Those living in smaller markets like New Zealand might feel like second-class customers on the Web, as desirable services like Hulu and Netflix often exclude them at launch (and sometimes for years afterward). Miffed Kiwis now have one more option for avoiding such lockouts—a new ISP called "Fyx." The company, which launched last week, offers a “Global Mode which creates freedom for New Zealand Internet users that doesn’t exist elsewhere,” according to its website.

While that is fantastically vague, an interview with the Kiwi newspaper The Southland Times suggests that the mode targets foreign sites that have not become available yet in New Zealand, like Hulu and Netflix, and that use geo-fencing to keep people out.

The paper reported that Paul Brislen, the country’s Telecommunications Users Association chief executive, could save NZ$50 ($39) a month by using this service and that he was impressed by it. Fyx is the first New Zealand ISP to provide such circumvention tools automatically to its users, though users in New Zealand (and anywhere else) have long been able to pay for commercial VPNs and other tools to get around geo-blocking.

Fyx remains a bit cagey about what it’s doing to obfuscate IP traffic, saying in a tweet earlier this week: “A lot more than a VPN. Majority of traffic behaves as normal. Only different when required to be.”

"We all know that New Zealand is the best little country in the world," says Fyx on its website. "But sometimes being little means that we get passed over when toys are being handed out... So we decided to FYX the Internet by removing some of the barriers that were getting in the way of great choice."

For the time being, getting around regional blocks is in a legal gray area, at least according to PC World New Zealand. And whatever the legal realities, the targeted sites certainly don't like it; Hulu’s terms of use suggest that using a VPN to gain access to the site is a violation.

"You may not either directly or through the use of any device, software…bypass…or circumvent any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices marked on the Content or any digital rights management mechanism, device, or other content protection or access control measure associated with the Content including geo-filtering mechanisms,” says Hulu.

Netflix is even more direct: “You may not circumvent, remove, alter, deactivate, degrade or thwart any of the content protections in the Netflix service.”

However, we've been unable to find any examples of Hulu, Netflix, or anyone else pursuing legal action against VPN users abroad.

Hulu and Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but we will update when we hear more.

UPDATE: Netflix spokesperson Joris Evers wrote to Ars, just referring us to another clause in the company's Terms of Use: "Geographic Limitation: You may instantly watch a movie or TV show through the Netflix service only in geographic locations where we offer our service. The content that may be available to watch will vary by geographic location. Netflix will use technologies to verify your geographic location."