of course.

You need to look at this another way tho.

Netflix probably could somehow if they really wanted to be much stricter on their regional policies, eg. a uk account doesnt work from an american ip, but common sense probably plays a part here in that its better for someone in the uk to view us only content than that person to not be a netflix customer at all and as such generate no revenue.

The movie industry is still trying to hold on to ancient business practices such as regionalising their content but thats not consumer friendly.

Which is worse?

Paying for netflix and doing something to view content from another region (typically america as that nearly always gets favourable treatment).
Or downloading copyrighted content for free for viewing.

I know what you might say which is tough luck if they dont want to provide the content here via any official channels then I have to go without, thats not actually the original purpose of copyright, its to protect revenue streams for the creator, if the creator has no revenue stream and copyright is been enforced (simply for control) its abusing the copyright system.

Why you so bothered anyway?

Not particularly bothered, I was trying to understand if there was a "legal" reason to use VPN with Netflix - so was teasing out the answer.

In the end you can do whatever you like as long as you (and the others you are setting this up for) understand it is against the Ts&Cs of Netflix and therefore Netflix could cut you off from using their systems. They probably won't.

But, I disagree that just because they offer it in the US then the income streams are protected by you accessing it from here by paying. The copyright owners might decide in time to offer the content to Netflix UK for twice the price but if people are already accessing it then the income stream is damaged (or they could offer the content to Lovefilm UK and never to Netflix UK and therefore Lovefilm could lose UK income).

We may disagree with territorial controls on content but it is part of the way the media industry work. It may be outdated (and actually has been since region free DVD players were available). But, it is a way they manage their profit/income. Do what you will but don't justify it by saying they are getting their income anyway - they own the media and currently can choose where it is distributed - if you get it via workarounds then you are breaking that copyright.

My only wish is that people would be honest - it is against copyright and Ts&Cs. That is your choice but you can't pretend you aren't by saying they are getting their money anyway.

I don't know if it would really. It would be somewhat akin to trying to stop say, drug dealing via mobiles, by blocking all but a handful of phone numbers. There's just too much to block or whitelist to be possible.

Also, while DPI systems are pretty sophisticated at guessing traffic, they are easy to fool. The problem is no-one really cares enough to do it, because they are not usually blocked. I'm sure as soon as you start trying to block VPNs you'll have a huge incentive for people to write VPNs and proxy software that looks exactly like normal 'legit' web traffic.

"might decide" is weak, you dont get points for been undecisive.

Netflix will have already tried to get all their .us content here. there has even been quotes from their boss stating some content they cant put in the uk due to restrictive licencing.

The legality of it, I am not 100% but as far as I am aware it is illegal, to watch .us content in the uk but its not illegal in terms of the account, netflix is designed so that a uk account can watch .us content but actually in america such as when you on a trip. So if a .us account holder came to the uk they would get restricted content.

so technically speaking I am not breaching my netflix agreement, as I am accessing the american content on a american ip, however me personally since I am the one streaming from my american server to myself here in the uk (via vpn) its arguable that I am doing something illegal yes. Not sure if its clearcut tho. As of yet I have not heard about movie companies going after vpn services that commercially get sold as netflix workarounds.

This isnt the only vpn I manage, I have a few but all the others are used purely as private lan's, not remote gateways for internet data.

Edited by Chrysalis (Tue 04-Feb-14 14:50:12)

as I mentioned in the gaming section, these dns services are more than just a dns server, they route netflix traffic via a reverse proxy so its an american ip accessing the appropriate netflix servers.

When using my own resources, its easier to configure a vpn than it is to configure some kind of complex reverse proxy system.

Of course on a pc its very easy, just use a basic socks proxy.

Netflix Ts&Cs are here

6c states:

c.You may view a movie or TV show through the Netflix service only in geographic locations where we offer our service and have licensed such movie or TV show

(my bold)

6e:

e.You agree to use the Netflix service, including all features and functionalities associated therewith, in accordance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations

6h:

h.We may terminate or restrict your use of our service, without compensation or notice if you are, or if we suspect that you are (i) in violation of any of these Terms of Use or (ii) engaged in illegal or improper use of the service.

Seems pretty clear to me that you have to be in the right geographic region to access content and anything to bypass those controls may result in termination.

Again, Netflix may not care but their terms do cover this.

my netflix end point is in the right geographic location.

Just the thing http://www.gizmag.com/iridium-go-satellite-hotspot/3...

Again we have to disagree. The netflix endpoint is you and your computer. You are watching it outside of the licensed region. It maybe semantics and they won't almost certainly won't do anything but your argument would not stand up in court. The end point is the bit at the end - not the bit in the middle.