The IT Nerd

If you like Netflix and you live in a part of the planet that doesn’t have the selection of content that you want, you may use a VPN or Virtual Private Network to get you access to the Netflix content that you want. If you use the search engine of your choice, you can find lots of VPN options out there. However, the option of using a VPN to get the Netflix content that you want may be coming to an end as reports are surfacing that Netflix will be blocking VPN access. Here’s what News.com had to say:

The news comes after a major industry group representing rights holders and distributors confirmed that its members were lobbying Netflix in the United States to see the US version of the service blocked for users outside that region.

Netflix is currently available in nearly 50 countries worldwide, with content varying by location according to local licensing arrangements. However, in regions where the service is not available, including Australia, residents can still access the US iteration of Netflix using a VPN or similar IP-masking tools. In Australia alone, as many as 200,000 households access US Netflix according to figures cited by the company.

Those users could soon be blocked from using the service, according to new reports.

The latest version of their Android app apparently has changes that stops users from fooling Netflix into thinking that they are from a different part of the planet than they are actually from. However, Netflix denies that they are going after VPN users:

“There have been no changes to our VPN policies,” a Netflix spokesperson said.

I’m not sure that this will convince anyone.

Now the use of VPN software to get your hands on the Netflix content that you want to see is a violation of their terms of service. After all, their content is licensed for a specific country and rights holders (aka: the studios) want to make sure that they get paid accordingly. So you cannot be surprised that Netflix would decide to go after anyone who uses such a service. Thus they are correct when they say that nothing has changed…. Other than the fact that they’re simply enforcing the rules. Perhaps what’s needed here is some clarification so that everyone knows what the deal is?

The day that Netflix releases their monthly ISP Speed Index the day that makes ISPs cringe as they hope they aren’t on the bottom of this list. This time around, there aren’t really any major changes with the exception of Videotron moving up two spots. Other than that, the differences between ISPs are slight. The top 10 ISPs are very close together. That’s good as it shows that ISPs take this seriously. That means at the end of the day it doesn’t matter who your ISP is if you’re a Netflix user as you’ll get decent performance.

Netflix late yesterday released their latest speed rankings for ISPs in Canada and it’s becoming clear that there’s a tightening at the top of the food chain. Bell Canada Fibe leads the way with MTS Fiber Optic tied for second with Bell Aliant Fiber Optic. The difference between first and second? It was 0.09 Mbps. That’s close. The next five ISPs are within 0.12 Mbps of each other. Clearly, being at the top this list really, really matters. Thus they’re clearly working hard to make sure that they are as close to the top as possible.

You might remember that Netflix ranked Canadian ISPs and two things jumped out. Bell won with its Fibe service and Rogers was last. But they promised to fix things to make their ranking better. Well, the rankings for May are out, and the results show that Bell still leads. But Rogers moved off the bottom by two spots. So that’s good for them. The other things that jump out at me is the fact that Teksavvyand Allstream jumped up two places from the last ISP ranking. So, this suggests to me that competition between ISPs is going to make this ranking very competitive over the next few months. That’s something that will ultimately end up benefiting consumers which is a good thing.

For those who don’t read my blog on a regular basis, the person who’s asking the question is making a reference to a post from a little while ago where I said that Netflix wasn’t worth $8 a month in Canada because of the lack of content. However, the news is out that House Of Cards, a show produced by and only available on Netflix have been nominated for an Emmy Award. This marks the first time that a show that is only broadcast on the Internet have been nominated for an Emmy.

So the question is, does that change my perception of them? Netflix has now proved that it is not just a content distributor, but a content creator. One that can get top talent to create content that people want to watch and compete against the likes of HBO and FX. That changes the game immensely as the need to sign deals to broadcast other people’s content isn’t something that hinders its growth. If they can continue down this path, that would make me reconsider getting Netfilx in my home again.

As an aside, you can bet a lot of cable companies and networks are concerned right now by the rise of Netflix. And they should be. The future is staring them right in the face. They’ll have to adapt or die.