 22:42
gother
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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
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
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Old 06-12-2014, 22:43
gother
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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
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.
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Old 06-12-2014, 23:13
Jimmy_Barnes
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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
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!
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Old 07-12-2014, 03:06
JCR
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I think it highly unlikely Netflix would do this unless they had a gun to their head, they'd lose millions- they reportedly have 200,000 subscribers in Australia, where they're not officially launched yet, for a start.

But we'll see.
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