Netflix users often make use of VPN services to watch shows that are not available in their own country. A person who has subscribed to Netflix’s services in his local market but makes use of a VPN service to access content from some other country is guilty of violating the company’s rules and may be considered a pirate.
Does Netflix want to block VPN?
It is possible that such users do not make use of torrent services to download some illegal content, but despite that, they are “criminals” as per Netflix’s rules. A few weeks ago, the video streaming giant decided to take action against VPN offenders, but it seems this battle can’t be won. Or it can be said that Netflix may not even intend to win this war.
Netflix needs (or is forced) to play a part in dealing with the problem. The company is required to show its content partners that it is making efforts to crack down on VPN use. So far, VPN users have just received warnings from the video streaming company, but VPN providers have made moves to make it impossible for Netflix to detect VPN traffic.
VPN usage is hard to control
A few days ago, Forbes pointed out that many VPN providers are working on ways to stop the streaming firm from thwarting VPN users, and some have already found out how to do this. For example, uFlix, an Australian VPN company, has found a fix for the problem. A recent report in The Sydney Morning Herald stated that uFlix is among a few companies that break Netflix’s ban on VPNs.
Netflix will be able to thwart VPN usage only if it is able to detect it, and if users make use of a private VPN IP address rather than a public one, detection can be avoided. TorGurad and PureVPN offer such features. Furthermore, TorGurad has the ability to switch to new IP addresses constantly to stay ahead of Netflix.vIn Australia, circumventing these blocks is legal.
A consumer group said, “We know that Netflix is successful in Australia because of its US content. It took advantage of that to build an Australian subscriber base of 340,000 people before launching here officially. It’s unfair of Netflix to be baiting and switching consumers like this.”
