VPN Blockade Backlash Doesn't Hurt Us, Says Netflix (torrentfreak.com)

Ernesto Van der Sar, writing for TorrentFreak: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says that the recent crackdown on VPN and proxy users hasn't hurt the company's results. The VPN blockade only affects a small but vocal minority, according to Hastings, and there are no signs that hordes of subscribers are abandoning ship. Earlier this year Netflix announced that it would increase its efforts to block customers who circumvent geo-blockades. As a result, it has become harder to use VPN services and proxies to access Netflix content from other countries, something various movie studios have repeatedly called for. When asked about the impact of the VPN changes on the results, Hastings brushed the issue aside as a minor detail that doesn't impact the bigger picture in any way. "It's a very small but quite vocal minority. So it's really inconsequential to us, as you could see in the Q1 results." Earlier this year, Hastings also admitted that a VPN-blocking policy might be impossible to enforce.

Comments

Small and inconsequential

[Macdude]

If it's small and inconsequential, why bother blocking it at all?

Re:Small and inconsequential

[MightyMartian]

Because the rights holders demand it. It's the only way Netflix can guarantee they'll continue being allowed to show their content.

Re:Small and inconsequential

[dmbasso]

Because the rights holders demand it.

And it seems it's inconsequential to them as well. And from that we can extrapolate and say that those users, that were willing to pay but now are probably going to get the content by illegal means, doesn't really matter. It's a win-win-win scenario!

Re:Small and inconsequential

[BarbaraHudson]

Most people won't bother to get the content by illegal means - they'll just watch something else from Netflix.

Re:This bull

[Mr D from 63]

Then Netflix shouldn't put it on my list. Or rather they should dish out for the rights, they've continued to increase prices while dropping more than half their content.

You should just stop paying them.

Hardship of innocents

[qe2e!]

I've worked in their customer care (recently quit). There is such a thing as false positives, little old ladies who don't know the difference between a proxy and a flux capacitor. And the company line for someone calling about a VPN error? Do **not** help or advise them in anyway except telling them to undo what they've done whatever that was, and call the ISP to help find what default settings should be. Next thing you know, you've got a rep from the ISP calling in because an entire IP block is getting flagged, and nobody can actually cite any particular instruction, marker, or standard for why it's getting flagged and what needs to be done about it. I can tell you this, the corporation looks to weigh the undue hardship of innocents in dollars, and that ought to be incompatible with some ethical systems.

He's lying

[jnork]

They're not blocking people who use VPN to bypass geo-blockades. They're blocking VPN users, full stop. Without regard to why they're using VPN.

I was rather irritated to find that I could no longer use my VPN to access US content from the US using a US VPN IP address. Guys, I'm right here in Sacramento, and dammit, I'm using VPN for security, not to bypass your pathetic little attempts to screw your customers.

As a result I ended up finding other ways to bypass their restrictions. Which is something I would never have done if they hadn't blocked me in the first place! Morons.