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Netflix Copyright

Netflix stamps out proxy tourism to better regulate regional copyright

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

January 5, 2015 | 2 min read

Netflix has started blocking subscribers using virtual private networks (VPN) and proxy servers to access content unavailable in their countries.

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The move, first spotted by TorrentFreak, will help Netflix protect the copyright of its content as it is only authorised to broadcast certain media on a regional basis.

Users have been skirting the restrictions to access other regions' libraries – or out of necessity, using VPNs and proxy servers to fake their geographical locations.

Despite being available in 50 countries, the service has notable blackspots such as Australia, where many paying customers are using proxys to spoof their IP addresses to access the service. It will officially roll out in Australia and New Zealand this March.

Torrentfreak reports that access to the site via proxy is intermittently blocked across the globe. Ben Van der Pelt, president of VPN provider TorGuard, said: "This is a brand new development. A few weeks ago we received the first report from a handful of clients that Netflix blocked access due to VPN or proxy usage.

"This is the very first time I've heard Netflix displaying this type of error message to VPN users."

Movie studios regularly pressure Netflix to restrict proxy tourism which allegedly harms established regional media broadcast agreements. Critics of the move commented that the crackdown will greatly reduce the quality of Netflix’s service and could see paying customers resort instead to piracy.

Despite the service restricting access with the restrictions, it last week announced that it will launch a Tumblr account to further engage with subscribers.

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Netflix, is an American entertainment company founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph on August 29, 1997, in Scotts Valley, California. It specializes in and...

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