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Netflix Denies There Was a Policy Change With VPNs

Posted by samzenpus on from the wasn't-us dept.

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."

9 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. They don't do it now by houghi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.
    1. Re:They don't do it now by TWX · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not really in Netflix's interest to bust people for doing it anyway, especially if they can truly claim ignorance of the scale of it. After all, restricting countries by IP address could be considered reasonable, plus they get the revenue of the subscriptions that they might not otherwise have if people in those countries specifically signed up for Netflix in order to do this.

      It probably won't happen unless content owners sue.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re: They don't do it now by BuckaBooBob · · Score: 3, Informative

      Unless Netflix is furnishing them with access logs.. They have no idea how many people are circumventing the access controls deployed by Netflix... And in the end Netflix doesn't care if people do as long as the courts agree Netflix is taking reasonable measures to restrict content to the licensed region..

      --
      Who needs WiFi when we can have Packet Over Sheep! http://datacomm.org/PoS-InternetDraft.txt
    3. Re:They don't do it now by TWX · · Score: 2

      Well, the content owners that agreed to license their content to the television show or movie for a certain area (like the United States) or for a certain broadcast medium in that country (ie, one country's rules allow for Internet-transmission for TV shows with all of the music, other countries require the TV show producers to renegotiate a deal for the music) then someone is losing-out, and that's part of the reason why country-specific laws exist.

      It's just damned annoying as a consumer that I can't get a show on DVD or streaming that I watched on broadcast TV 20 years ago because the music isn't licensed for redistribution.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    4. Re:They don't do it now by oobayly · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Same here. Another thing to note is that the $5 I'm willing to pay unblock-us every month could go to Hollywood, but it turns out they don't want my money.

  2. Words and meanings by DarkOx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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
  3. Nothing New: Meaning we've always done it. by Jason+Pollock · · Score: 4, Informative

    The quote is this:

            "We use industry standard methods to block VPNs. Always have and always will"

    They're just fixing the bug.

  4. Re:Do whatever the f. you want with VPNs... by Anonymous+CowWord · · Score: 2

    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.
  5. Re:technology! by ddtmm · · Score: 2

    I wouldn't call those jackasses bandwidth hogs (or jackasses). They are paying a rate set by the VPN provider and that's that. If the VPN provider wasn't making money they would up the rates, or cap bandwidth. They're doing neither. Bandwidth usage is not as expensive as the providers would like you to think. In Canada the the big ISPs (Rogers, Bell..) are mandated to provide wholesale service to smaller resellers (e.g. teksavvy.com) to increase competition and choice. Resellers are able to resell the exact same services the big guys offer, at 2-4 times the cap and at 2/3 the price. In some cases they offer true unlimited still cheaper than the paltry caps the incumbents sell for. Small to medium size businesses generally get unlimited data and in most cases don't pay much more than residential for compatible speeds. The way it's supposed to be.