Netflix

Following its global rollout, Netflix has said it will finally be cracking down on proxy services that allow users to view content from other regions. The move, which will happen "in the coming weeks", will target so-called 'unblockers' that allow people to view TV shows and films not licensed for their country.

Unlike some rival streaming service providers, Netflix automatically localises the content users have access to based on where their IP address says they are. As a result, UK Netflix users who travel to the US can view American, rather than UK content.


It's because of this that it's always been so easy for Netflix subscribers to access international content. All they've needed was a VPN or a proxy server located in the country that they want to view content from.

In the past, Netflix has largely ignored this, much to the ire of rights holders such as Sony. In 2014, leaked data from the Sony Pictures hack included an internal email from Steve Mosko, now chairman of Sony Pictures Television, describing Sony's lack of preventative measures against such workarounds as "another form of piracy -- one semi-sanctioned by Netflix, since they are getting paid by subscribers in territories where Netflix does not have the rights to sell our content".

However, today's announcement, shortly following Netflix's rollout of its global service to 190 countries, represents a marked change in the enthusiasm with which the company implements its official policy, although not the policy itself.

Netflix vice president of content delivery architecture David Fullagar wrote that, to address the issue of people using "unblockers" of various kinds, "we employ the same or similar measures other firms do. This technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it."


In the case of VPNs, this usually takes the form of blacklists of IP addresses used as exit gateways by free and commercial services. Popular proxy services can also be easily identified and blacklisted, while non-anonymising proxies can pass over your original IP address, and originating IP data can be requested from your browser or plugins under many circumstances.

A Netflix spokesperson told Ars Technica that the crackdown would also apply to VPN users and that it may affect those who use VPNs in their own country for reasons other than obfuscating their geographic location from streaming video providers.

It's obvious from the tone of the announcement, in which Fullagar says the company's available content varies by country due to "the historic practice of licensing content by geographic territories", that Netflix feels geographical licencing to be an outdated concept. Fullagar also said that "over time", the company hopes to be able to provide the same content to all of its global customers.