New Zealand ISP's Anti-Geoblocking Service Makes Waves

angry tapir writes New Zealanders and Australians are often blocked from using cheap streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu and instead at the mercy of local content monopolies for popular shows such as Game of Thrones. However, a New Zealand ISP, Slingshot, has caused a stir by making a previously opt-in service called 'Global Mode' a default for its customers. The new service means that people in NZ don't need to bother with VPNs or setting up proxies if they want to sign up to Netflix — they can just visit the site. The service has also caused a stir in Australia where the high price for digital goods, such as movies from the iTunes store, is a constant source of irritation for consumers.

Comments

Not Australian, but I support this!

[XnavxeMiyyep]

The Internet should be global.

Re:Not Australian, but I support this!

[slashmydots]

It is. What the problem is is Hollywood and their media licensing rules. They're the ones that decided that streaming to an additional country costs more. Netflix didn't decide that all on their own for no reason.

Re:Needed to stop anyway

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no "presence" in other countries in most cases. It's certainly not a requirement. Most of the "indie" games on steam have no "presence" in say Australia, and yet the price in Australia is not [US Price] * ($AU/$US) in AUD or just [US Price] in USD.

It has nothing to do with "costs to maintaining and presence in another country". It is solely due to "that's what Xians are willing to pay for the game", which unsurprisingly pisses people off since most people don't like being charged more than someone else for no reason other than the seller thinks they are dumb enough to pay more.

Re:Will local rights holders sue?

[fustakrakich]

Then it will be back to bittorrent. It's best for all to tear down the walls.