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Netflix Denies There Was a Policy Change With VPNs
Dangerous_Minds writes "The other day, Slashdot linked to a TorrentFreak story saying that Netflix was cracking down on VPN users. But PCMag has a story that quotes a Netflix spokesperson saying that there was no change in their policy on VPNs. Freezenet also did some digging around and found very few reports saying there were VPN access issues and even more reports from users say that their VPN solution is working for the time being."
Does not mean they won't do it in the future. Especially when they are starting up in different countries.
Although it also might be that they will be able to cut through the bullshit and just show their shows all over the world at the same time. They might have the leverage.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Yet Another Internet Hoax. One day, I'm gonna screem, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" and then block port 80 on my router.
What, you mean TorrentFreak isn't a valid source of journalism that checks sources and facts before reporting something?
HOLY SHIT THAT'S SO SURPRISING :)
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
Note that they didn't deny proxy blocking also reported in the ./ article. As it stands now, per their own exclusion, Netflix allows PAID fastlanes such as VPNs for users who already have to pay subscription AND Internet service, but they will not allow the much more convenient and free neutrality circumvention that proxies allow. This reeks of hipocrisy and/or a media stunt to shunt their own mistakes, and of a very nice deal to cash in with popular VPN services. Or at the very least not to fall on their worst grace.
It's almost as if VPN providers didn't build their services to stream 200GB of bandwidth per month for some jackass paying $9.99 and would ban those types of bandwidth hogs from their service. You know, back in reality they do that. In fantasy land, apparently EVERYONE is using VPNs and proxies to stream perfect quality HD content and it's an epidemic.
Netflix spokesperson saying that there was no change in their policy on VPNs.
Might very well be true, but that statement says nothing about the frequency of enforcement; which might have changed.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Movies and TV Shows get shuffled around regions do to the license agreements so I'm sure that whatever popular TV Show is gone from USA will be back in 2 to 5 years just like Friends came back. But the fact is Netflix and even Hulu are definitely a lot better than broadcast and cable TV do to the amount of selection available. I always end up re-watching the movies and tv shows that I like anyway.
The quote is this:
"We use industry standard methods to block VPNs. Always have and always will"
They're just fixing the bug.
Just like Hulu, in a concession to content providers who are paranoid that someone from Qatar might use VPN to watch Family Guy if Hulu didn't pay for the licensing rights.
Netflix is the same. People from banned countries use VPN to make it seem they are in the US to watch content.
Solution is simply to get 10 people to buy in on a small hosted server in the US and run your own proxy. Small enough to avoid detection and people can still watch Family guy
I had issues with Hola on my Android, which got resolved after an upgrade of Hola itself. After that it got broken somehow again, where Netflix is unable to see a network connection. That then got resolved again by rebooting the device.
On my main desktop I've not seen any issues.
So I think this is an isolated issue where certain things broke as opposed to Netflix being responsible.
One of the things that make me quite convinced of that is that I still get the nice 'You're watching Netflix from a different country, keep these things in mind' popup from Netflix, with the mentions of different series/etc being available for you, and your favourite series might be missing.
Coz eternity my friend, is a long *ing time.
-- CNET
The reason it might still be working for many is that they are not using updated software that might be checking IP addresses internally, either innocently for other reasons, or to specifically start enforcing this policy in a limited scope.
You seem like one of those people who would say "Look at country XYZ wasting money investing in space travel/launches while half their people are starving". Just because someone cares about ethics doesn't mean that they should spend every last dollar on charity. It sucks that the world is divided economically as it is today, but people in better off parts shouldn't have to feel guilty about spending a little on themselves; cerainly not for the small amount (in developed countries) that Netflix costs.
Disclaimer: My opinions are my own and do not, in any way, reflect the opinions of my employer or university.
"The Pirate Bay is dead!"
Yet the site is alive and something new is coming down the pipeline.
"Netflix is blocking VPNs!"
Have not and likely wil not.
Quit fucking reporting TorrentFreak stories.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Torrentfreak being wrong. There's a surprise. I swear they break out a box of tissues every time they hear a rumour and can't waste to post it as fact.
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
Netflix has ensured that every user who reads the news (or facebook) now has the correct string of words to google in order to get around the country code restrictions mandated by netflix's contracts with content owners.
I predict a surge in "netflix vpn how" google searches
followed by netflix "negotiations" with content owners to relax country restrictions that "obviously don't even work"
Hollywood content is bad enough with a big budget. Imagine if everyone took your view and they had zero budget.
Three days of useless Netflix stories that weren't even stories at all. Who keeps jumping the gun on posting this stuff?
If the main posted stories at Slashdot keep going the way they have been the slogan will have to change to "Slashdot, home of useless drivel."
Ohhh...that really sucks! Well, I guess that when they'll stop making movies, I'll watch all those that I already have again. Believe me, they are enough. :D
Of course it's not a policy change. Their policy has always(?) been this isn't allowed. It's just a change in the enforcement.
The simple fact of the matter is that Netflix don't really care who you are or where you live or what content they provide you. Netflix wants your subs
Netflix wants happy licence-holders to keep getting the content to encourage more subs.
IP holders divide up licences by region in order to sell them for the highest price so they have an interest in Netflix enforcing region based restrictions.
Netflix know they will lose many users and therefore subs if they are effective at stopping VPNs/proxies.
So Netflix will improve and expand their attempts to stop people bypassing the content restrictions to keep the IP owners happy but they will be careful to keep just a step shy of achieving this goal lest they lose their subs.
It is in their best interests to have the impression that they are complying, and the plausibility that they are, so that content owners continue to maintain licence agreements with them, and don't sue or would have a hard time proving that Netflix isn't doing as much as it should be doing to prohibit access where required. That said, it is also in their best interest to do the bare minimum so as to allow some users to do this if they really want to so as to keep using the service.
Last year for example in Canada the CRTC in a thinly veiled attack (Competing services coming out from Bell and Rogers the same year) being largely in the pocket of the two primary Canadian media companies, demanded that Netflix release their customer list and assorted information under the guise of complying with Canadian Content laws. Netflix basically gave them the finger, and said that they are not subject to the same laws as TV and radio, and that even if they were, that they were compliant anyway. I am assuming that on the face of it, that the titles available in the Canada version of Netflix makes them compliant, and not the actual usage, or in the context of this particular conversation, the number of Canadian subscribers that access the US version of Netflix to bypass it altogether.
In other words they maintain a facade and plausibility, and enough legal wiggle room should it ever come to it, that they could make a very good case in court that they are indeed doing everything "reasonably" possible to protect the rights of content holders with licence agreements and to meet local law requirements.
may as well say they're cracking down on paying customers--logic