Netflix isn’t able to offer all its content in every country it operates in because it has to agree to the terms of the provider representing the show’s creator. For example, if the publisher wishes to confine a film or TV series to only the U.S., Netflix is obliged to comply or risk losing it entirely.
This isn’t great for people who live in other nations and want to access content blocked in their region though. For years, there has been a tried-and-tested way around this, using a VPN or proxy to connect to the Internet.
These services route Internet data to servers in a different country before passing it onto the original website. This has the effect of making traffic appear to originate from a different source, masking your original identity and letting you access blocked content.
In the scenario above, you could access content restricted to the U.S. by using a U.S.-based proxy. Netflix would be presented with data purporting to be from within the country and would therefore play the show.
Netflix has had enough of this unauthorised solution though. In a blog post this week, the company explained that it has developed new proxy-detecting technology that will disable its service entirely when a proxy or VPN is used. The company says it is confident that the upgrade won’t affect users who access Netflix normally without a proxy.
David Fullagar, Netflix Vice President of Content Delivery, said: “Some members use proxies or “unblockers” to access titles available outside their territory. To address this, we employ the same or similar measures other firms do. This technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it. That means in coming weeks, those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are.”
The news comes just a week after Netflix originally denied it was working to strengthen its VPN-blocking measures. As users began to report their VPNs and proxies no longer work in an apparent test of yesterday’s announcement, Netflix’s chief product officer commented “The claims that we have changed our policy on VPN are false. People who are using a VPN to access our service from outside of the area will find that it still works exactly as it has always done.”
Netflix is now available in 190 countries worldwide which means much of its content uses region-blocking to ensure it’s only available to its intended audience. The company said today that it “anticipates” being able to offer its entire library of films and TV shows in every nation eventually, without explaining how it will make this happen.
Until then, Netflix says it will “continue to respect and enforce content licensing by geographic location” while “pushing towards” offering all its content to everyone on the planet. The new proxy blockers will become active over the next few weeks.
