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Bell Media President Says Canadians Are 'Stealing' US Netflix Content

Posted by timothy on from the oh-canada dept.

iONiUM writes: Today the Bell Media president claimed that Canadians are "stealing" U.S. Netflix, saying the practice is "stealing just like stealing anything else." She went on to say that it is socially unacceptable behavior, and "It has to become socially unacceptable to admit to another human being that you are VPNing into U.S. Netflix. Like throwing garbage out of your car window, you just don't do it. We have to get engaged and tell people they're stealing." Of course, I'm sure the fact that Bell Media profits from Canadian content has nothing to do with these remarks.

9 of 408 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Socially Acceptable by Mister+Transistor · · Score: 4, Informative

    The president of Bell Media is a woman.

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    -- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
  2. Re:This is ridiculous by Ryanrule · · Score: 2, Informative

    no, you are paying for access to a content library, which is licensed by netflix for your region.

  3. It's not stealing. by danbob999 · · Score: 4, Informative

    It might be a copyright violation however, since the intent of the distributor is to offer the content only in the USA.

  4. "stealing just like stealing anything else" by duckintheface · · Score: 5, Informative

    And this is the problem with industry thinking. It is NOT stealing. Copyrights, patents, and trademarks are separate types of law. They are NOT property law. If they were, we would not need a separate part of the Constitution (Art. 1, Sec 8) to define what they mean.

    Violating copyright is NOT stealing because the copyright is NOT property. The term "intellectual property" is an intentional obfuscation designed to blur the difference between universal ideas of property ownership and the proposition that ideas can be owned. Ideas can NOT be owned. Copyrights are just temporary monopolies for the purpose of encouraging the arts and sciences. They do NOT exist because "Hey, that's mine". They do not exist for the benefit of the copyright holder. They exist for the benefit of society as a whole. Don't believe me? Read Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution.

    --
    "He took a duck in the face at 250 knots." -- William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
    1. Re:"stealing just like stealing anything else" by Zalbik · · Score: 5, Informative

      And this is the problem with industry thinking. It is NOT stealing

      No, the problem in this case is not only is it NOT stealing, it is not actually illegal.

      Accessing US Netflix outside of the US may break terms of use (which Netflix would have a VERY hard time winning a lawsuit over), but does not currently break any Canadian laws. No more than using a VPN to access any other website.

      This whole thing is bloody retarded. In this case, Canadians:
      - Pay for the content
      - Pay for the VPN to access the content

      At least if nothing else, this has convinced me to NEVER sign up for any Bell services.

    2. Re:"stealing just like stealing anything else" by BitterOak · · Score: 5, Informative

      Accessing US Netflix outside of the US may break terms of use (which Netflix would have a VERY hard time winning a lawsuit over), but does not currently break any Canadian laws.

      I wish that were true but it isn't. You'd be breaking copyright law. You're importing copyrighted content from someone without the legal authority to distribute said content in Canada. It isn't unusual for different companies to have exclusive rights to distribute in various countries, and the U.S. Netflix has no rights to distribute this copyrighted content in Canada. Therefore, in transferring the data from your VPN in the U.S. to your computer in Canada, you're copying copyrighted content which you have no authorization to do. That's illegal. I'm not saying I agree with this law, but it is wrong to say that what you're doing isn't illegal.

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      If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
    3. Re:"stealing just like stealing anything else" by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 5, Informative

      > You're importing copyrighted content from someone without the legal authority to distribute said content in Canada.

      I thought both the US and Canada were signatories of the Berne Convention. So you're good to go paying for and importing individual works for personal consumption.

      It's not only not illegal. It's protected by treaty.

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      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    4. Re: "stealing just like stealing anything else" by bobbied · · Score: 5, Informative

      Awh come on people... Copyright infringement is a CIVIL law issue not a criminal offense.

      So the police may not be knocking down doors to stop you... However, they may be knocking ON your door to serve you with the lawsuit brought by the copyright owners and later assisting in the confiscation of damages when you have a judgment entered and have to pay.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  5. Bell runs a competing streaming service... by Dzimas · · Score: 4, Informative

    What the article neglects to mention is that Bell recently started a competing streaming service called CraveTV. They have licensed some shows that are available on the US Netflix, so the only way for Canadians to watch them is to subscribe to CraveTV or use a VPN to access the American version of Netflix.

    Where things get really stupid is that Bell's $4 CraveTV service requires potential customers to subscribe to a Bell (or partner) cable or satellite TV plan in an effort to protect their traditional business. Have an OTA antenna on your roof instead? Tough. You don't qualify for their service.