EARLIER in the year streaming giant Netflix announced it was going to begin efforts to block customers using a VPN from accessing its service.

Until then the company had been blissfully and conveniently inactive on the subject. After all, why would they want to spend time and money on something that is going to upset paying customers and hurt revenue?

But after feeling the pressure from rights holders and regulators Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced the new crackdown — and the customer backlash shows no signs of subsiding.

This week Open Media penned a public letter to the Netflix CEO imploring him to reverse the initiative.

The crackdown has made it increasingly difficult for customers outside the US to access the superior catalogue available to those inside the company’s home country. But it also means customers using a VPN due to concerns about their internet privacy are being kept out.

“Over the past few months, Netflix has begun blocking VPN users from accessing any content in the Netflix library, as a way to enforce national licensing restrictions,” the open letter reads. “This is a huge problem for our privacy-conscious supporters, who use VPNs as an essential, user-friendly tool to protect their privacy in a post-Snowden world.”

Nearly 45,000 people have signed the corresponding petition in support of the letter.

“We need easy, accessible, and effective tools to protect our privacy online while still enjoying the internet we love — and VPNs do just that,” the letter reads.

“We shouldn’t have to choose between Netflix and privacy.”

Geoblocking has been a contentious issue in recent times. But advocates of the practice in Australia have had some unlikely support last month when the government’s Productivity Commission called for the law to be clarified, making it legal for Australian to use VPNs to circumvent geoblockers.

“The use of geoblocking technology is pervasive, and frequently results in Australian consumers being offered a lower level of digital service (such as a more limited music or TV streaming catalogue) at a higher price than in overseas markets,” the report said.