LOS GATOS, CA – Netflix has announced plans to crack down on viewers using virtual private networks and proxy services to stream content not available in their country.
According to a report in Variety, the move by Netflix to more rigorously enforce geographical content-licensing rights indicates that it’s responding to studio and content partners concerned that viewership of movies and shows via Netflix from non-licensed territories will impinge their other distribution deals in those areas. The company may also be seeking to limit account-sharing among subscribers.
In a post on the company blog, Netflix VP of content delivery architecture David Fullagar acknowledged that viewers use such tools because Netflix doesn’t offer the same content globally.
“We are making progress in licensing content across the world… but we have a ways to go before we can offer people the same films and TV series everywhere,” he wrote. “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.”
