Netflix may not be tightening its region controls after all. After a small scandal over the weekend, Netflix's chief product officer Neil Hunt told an audience at CES that the company isn't intentionally blocking VPN service and has no plans to do so. "The claims that we have changed our policy on VPN are false," he told the crowd. "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."
That doesn't mean VPNs are entirely in the clear. Most film and TV rights are specific to a given country or region, so Netflix is contractually obligated to try to prevent users in Brazil from watching a movie that's only licensed for the European Union. Officially, using any VPN service is against Netflix's terms of use, and the company does blacklist certain VPN networks as a result of that. But Hunt said any recent changes were the result of a new failsafe on the company's Android app that helped users having DNS problems. If VPN access shut down as a result, Hunt said, it was purely accidental.
A number of VPN services saw a spike in Netflix error rates over the weekend, leading many users to believe the company was cracking down on users trying to hop between regions. But the spike came primarily from Netflix's Android app, consistent with Hunt's technical explanation, and there's no indication yet that the spike was part of any larger crackdown. "We are not changing our policy," Hunt told the crowd. "It remains the same as it ever was."
Comments
I’ve missed my American stories. Pls, Netflix. Or Tunnelbear – help.
By Shaun McIlroy on 01.08.15 1:00pm
"We aren’t changing our policy, we’re just enforcing it for the first time ever."
By russlar on 01.08.15 1:33pm
I can’t imagine Netflix wanting to restrict that. I can see ISPs trying to restrict them though. (cough cough Comcast hack)
By revlayle on 01.08.15 1:34pm
They have to keep the content owners happy, though. They’re the ones who don’t like this sort of thing because it messes with their distribution strategies.
By Hiya Dagon on 01.08.15 3:22pm
Not sure there’s a whole lot they can do to block access because these VPN providers are constantly buying up new blocks of IP addresses.
By foraging_ferret on 01.08.15 3:32pm
I don’t think so either. But I doubt that’s stopping Hollywood studios from bringing it up at every meeting.
By Hiya Dagon on 01.08.15 3:38pm
Yep the studios are pissed. But they also love Netflix because they have such deep pockets, so it’s a bit of double-edged sword.
By foraging_ferret on 01.08.15 3:42pm
Studios generally don’t like it either, it’s a hassle that’s necessary evil because other countries and distribution channels exist…
By archie4oz on 01.08.15 5:03pm
As long as I can still use my Apple TV on US Netflix when I visit the US. I would not like some sort of account region locking to come about.
By d0mth0ma5 on 01.08.15 1:45pm
Or when I visit the US virtually, via VPN
By cheeteur on 01.08.15 2:13pm
I would be very disappointed if VPN wouldn’t work anymore. There are so many classics on Netflix US alone that make up most of my overall Netflix usage. I switch between four different countries all the time, three of which are in the EU. I’d love to see at least that separation disappear soon.
By Velocities on 01.08.15 2:01pm
Unlikely because content providers hate the idea but the EU is trying to introduce Europe-wide licensing. Unfortunately for the content providers that would mean renegotiating pretty much every agreement they’ve ever made with every platform that has an active license. Not to mention that it would totally screw up extremely lucrative exclusive license agreements which broadcasters and even SVOD platforms are so keen shell out big bucks for.
By foraging_ferret on 01.08.15 3:39pm
I tried last night to login to the Netflix app on my iPhone using a DNS service and it wouldn’t let me get on. Turned off the DNS service, retried and it let me in right away.
I’m not sure what they’re doing, but sure looks like they’re blocking access.
By digitalgopher on 01.08.15 2:15pm
What service do you use? I’m using unblock-us and it still works.
By cheeteur on 01.08.15 2:20pm
adfreetime
By digitalgopher on 01.08.15 2:35pm
Why do you even bother with VPN services? Just pirate it if you’re going to pirate it.
When you bypass region restrictions, you are effectively pirating the content, because Netflix isn’t paying for international distribution. I can’t imagine messing around with multiple VPN services, which may or may not work, is easier or cheaper than just torrenting the content, and it isn’t any more legal or ethical, so… why bother?
By wildmaiden on 01.08.15 3:33pm
I don’t think that’s the case, or Netflix could simply limit the account to country where it was created. Right now the accounts are sort of international.
By MrColingh on 01.08.15 3:40pm
It doesn’t matter where the account is created, or where the billing address is, it matters where the person is currently located, which is why they use IP address to determine which country you’re in. If you live the US, but are visiting France, you can still only stream the titles which Netflix has the rights to show in France.
Every country has a different list of titles that are available for streaming in it, it’s not international.
By wildmaiden on 01.08.15 3:44pm
But as the accounts work wherever you are, the studios get paid for the movies you watch, even if you are not where you say you are, so is different from pirating.
By MrColingh on 01.08.15 5:49pm
They DON’T work wherever you are, that’s what we’re talking about…
The studios do NOT get paid per stream like artists on Spotify, they negotiate contracts with Netflix for regional distribution rights. Netflix pays a studio a certain amount of money to be able to show a certain movie in a certain place for a certain amount of time. If you watch that movie from a different place, or at a different time, the studio isn’t being paid a penny for that.
Saying "well, this movie is available in the US, so it’s ok for me to watch it in France" is no different than saying "this movie was available last month, so it’s ok for me to watch it this month". It’s not true, and it makes no sense, and it is equivalent to piracy.
By wildmaiden on 01.09.15 10:29am
Netflix, why are you lying? You work on some of my devices and not on others now. This isn’t coincidence that this happened at the exact same time as everyone else. I PAY for your service. I’m not stealing it. I even pay extra to use the work-around (unblock-us)
Regards,
Thousands of American men and women and their families stationed overseas.
By kwazzy on 01.08.15 3:52pm
It may or may not be their fault. I also use unblock-us, but it relies on the DNS to guide it. If you have a Roku for example, Roku uses Google DNS hardcoded into it’s OS, meaning that on the Roku my Netflix is locked to Canada (I don’t benefit from unblock-us), but on my Apple TV, I get American Netflix fine.
This actually works well for me, since I can get both markets without changing any settings. If I want to see a show that is only on Canadian netflix, I go to Roku, only on American? I go to Apple TV or the PS4.
By pictor on 01.08.15 4:18pm
So does TheVerge actually try to confirm wild speculations before reporting something as fact? Apparently not.
By blabblab on 01.08.15 4:31pm
Well, I’m an idiot. I guess TheVerge never reported that Netflix was cracking down on VPNs. I guess I read that on a different tech site.
By blabblab on 01.08.15 5:15pm
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/3/7486869/netflix-international-block-vpn Headline was changed
By MkeAllison on 01.09.15 5:06am