Netflix may be one of the most popular online video streaming services in the world but it is only available in a handful of markets, like the U.S. and UK. People in other part of the world can access this service if they bypass geo-restrictions by using VPNs, and Netflix hasn’t been as tough as Hulu on those subscribers, but it seems like the company’s behavior is changing towards these subscribers.
We first heard about Netflix’s crackdown on such subscribers a couple of weeks back when it was found that the company was blocking access in its Android app which was enabled by DNS-based VPNs.
Netflix now appears to be blocking subscribers who use VPNs to bypass geo-restrictions, no matter which device they use to access the service, after it was pushed by movie studios who want to control how much of their content people can see in their respective countries, reports TorrentFreak.
One of the reasons why Netflix isn’t available widely is because of complex licensing agreements, which give it streaming rights in a handful of countries, and thus makes it open to pressure from studios who own any and all international distribution rights.
Even though Netflix has started doing this the crackdown is limited in scope. Most major VPN users are still able to access the service from an unsupported market, but TorGuard users weren’t so lucky, they did experience problems when trying to log into Netflix.
According to the report one of the blocking methods that Netflix is testing includes querying user’s timezone through the web browser or GPS on their mobile device and then comparing it with the timezone of their IP address.
This also means that users in supported markets, who use VPNs for online anonymity and safety reasons, might face trouble in accessing the service as well unless they stop using VPN when trying to binge-watch Friends on Netflix.
Filed in . Read more about Netflix.