Please don't do this to us expats, Netflix... (x-post /r/technology)
torrentfreak.com/netflix-cracks-down-on-vpn-a...
torrentfreak.comPosted Jan 4, 2015, 9:20 AM UTC
2333
torrentfreak.comCalm down
http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/03/netflix-clamps-down-on-vpns/
Netflix tells us that there's been "no change" in the way it handles VPNs, so you shouldn't have to worry about the company getting tough any time soon. With that said, these blocking errors started showing up in the past few weeks, so it's not clear what would have prompted them.
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Hulu already blocks VPNs... it's only a matter of time.
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Uh... no they don't.
Source: Watching Hulu ATM.
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They only block vpns they can detect.
SOURCE: I had to switch vpns a couple of months ago because I couldn't use Hulu.
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What do you use now?
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Hulu is owned by NBC/Universal, Fox, Disney, and some other groups.
Netflix is not. So of course if these new "VPN" rules come down Hulu will follow suit.
This is why I personally don't use Hulu. (That and the watching ads after paying drives me nuts.)
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There will be a work around. There always is.
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Maybe. But if the work around is too difficult to setup for the general user it will not be used and will flounder.
For example I am surprised at how many people looking for recent shows want to find a site to stream it and often for free. Yet using uttorent or some other torrent program with eztv is just toooo hard to use. Or god forbid they have to download it and watch it. Then deleted it.
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A VPN isn't an easy principle but companies make it easy. They'll switch up to dynamic DNS and do something clever along those lines. Beyond that, torrenting is both easy and very popular already, so they'll drive paying customers (like myself) there
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I don't really understand how this is a thing for pay services. Ok, if you want to block youtube or something like that, I kind of get it. I was very surprised last time I was in SK when I logged into my amazon and couldn't stream movies through a service I pay $100/year for because I was in a different place
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I pay for Netflix but Hola Unblocker stopped working for me altogether a few months ago no matter what server I connected to.
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Take action. Their support chat staff takes feedback about netflix > https://help.netflix.com/help
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I've been using Unblock-Us for nearly two years now and hardly ever had problems, however I guess it's not a VPN. Can anybody ELI5 the difference between a VPN and a DNS?
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Rent a private VPN in the States. No issues.
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What bullshit. I wish companies understood that this only pushes people towards piracy. I have a US address and pay with a US card but they don't want our $8 a month? I just bought a VPN service and Netflix still works great but I can't get Hulu to work so I'll be canceling them soon.
Edit: While we're on the topic, I also can't figure out the reasoning behind some apps on Google Play being region locked. I can't download some financial apps (CapitalOne 360, Mint, Personal Capital) just because my phone is a Korean model. Even with a VPN or when I visited the States, it wouldn't let me do it. I can somewhat understand entertainment like music or movies that they want to region-lock, but why not let me see my finances? Going through a web browser is fine but clumsy on a mobile device.
Re google play: have you paid for an app with a USD credit card/account?
When that happens it should set your account to the US and you should be able to get "most" apps in Korea. Pm and I can try and help further.
PM sent, thanks!
You don't even need a USD credit card. You just need to say that it is one (they don't verify) when you make a purchase. I did it with my Korean credit card.
Did not know this. Thanks for the info! :)
Odd, I was never able to get Google Play to use the U.S. store on my girlfriend's Korean bought Galaxy Note 3, despite using a U.S. credit card, a U.S. google account. Used VPNs, created a new google account, reset the phone, but every single time it went to the Korea Play Store. I even spoke to Google Play support, and their response was simply: "If you bought the phone in Korea, it's locked to Korea."
bullshit...
My Korean phone has my U.S. Account. I have taken it to several countries and each time I am restricted to that countries Play Store and local rules.
Well, that's just what the support told us, twice, when we contacted them about the issue. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Never tried it back in the U.S. when visiting. I wish it had been as easy as just selecting it based on billing address.
I've had my US account on my and my wife's SGS, wife's Note 2 and wife's Note Edge without any major issues. I can't speak for every app. But overall I've accessed the US play store, paid USD, and haven't had any issues.
Every now and then a single app may give me problems but it's happened maybe with 5 apps.
Interesting. Did you buy those devices in South Korea? Also, when you activated them for the first time, did you do it via WiFi with a VPN, or without it?
I'm an Apple user, so this has never been an issue, but with my fiancee's Note 3 we simply could not get the Play Store ever to switch to the U.S. store.
"Companies" understand it, but lucrative international licensing agreements push them towards these solutions, which are worth much more than your $8.
Copyright laws are the worlds biggest joke law.
Soon as they catch up to the modern worlds needs the better.