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Netflix could soon block VPN & DNS users


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Old 15-01-2016, 12:06
Orangy
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In the UK SKY control HBO content through SKY Atlantic however it is unavailble if you are a Virgin or BT customer. Some may have no alternative but to use Virgin if they are the only provider so they are at a disadvantage. Yes they could subscribe to Virgin for broadband and phone but would have to subscribe to SKY for SKY Atlantic but they would be at a disadvantage because they could not find a cheaper deal through bundling their service.
I know it's not ideal, but Sky Atlantic is available through Now TV for £6 per month. You're going to duplicate all the other channels on Now TV if you have a Virgin or BT sub, but it's still not a bad price if you want to use it a lot! In fact for certain genres it works out better value than Netflix or Amazon based on their UK content (as in without Smart DNS or a VPN to the US version of Netflix.)
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:17
Magnum Benno
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I think georestrictions need to go by the wayside but that "corporate greed" argument is daft. Let's be honest, we're the ones being greedy expecting to be able to see every film for 5.99.

With regards the HBO argument, Now TV is certainly a decent solution for HBO content and they're a lot better at being up to date than they used to be. but there's lots of room for improvement. Personally I'm sick of wanting to watch a new series only to find it only goes back to episode 3, and then disappears entirely if you leave it longer than a few weeks. You really have to be on the ball.

Hopefully in future we are trending towards getting the likes of HBO Now and Hulu directly selling to his country instead of the complicated mess of rights restrictions currently in place but I won't hold my breath.
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:21
Tony_Daniels
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It reminds me a bit of when they allowed smoking at the back of the bus or in certain places in restaurants. You can't restrict the smoke travelling elsewhere, rendering the implication of the rule utterly pointless.

It isn't as if this reality couldn't have been foreseen five+ years ago, but instead of addressing it at the time, everyone just buried their head in the sand and hoped that somehow people in Australia will forget how to access US content, or that somehow the technology that allows them to do so would fall down the back of the sofa and get lost.

Ultimately the problem is exacerbated by men in suits thinking that if they hope hard enough, the 90s will happen again, instead of actually adapting business models to stay relevant with the technology that's widespread.
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:22
Peter the Great
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I think georestrictions need to go by the wayside but that "corporate greed" argument is daft. Let's be honest, we're the ones being greedy expecting to be able to see every film for 5.99.

With regards the HBO argument, Now TV is certainly a decent solution for HBO content and they're a lot better at being up to date than they used to be. but there's lots of room for improvement. Personally I'm sick of wanting to watch a new series only to find it only goes back to episode 3, and then disappears entirely if you leave it longer than a few weeks. You really have to be on the ball.

Hopefully in future we are trending towards getting the likes of HBO Now and Hulu directly selling to his country instead of the complicated mess of rights restrictions currently in place but I won't hold my breath.
Now TV? What the service that doesn't even offer decent picture quality?
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:28
David_Flett1
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I know it's not ideal, but Sky Atlantic is available through Now TV for £6 per month. You're going to duplicate all the other channels on Now TV if you have a Virgin or BT sub, but it's still not a bad price if you want to use it a lot! In fact for certain genres it works out better value than Netflix or Amazon based on their UK content (as in without Smart DNS or a VPN to the US version of Netflix.)
In other posts I have actually recommended people who only want entertainment use NOW TV instead of the satellite platform because much of the money is spent on sport. It would be a real test for SKY if people swapped their satellite for streaming especially as you could get NOW TV, NETFLIX and AMAZON for the same price as a basic entry package on the SKY platform.
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:37
jcm193
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Well iam really buggered if this goes through iam paying for my sub through Brazil and i rarely use the UK version of netflix
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:39
Amanda_Raymond
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It's a shame streaming tv/film services don't work more like streaming music services, very few artists or albums put their albums only on one streaming site, so why can't it be the same with films, once a few goes onto sky movies it also goes onto netflix and prime, then customers could choose what to subscribe to by the original content the various services have to offer
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:43
jcm193
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I guess with the European union trying to introduce a single market for online content it may give use some hope for the future
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:46
darkjedimaster
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Funny thing is that Netflix have no problem with people sharing their accounts with others.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/11/net...sharing-is-ok/
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:51
davor
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Some other Netflix-like service will emerge pretty soon that will have more content and features available. This decision will only contribute to people cancelling their subscriptions and move elsewhere, until something better becomes available. I remember the Hulu craze before Netflix became available.
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Old 15-01-2016, 12:59
derek500
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Funny thing is that Netflix have no problem with people sharing their accounts with others.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/11/net...sharing-is-ok/
There's no way I'd pay £8.99 a month to watch a few shows and some 4K.

My daughter had a £5.99 legacy account and she recently upgraded to the top tier and we pay half each.

Netflix have gained £3 per month from us.

I share my Sky Go and Amazon Prime with another daughter in return for her BT Sport sign in, which I watch sideloaded to an Amazon Fire TV box.
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Old 15-01-2016, 13:45
darkjedimaster
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There's no way I'd pay £8.99 a month to watch a few shows and some 4K.

My daughter had a £5.99 legacy account and she recently upgraded to the top tier and we pay half each.

Netflix have gained £3 per month from us.

I share my Sky Go and Amazon Prime with another daughter in return for her BT Sport sign in, which I watch sideloaded to an Amazon Fire TV box.
That is a pretty good for you, with Sky they made a big mistake by not allowing HDMI devices access to Sky Go. I live in a communal building and am unable to have multiroom. So at times when I am stuck in bed due to illness I use Kodi pn a Fire TV stick to view the majority of stuff that I already pay for on Sky, I don't give a rats if the stream is illegal. If Sky can't provide me be a service, then I will watch it via other means. The same could well happen to Netflix, they restrict me & then I find another way.
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Old 15-01-2016, 13:54
Jay-Cee
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It is not consumers that are abusing the system it is the corporate greed of the entertainment industry. To be blunt they have created GEO restrictions to control global markets. Netflix at least has made a small inroad into breaking the monopoly the cable companies have held over the consumer by forcing them to change and offer the consumer content they want not pay for a whole raft of content they don't. HBO made the headlines by offering a stand alone streaming service so that people can pay and watch HBO without having to pay and not watch a whole raft of other content.

In the UK SKY control HBO content through SKY Atlantic however it is unavailble if you are a Virgin or BT customer. Some may have no alternative but to use Virgin if they are the only provider so they are at a disadvantage. Yes they could subscribe to Virgin for broadband and phone but would have to subscribe to SKY for SKY Atlantic but they would be at a disadvantage because they could not find a cheaper deal through bundling their service.

We have long lived with content restrictions, first through theatrical windows, followed by video and latterly through cable/satellite. The creative industry should take stock of this rather than put up barriers, they should free themselves and offer their content on day one globally. There are many who circumvent these restrictions through VPN or smart dns but would rather pay the content provider direct. Where does it make economic sense to HBO for instance when they sign a deal with SKY for just £55 million a year equivalent to just 38 pence per month per subscriber. They are bound to a five yar contract but surely they must have forseen what is happening in the US would happen in the UK, Europe and globally and launch a stand alone streaming service. It is even more absurd when you could negotiate a better deal with a service such as Netflix and build a menu whereby the consumer could pay a premium for additional content. If given the choice would 20% of SKY subscribers pay for HBO through a separate streaming service at £5 a month? This would deliver HBO three times more revenue than they receive from SKY and even taking into consideration the extra cost of subscription management and delivery, they would probably make a handsome profit on the deal they have with SKY especially if the built a platform and shared resources for subscription management and delivery with a service such as Netflix.

Whether you disagree with people torrenting or circumventing GEO restrictions, they are encouraged to do so by the ridiculous barriers content providers put up. Millions want to pay for content legally, can't be bothered with the hassle of paying a VPN provider to get workarounds, these are the very people content providers are abusing not the other way round.
wow thanks for that. I had other ways of getting my contents, got netflix and i hardly use other means. I am willing to pay for contents provided the content is not too limited (UK Netflix)
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Old 15-01-2016, 14:06
Magnum Benno
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Some other Netflix-like service will emerge pretty soon that will have more content and features available. This decision will only contribute to people cancelling their subscriptions and move elsewhere, until something better becomes available. I remember the Hulu craze before Netflix became available.
Let's not be ridiculous. Of course one day, technology will move on and other competitors will emerge, but describing Netflix as a craze is ridiculous. Hulu is a service only available in one country that has never eclipsed the 7-10 million subscriber mark. Netflix is a worldwide service with more than 80 million users.

Although DNS/VPN use is prevalent in places like here, let's not pretend people like us are fully representative of the wider population using Netflix to watch Orange is The New black, Making a Murderer and Breaking Bad. Netflix has become something engrained in popular culture. It might fall one day but it's not going to be "pretty soon".
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Old 15-01-2016, 14:11
ItHasPotential
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wont be subbing any more because the uk version is absolutely crap
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Old 15-01-2016, 14:25
hugon
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I like having the option of other regions. If Netflix start blocking me from using them, so be it.

However, it's a shame that so many people are just dismissing Netflix's UK offering as "crap". There may be much less big series or recent films, but there's still a load of excellent stuff in my to be watched queue - much more than I will ever have time to watch.
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Old 15-01-2016, 14:59
Philip Wales
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wont be subbing any more because the uk version is absolutely crap
It isn't, you do realise that every region on NF complains about their home region, for obvious reasons. People in the US love the UK NF etc.
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Old 15-01-2016, 15:30
darkjedimaster
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I like having the option of other regions. If Netflix start blocking me from using them, so be it.

However, it's a shame that so many people are just dismissing Netflix's UK offering as "crap". There may be much less big series or recent films, but there's still a load of excellent stuff in my to be watched queue - much more than I will ever have time to watch.
I wouldn't say that the UK selection is rubbish as it all falls down to taste, for instance both the missus and me love Benidorm, Gavin & Stacy etc, which can be accessed on the UK Netflix, but the missus loves the USA Netflix for Friends & I recently watched every episode of "My name is Earl", both shows are not on the UK version. Old cult classic films like "The Breakfast Club", isn't on the UK Netflix, but is on the Canadian & some of the European countries Netflix like Netherlands, Germany etc.

Once Netflix get their arses into gear and get all the content from all the countries available without VPN, then it will be a even more brilliant service to subscribe to, hell I would even be willing to pay a couple quid extra each month to have worldwide content without a VPN / DNS service. I have no issue for paying for content that I wish to see on demand. But I am not going to pay for a service which doesn't give me the content that I desire.
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Old 15-01-2016, 15:46
hugon
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I wouldn't say that the UK selection is rubbish as it all falls down to taste, for instance both the missus and me love Benidorm, Gavin & Stacy etc, which can be accessed on the UK Netflix, but the missus loves the USA Netflix for Friends & I recently watched every episode of "My name is Earl", both shows are not on the UK version. Old cult classic films like "The Breakfast Club", isn't on the UK Netflix, but is on the Canadian & some of the European countries Netflix like Netherlands, Germany etc.

Once Netflix get their arses into gear and get all the content from all the countries available without VPN, then it will be a even more brilliant service to subscribe to, hell I would even be willing to pay a couple quid extra each month to have worldwide content without a VPN / DNS service. I have no issue for paying for content that I wish to see on demand. But I am not going to pay for a service which doesn't give me the content that I desire.
Regardless of whether Netflix ever secure global licensing, they will not own 100% of the content, so there will always be another service with other content you want to watch.

The question is whether you get use out of what you pay for it - I get far more value out of my £6 netflix sub than I do with the £20-odd I pay to sky for the basic package, and would still do even if I could only watch the stuff on UK NF. It strikes me as the people saying it's rubbish are having a quick look for stuff they've heard of rather than actually trying new things. Their perogative, but a shame to miss out on some good stuff.
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Old 15-01-2016, 17:02
oilman
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I have my doubts as to how effective it's going to be. Suspect this is just a ruse to get rights holders in otherothert territories off their backs, to show that they're making an effort to prevent people circumnavigating geographical blocking of content.

If it is successful then everyone I know, myself included, will cancel their subscription overnight.
Yeah - once I cannot get Netflix USA , sayonara Netflix!
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Old 15-01-2016, 17:18
-GONZO-
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Yeah - once I cannot get Netflix USA , sayonara Netflix!
Why does everyone seem to give so much praise to Netflix USA, there's far better content on regions other than the US.
For films Canada is far superior in that respect.

For me it doesn't bother me in the slightest if I'm stuck with just UK content as there's currently far more available than I'm able to watch.
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Old 15-01-2016, 17:23
MTUK1
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I guess with the European union trying to introduce a single market for online content it may give use some hope for the future
We're likely to have left by then!
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Old 15-01-2016, 17:25
guy1968
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Why does everyone seem to give so much praise to Netflix USA, there's far better content on regions other than the US.
For films Canada is far superior in that respect.

For me it doesn't bother me in the slightest if I'm stuck with just UK content as there's currently far more available than I'm able to watch.
I agree. Since not renewing the epix deal films in US are, imo, dire. Canada is better but strangely even the Canadians seem to think the US is better.
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Old 15-01-2016, 17:34
jcm193
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Why does everyone seem to give so much praise to Netflix USA, there's far better content on regions other than the US.
For films Canada is far superior in that respect.

For me it doesn't bother me in the slightest if I'm stuck with just UK content as there's currently far more available than I'm able to watch.
I guess its a personal thing but its more about the quality of the content available in other regions rather than the amount of content as a whole.
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Old 15-01-2016, 18:19
midlandsfirst
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Why does everyone seem to give so much praise to Netflix USA, there's far better content on regions other than the US.
For films Canada is far superior in that respect.

For me it doesn't bother me in the slightest if I'm stuck with just UK content as there's currently far more available than I'm able to watch.
I guess it depends what you watch. If you watch mainly US drama series then US has a far far better and much more up to date content than UK.
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