14 DAY TRIAL // Netflix, the on-demand Internet streaming media services that's now available in more the 40 countries over the globe, has been recently blocking those users who are taking advantage of third-party apps in order to access content that shouldn't be available in their countries.
According to TorrentFreak, due to the multitude and complexity of licensing agreements with copyright owners, Netflix doesn't seem to be able to make all content available in all the countries where is now functioning.
Basically, this means that if you live in the UK, Austria or Belgium for example, there is certainly some content that's not available for you unless you would live in the United States.
Well, that problem has been fixed by some subscribers who have decided that, if they pay for a service about the same amount (or maybe more) than US subscribers do, then they should have access to all content provided by Netflix.
The only way to do that is to use a VPN or proxy, which will hide their IP and may Netflix system they are accessing the service from another country than the one they're living in.
It appears that the movie studios (Hollywood?) aren't happy by this turn of events and have decided to force Netflix to take action against these subscribers.
The good news is Netflix is not banning subscribers who bypass the location restrictions using VPNs and proxies, instead they are blocking ranges of VPN IPs.
Netflix for Android, the application available for download via Google Play Store, now enforces the use of the Google DNS server, thus bypassing the system settings and preventing Netflix regions other than those now in use in the user's country from accessing the network.
The service is now temporary blocking certain VPN IP ranges in certain countries
TorGuard, one of the largest VPN providers, has been targeted by Netflix's new policy and in the last few weeks lots of the clients complained they have been blocked by Netflix when using VPN or proxy.
“This is a brand new development. A few weeks ago we received the first report from a handful of clients that Netflix blocked access due to VPN or proxy usage. This is the very first time I’ve ever heard Netflix displaying this type of error message to a VPN user,” TorGuard’s Ben Van der Pelt told TorrentFreak.
Apparently, Netflix is now testing a method to block subscribers who are trying to bypass region restrictions with the help of VPNs and proxies, but once a system is put in place, no one would be able to log in to the service if they are using these methods.
For the time being, Netflix only blocks certain VPN IP ranges in some countries, but it looks like VPN providers are determined to offer their customers methods of bypassing these security measures.
It remains to be seen how long it will take Netflix to start blocking the majority of users trying to log in to its service with VPNs or proxies, if the company thinks that is a fair and valid option.