If you access the U.S. version of Netflix from another country via a VPN or other type of proxy that spoofs your location, you’d better hurry up to check out all of those hidden categories we told you about earlier this week, because Netflix is about to shut you down!
Some members use proxies or “unblockers” to access titles available outside their territory. To address this, we employ the same or similar measures other firms do. This technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it. That means in coming weeks, those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are. We are confident this change won’t impact members not using proxies.
Netflix’s licensing agreements with content owners, antiquated as they may be, blocks it from offering all of its content to everyone around the globe. So, many Netflix users make use of a proxy app, such as the popular VPN Unlimited, (it’s what we’ve been using), to make it look like they reside within the country where the content they wish to view is licensed for viewing.
While Netflix in the past has basically ignored the issue, offering only token attempts to block such activities, 9to5Mac notes the streaming service’s recent rollout to 130 new countries may have spurred content providers to push the company for some real action on the issue.
Netflix says it hope to someday be able to offer the same content to all of its viewers, no matter where they live. But for now…
“Over time, we anticipate being able to do so. For now, given the historic practice of licensing content by geographic territories, the TV shows and movies we offer differ, to varying degrees, by territory. In the meantime, we will continue to respect and enforce content licensing by geographic location.”