Connie Agius reported this story on Friday, January 22, 2016 12:19:28

BRENDAN TREMBATH: The television and movie streaming service Netflix has started to lock out Australian customers who use back door ways to access its huge catalogue in the United States.



The Australian viewers have been masking their locations to watch popular series like Parks and Recreation and Law and Order.



Connie Agius reports.



CONNIE AGIUS: Netflix launched in Australia last year to much fanfare.



But the limited content available compared to other countries, like the United States, left people disappointed.



Some subscribers found a way around it using proxy servers or a VPN.



Alan Henry is the editor at Lifehacker.



ALAN HENRY: Many VPN customers use VPNs to mask their location or to get around the blocks and the data techniques that websites and other services use to find out who you are, where you're located.



CONNIE AGIUS: This gave users based in Australia access to a wider range of television and movie titles that were available overseas.



Netflix decided to crack down on these subscribers.



And customers using unblocking technology started to receive a message saying:



PETER DUJAN: They were behind a VPN or a proxy.



So, Netflix had identified them from trying to unblock the service.



CONNIE AGIUS: That's Peter Dujan from uFlix, a VPN provider in Australia.



And he's found a way around the block.



PETER DUJAN: We released a fix earlier this morning around the block and so far no one has given us any feedback on it.



So, I'm assuming right now everything is okay.



CONNIE AGIUS: Netflix said in a statement that using unblocking technology is a breach of their terms of use because of licensing restrictions on television shows and movies.



Alan Henry is another expert who agrees it's going to be tough for Netflix to stop people bypassing its controls.



ALAN HENRY: They can make a good show of it.



They can block some of the big providers, they can say that they're blocking a lot of people.



The VPN providers that they'll block will just go and get new IP addresses from someone else and then they're back to square one.



CONNIE AGIUS: And Netflix faces other challenges.



ALAN HENRY: Switching to a VPN provider that may not necessarily be based in the United States, but has what we call exit servers in the United States.



Another thing that people can do is use a proxy, or proxy servers and they're harder to block because their IPs change regularly.



You could always build a VPN of your own.



CONNIE AGIUS: Netflix say they're trying to make all of their content available everywhere, but admit they have a ways to go before they reach that goal.



BRENDAN TREMBATH: Connie Agius.