Netflix Intensifies 'VPN Ban' and Targets Residential IP-Addresses Too (torrentfreak.com) 119
Netflix has stepped up its efforts to ban VPN and proxy users from bypassing geographical restrictions. The streaming service is now blocking residential IP addresses too, since some unblocking tools use these to bypass restrictions. This isn't without collateral damage as many regular Internet users without a VPN now report "missing content" on Netflix. TorrentFreak reports: There is a flurry of complaints on social media from users whose VPN services were suddenly 'blocked' by Netflix. Previously, these people couldn't play any content while using a VPN. That changed last year. Now, VPN users can still see Netflix originals while other content is hidden and blocked. https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-is-less-annoying-to-vpn-users-now-but-some-titles-are-hidden-200618/
Netflix doesn't explain which IP addresses are blocked and why, but the most recent efforts are much broader than before. This issue was brought to our attention by WeVPN, which noticed that the updated geo-fencing system is blocking its residential IP addresses. These IP addresses are assigned to common consumer ISPs such as AT&T, Comcast, Verizon. While it makes sense for Netflix to put an end to these workarounds, there appears to be some collateral damage. "The collateral damage is that you have hundreds of thousands of legitimate residential Netflix subscribers blocked from accessing Netflix's local country full catalog from their home," a WeVPN spokesperson informs us. While we are unable to verify how many people are facing issues, it is clear that the measures are spilling over to regular subscribers.
While Netflix hasn't released an official comment on the situation, the company is aware of the problems. One user who complained on Twitter, got the advice to contact their ISP to see if their IP address is associated with proxy or VPN use. This is a peculiar suggestion, as the blocking is taking place on Netflix's end. WeVPN told us that the company is experimenting with a solution, which appears to function for now. CyberGhost and Private Internet Access, which were also affected by Netflix's new blockades, say they managed to route around it within a day. In an update, a Netflix spokesperson said that the company is not banning all content for VPN and proxy services. Netflix originals are still available and the streaming service is working with people who were inadvertently affected to restore access to the full library.
Netflix doesn't explain which IP addresses are blocked and why, but the most recent efforts are much broader than before. This issue was brought to our attention by WeVPN, which noticed that the updated geo-fencing system is blocking its residential IP addresses. These IP addresses are assigned to common consumer ISPs such as AT&T, Comcast, Verizon. While it makes sense for Netflix to put an end to these workarounds, there appears to be some collateral damage. "The collateral damage is that you have hundreds of thousands of legitimate residential Netflix subscribers blocked from accessing Netflix's local country full catalog from their home," a WeVPN spokesperson informs us. While we are unable to verify how many people are facing issues, it is clear that the measures are spilling over to regular subscribers.
While Netflix hasn't released an official comment on the situation, the company is aware of the problems. One user who complained on Twitter, got the advice to contact their ISP to see if their IP address is associated with proxy or VPN use. This is a peculiar suggestion, as the blocking is taking place on Netflix's end. WeVPN told us that the company is experimenting with a solution, which appears to function for now. CyberGhost and Private Internet Access, which were also affected by Netflix's new blockades, say they managed to route around it within a day. In an update, a Netflix spokesperson said that the company is not banning all content for VPN and proxy services. Netflix originals are still available and the streaming service is working with people who were inadvertently affected to restore access to the full library.
Well (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well (Score:5, Insightful)
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They could've done that in the early days, easily, but now everyone and his dog wants a piece of the digital pie.
Re: Well (Score:5, Insightful)
It'd be interesting to know if that ever came up? I can understand the limits as TV shows would have been distributed to broadcasters in each country, no doubt with broadcasters wanting exclusivity for their country. Having Netflix as a competitor could have been a sticking point.
Star Trek: Discovery is an example. CBS, for some reason, thought it'd be a draw to CBS All Access thus they gave Netflix rights only outside of CBS All Access countries.
Regardless, now with everybody wanting a streaming service Netflix has lost the power to strong arm global deals. I imagine the best they'd get would be old shows and the rare content from smaller studios that don't have streaming ambitions.
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It isn't convenient enough. This is why though I set up my own VPN server at my home. Why Netflix doesn't tell its content licensors that it demands a world-wide unrestricted right to distribute or pound sand is beyond me.
How well do you think a documentary on pig farming to fuel Bubba's Bacon eating contest, is going to be accepted in Muslim countries?
Or an expose on cow-riddled CAFOs in Hindu countries?
Think PETA would accept the Vietnamese version of Ugly Delicious, starring their favorite flavors of canine stew?
Love how you license quarterbacks simply see this as a simple field goal for the extra point, especially in our hyper-sensitive woke society where Being Offended is a job title.
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Here's a novel idea: If you don't want to watch a show, don't watch it.
Yes, it works. Believe me. I tried it.
Re:Well (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's a novel idea: If you don't want to watch a show, don't watch it.
Yes, it works. Believe me. I tried it.
These days, it's frequently petitioned to cancel things one don't like rather than just don't watch it yourself.
Re:Well (Score:5, Insightful)
These days? The religious have been doing this for ages.
It's just a different kind of religion these days.
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These days? The religious have been doing this for ages.
It's just a different kind of religion these days.
There has been less of that here in Norway - but who can forget Monty Python's "Life of Brian" - So funny it was banned in Norway [wikipedia.org]. These days, the only religion which isn't made fun of is Islam as the reactions can be too violent.
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If your imaginary buddy needs the aid of some mortal bozo to do his dirty work, he can't be that great.
A real god could smite me himself if he so pleases.
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Amen.
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Like all the people who demanded the FCC take SNL off the air because they made fun of Trump? Including Trump himself who wanted the DOJ to investigate the show over it. Sadly, that's not even a joke. All the anti-SJW/cancel culture types were demanding a show be canceled because they said something they didn't like.
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Here's a novel idea: If you don't want to watch a show, don't watch it.
Yes, it works. Believe me. I tried it.
Here's a novel idea for the Woke generation of professional Attention Whores.
If you're not actually a victim, don't pretend to be one and label that shit some kind of profession.
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But then how would people like Trump, DeSantis, MTG, Gaetz, Jordan, Carlson and friends convince stupid people to give them money if they can't claim that they're somehow a victim of the "woke liberals" -- BTW, only Fox News and media outlets to the right of it use the term "woke" and using it just makes you sound like the middle aged guy trying to sound "hip" or "cool" by copying (incorrectly) the slang of their teenage kids -- and not their own stupidity, so that people will donate money to their campaign
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But then how would people like Trump, DeSantis, MTG, Gaetz, Jordan, Carlson and friends convince stupid people to give them money if they can't claim that they're somehow a victim of the "woke liberals" -- BTW, only Fox News and media outlets to the right of it use the term "woke" and using it just makes you sound like the middle aged guy trying to sound "hip" or "cool" by copying (incorrectly) the slang of their teenage kids -- and not their own stupidity, so that people will donate money to their campaigns or watch their TV show?
Those that are racists, don't actually call themselves "racists".
Those that are fascists, don't actually call themselves "fascists".
Those that are woke, don't actually call themselves "woke".
And no matter how you try and twist and turn this around, Get Woke, Go Broke has been ringing true one too many times to purport it's some kind of right-wing attack. Go watch the woke MSM for proof. That sinking ship sure as hell needs your viewership.
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I don't care about the wishes of delusional megalomaniacs.
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I don't care about the wishes of delusional megalomaniacs.
Sure as hell hope you don't live in America then.
Good luck with those "leaders".
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Nah, I prefer to live in a democracy.
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I don't care about the wishes of delusional megalomaniacs.
Sure as hell hope you don't live in America then.
Good luck with those "leaders".
You have made progress, at least. But I'm worried about any society where even suggesting electing e.g. Trump, DeSantis, Taylor Greene or Cruz isn't just a joke which everyone laughs at, but noone would consider doing.
Re: Well (Score:5, Insightful)
That's not licensing though. They could license it for the world and then decide which countries to show it. With licensing though, they have no choice.
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Are any of those examples real shows?
Re: Well (Score:2)
PETA won't be satisfied until there are zero animals in any form of captivity or domestication, including banning pets, and hunting and eating meat for any reason is completely banned, across the entire world. Thus, I wouldn't really worry about whether they approve of anything, because unless it involves tofu, they probably won't approve of it.
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It isn't convenient enough. This is why though I set up my own VPN server at my home. Why Netflix doesn't tell its content licensors that it demands a world-wide unrestricted right to distribute or pound sand is beyond me.
Because for the content they don't own, they'd frequently just get "No". It's not like Netflix is the only streaming service in town either.
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I dunno - there are plenty of tools out there which downloads content as soon as it's available. Sonarr for example.
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Wait what? How does having your own VPN server help in any way? If you have a VPN at home it's just the same as using your home network.
Re: Well (Score:3)
The only use I can see is from being able to route through it when travelling.
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This is exactly what I was going to say. If he used a VPS somewhere in a geographic location that provided the desirable results he could easily get around it by running a VPN there, but a home VPS does not do what he thinks it does. I actually do have a home VPS, but that's just so I can access my file server when I'm away from home.
For what it's worth, a basic VPS probably costs about as much (or less) than one of those VPN services. If someone is willing to go out of there way to pay for a VPN service to
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*their
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Netflix don't have the leverage to tell the content owners anything. Otherwise they'll just do a deal with Hulu or whatever
Re: Well (Score:2, Interesting)
Because in many jurisdictions that is illegal.
European countries require you actually negotiate with them, as there are multiple rights agencies involved, you can't just walk in declare a dollar value.
(And yes, due to the European Union you don't have to negotiate with each individually, but you do have to negotiate fairly.)
Welcome to the real world.
Re:Well (Score:4, Interesting)
Netflix is in a lot of trouble right now. Mostly due to every studio having their own Streaming Service. Disney, Paramount, NBC, HBO... The key to Netflix isn't the Netflix originals, but the general broad selection of shows and products. In order to have Studios allow Netflix to broadcast, they need to Kiss up to the studios and show their value to the studio more than the value to the viewer. So Netflix will be tough on VPN for pretending to be in a different country, piracy, and DRM. Not because it is good for us the viewer, but because they are putting in a lot of work, to show the studio they are better off going with Netflix than bothering trying to make your own streaming service, and having to rebuild all this technology again.
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Because that would cost a lot more, and then they would have less money to spend on shows?
Easy example, Star Trek Discovery Season 1 was in part paid for by Netflix so they could show it. But the main reason it was made was to promote CBS/Paramounts streaming service. So they agreed "Ok Netflix can show it in every country except the US, but it will only be on CBS All Access in the US (which wasn't setup for non-US countries anyways).
CBS wouldn't have agreed to it at all if Netflix was able to show it in
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> Why Netflix doesn't tell its content licensors that it demands a world-wide unrestricted right to distribute or pound sand is beyond me.
Greed (of the content licensors.)
Specifically, artificial price gouging by region aka gating of content. Same reason DVDs and Blu-Rays have bullshit regions codes and locks.
It is utterly stupid in this day and age. I'm OK with want to PAY to access content in other regions and Netflix won't sell it -- due to licensing.
Could Netflix tell content licensors that it wan
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The matter of who owns the rights to what can get very complicated very quickly.
I'm reminded of an example involving the excellent James Bond spy-spoof game No One Lives Forever or NOLF. There was interest in making another entry into the series, but the main studio behind the game went under and their assets were sold at a bankruptcy auction. Since then, several of the companies that bought some of the rights to that game have either gone out of business or sold those rights to someone else, rinse and repe
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Because Netflix has very little power in this regard. Hollywood has the power and tney demand that you not see certain contant in certain places or before certain dates, or other arbitrary restrictions. And if they would crush Netflix if they could find a reasonable excuse to do so that doesn't make them look evil. The owners of content are providing less and less content to Netflix every year.
I suspect that all these VPN work arounds are being leaked by Netflix anyway.
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Teh hooker and blow party (Score:2)
is still going on strong on this pirateship.
Best way to push people back to torrents (Score:2)
But I always wonder how those rips are created and why people upload them.
Re: Best way to push people back to torrents (Score:3)
Well, obviously someone is paying for Netflix, and can access their content, too :-)
It's not like it's terribly difficult to decode, either. Google "widevine crack" and there are hints (...I'm just not motivated enough to spend the nights doing this while I'm already spending the days earning enough to pay for Netflix; which is still on the brink of "kinda worth it" at least for now; besides, somebody else is already doing the cracking).
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You want to say that the main game in consoles isn't to figure out how to mod them, then throw them away when you found out how to do it because you've finished the game?
Re: Best way to push people back to torrents (Score:2)
Sorry,can't follow you... I was talking about movies on Netflix (?) here.
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The game is the same. There is a puzzle presented by the ones locking content away from you, and the game is to solve that puzzle and unlock the content.
Replace content with console... hey, I can only write about stuff I know, ya know...
Re: Best way to push people back to torrents (Score:4, Insightful)
Ah, I understand.
In that regard I'm not the gamer, more the consumer (i.e. I enjoy the movie / playstation, not the the cracking). That's another, silent, reason why I'd rather wait for someone to crack, and only do it myself if I absolutely must. (I am a fairly good dev, but cracking digital goods was never my thing, so I still need weeks for what a fairly experienced person does in days or even hours; just like someone who's never programmed SysV mailboxes needs few hours instead of seconds first time they do it...).
Having leached what my 56k modem could provide, and the some, in my teenage years, I'm ok with paying for content nowadays, if it's just to give my fair share in return. For example I've paid 2x for MS Flight Sim because the Steam version works with Linux a lot easier that the DVD version... I can afford it.
But I also have my (fairly low) limits as to how much I will jump through artificial hoops just in order to part woth my money.
For example I will not be suckered into any of the streaming wars, which is why as long as I have Netflix, everything else (Disney/Mandalorian?) will be obtained via "other" means if it's not on Netflix. And I'm also not going to be treated like a potential thief if I'm a paying customer, which, among crippling resolution for Linux playback and breaking frequently with Firefox, Netflix is just one "WTF?!" away from being ditched and also replaced by "other" means.
Re:Best way to push people back to torrents (Score:5, Interesting)
There are special tools that can rip Netflix streams, complete with bookmarks, alternate audio streams and subtitles.
People upload them because they are part of the piracy scene, where groups compete to release torrents for the kudos.
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> People upload them ... for the kudos.
More likely Russian hackers trying to cause trouble.
Russian hackers? Give me a fucking break. A child would be embarrassed to admit that as a "hack". A 12-year old can be taught in 5 minutes how to rip media spit out of a Redbox.
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It could be a Russian child!
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It could be a Russian child!
OK, fair point there. Doesn't take much more than that to embarrass the average US corporation who puts profits over security pretty much every time.
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But I always wonder how those rips are created and why people upload them.
Because people are entitled to steal whatever they want. That's the mindset.
Now I'll sit back and watch the excuses pour in.
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There is always the analog hole. Despite how secure you make the data and encrypt HDMI or the TCP/IP connections. There is going to be some wires (or connections that you can tap into) that will need to decode the data for the display to properly show. You then can just capture that data that was intended to go to the TV or display, and the content that was intended to go to the speakers, and you have a really good copy.
The Analog hole may not be as perfect as the original, but it can be really good. The
You can still watch Netflix Originals? (Score:4, Interesting)
How generous of them to offer up their crappiest content... at full price.
Netflix Originals... the reason Netflix tossed their amazing match and ratings predictions algorithms into the crapper.
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Why do I have to think "store brand" whenever I hear "Netflix Original"?
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You can say that about basically every cable TV series.
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How generous of them to offer up their crappiest content... at full price.
Netflix Originals... the reason Netflix tossed their amazing match and ratings predictions algorithms into the crapper.
There are plenty of good Netflix Original content. When it comes to fresh content, they're second only to HBO in quality IMHO. Sure, there is a lot of crap, but just avoid that. And, like in many spaces, one man's crap is another man's gold. E.g. there are lot of people who like things like true crime and reality shows, while I think the result is just the destruction of Discovery Channel and MTV
Re: You can still watch Netflix Originals? (Score:2)
Yeah, it's not all bad. The Witcher, 'diversity' casting aside was pretty solid. I get the feeling we're headed back to the sand coat as cable when people have multiple services for the shows that are spread across them.
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Yeah, it's not all bad. The Witcher, 'diversity' casting aside was pretty solid. I get the feeling we're headed back to the sand coat as cable when people have multiple services for the shows that are spread across them.
I thought the Witcher was very good, and had no issues with any so called "diversity casting". I'm more worried about the wheel of time in that regard.... e.g. to take the initial village of Two Rivers. Other than the main character - who is an outsider - the rest shouldn't be diverse at all. "Inbred", maybe, but not diverse. Diversity would fit much better in the different parts of the world, or at least in the capital - but not in the little village where if one outsider arrived, a couple of generations
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How generous of them to offer up their crappiest content... at full price.
They seem to have no more or less crappyness than any other publisher. Heck some of their series are incredibly highly rated and a breath of fresh air in somewhat stale garbage that the traditional networks have been shitting out.
And that should be no surprise to you since they higher the same writers / actors / directors as the rest of Hollywood or the cable world.
The only thing Netflix Original means is where the money came from.
why dont they just ... (Score:2)
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People move, people work abroad. Netflix should, as another commenter put it, tell them it's a worldwide right and anyone who doesn't like it should pound sand.
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Re:why dont they just ... (Score:5, Interesting)
People move, people work abroad. Netflix should, as another commenter put it, tell them it's a worldwide right and anyone who doesn't like it should pound sand.
Easy: If you work abroad - or for that matter, if you are on hooliday - you can access the same content as at home - but not the "local" content. Changing an address because of a relocation should obviously be possible.
FWIW, Europe (EU) has legislation disallowing removing access to paid content just because you are in a different EEA country - making geoblocking within the EEA illegal.
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making geoblocking within the EEA illegal.
No. It makes the geoblocking by *network location* rather than by *account address( illegal. Geoblocking is very much a real thing in the EEA.
This law actually annoys me a bit. I actually enjoyed driving across a border and having access to all the new local content. Now I no longer do, but on the upshot I don't loose access to a series I'm in the middle of watching. But it doesn't mean I have access to any shows from Germany or France or the other 27 EEA countries in which I don't live.
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GDPR.
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Yea, but you need a person with enough time and money to actually take them to court. Since when do internet based companies just comply with regulations?
They do comply - e.g. the services I use used to be promatic to use if I was travelling for work or to a vacation home abroad. These days, they all work just fine.
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Yea, but you need a person with enough time and money to actually take them to court.
No you don't. This isn't America. We don't need to rely on people taking actions. We just file complaints with regulators and they take action on our behalf.
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The smarter way. Netflix sets up global accounts, and distributes it through a VPN they partner with. The VPN takes it overseas and netflix only delivers to them and you have a global account, no restrictions, you pay an extra over say a dollar for the specificVPN netflix partners with. So Netflix did not do it and neither did the VPN, the VPN only acted as a proxy for their clients no location requirement for them, they did nothing.
Re: why dont they just ... (Score:2)
I wish they would go that. Before I cancelled Netflix over Cuties I would often travel for work. It was annoying, given dull nights in a hotel room, to launch Netflix and find the show I was watching isn't available in my location. At least iTunes allowed me to play the films I bought.
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Re: why dont they just ... (Score:3)
No, I didn't watch it. I saw enough from clips and the publicity material. Like Goatse, there are enough corroborated descriptions of the content to not have to sit through it.
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Re: why dont they just ... (Score:3)
That's certainly a better experience for the user. No method is foolproof. We know that virtual cards and phone numbers are a thing, but then so is VPN. At least by tying it to billing information, perhaps requiring an SMS verification, users would see their content even if they cross borders. It's not uncommon in Europe to move between countries.
Why stay in the stone age? (Score:5, Insightful)
Geographic restrictions (with few exceptions) are signs of a business model stuck in the stone age. Why should they exist at all? If I want to listen to a stream, read an article, or download a movie - as long as I pay for the privilege (in money, or advertising, or whatever), why should this not work?
In the case of TFA: If I have a Netflix subscription, why should I not be able to watch any Netflix content I want? Why should that content be geographically restricted?
Re:Why stay in the stone age? (Score:4, Insightful)
Geographic restrictions (with few exceptions) are signs of a business model stuck in the stone age. Why should they exist at all? If I want to listen to a stream, read an article, or download a movie - as long as I pay for the privilege (in money, or advertising, or whatever), why should this not work?
In the case of TFA: If I have a Netflix subscription, why should I not be able to watch any Netflix content I want? Why should that content be geographically restricted?
Because Netflix is only allowed to stream some of the content in specific regions, by the contracts they have with the content rights owners. There are a multiltude of reasons for this - some commercial, some historical partnerships, and sometimes even really understandable ones as "BBC produced this, and we will obviously keep the streaming rights for ourselves in our home markets".
Re:Why stay in the stone age? (Score:5, Informative)
In some cases the original producers only have the rights to things they are using in the show in certain areas (for example the TV show Vegas used an Elvis Presley song for the US release and a different cheaper-to-license song for international releases) so even if the original studio wanted to license the show for worldwide distribution they can't.
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Because the content creators will make a deal with Netflix to show a particular program in only certain countries.
For example, Paramount may allow Netflix to show their movies in North American and Western Europe and Africa, but not allow them to show the same movies in South America or Asia. In South America, Paramount may already have a (more lucrative) deal in place with a TV network that gives them exclusivity for all Paramount movies in the region. In Asia, Paramount may have a different deal with ot
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The content is geographically restricted because of licensing restrictions. Complain to the studios that create the content, not the broadcasters, if you want to see this actually change.
People can scream at Netflix as much as they want about how much they want to access content globally, but there is nothing really that Netflix can legally do when they when the studios aren't licensing them content for global distribution in the first place.
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Re: Why stay in the stone age? (Score:2)
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Whether or not "overinflated ego" and cocaine have anything to do with it, they're contracts. Netflix is a serious corporation, and can't afford to be seen to break its contracts.
So much... (Score:1)
I do notice I've been watching Peacock (Score:2)
a whole lot more recently. (Battlestar Galactica)
For free.
I am considering adding another paid service once SportsBall season starts.
Still cheaper than cable though.
You stop delivering, I stop paying (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:You stop delivering, I stop paying (Score:4, Funny)
No, a company that carries a large portion of the internet traffic and has extensive contracts with parties at all levels of the internet's infrastructure has no idea about networks. Quick you better tell them!
Do you know what a rhetorical question is? (Score:3)
Sounds like Netflix chose the simple option... (Score:5, Insightful)
... of counting the number of different accounts that logged in from a particular IP in some time period. Problem is a number of ISPs your IP address changes frequently as they are dynamically allocated and for others they don't have sufficient addresses and have subscribers behind a NAT firewall or some other web proxy that makes it look like they come from the same IP address.
Funny how I get all the Netflix shows (Score:5, Insightful)
And Amazon, and all the others for $100 / yr using pirate OTT providers.
It's like software in the good old days when software vendors used special diskettes with a burnt out sector that trashed your drive, unreadable manuals printed in dark black against dark red to prevent photocopying, dongles that stole one of your serial or parallel ports... If you were honest, you paid to be annoyed. Those who used the pirated software didn't have those limitations.
Similarly, those who watch pirated shows aren't subjected to Netflix' whim-du-jour.
Re: Funny how I get all the Netflix shows (Score:2)
I see two different things here, one is you could pay for the software but use a modified version that didn't ask for the seventeenth word on page eleven of the user manual to install. Even if you couldn't modify it yourself and had to use a copy from someone else, and that definitely violated the copyright (the other guy did at least), I'm on your side there.
Then there's not paying for something but using it anyway, and how exactly does it having copy protection or not justify that?
If you're using Netflix
Stalled subscriber growth (Score:3)
You'd think that they'd find a way to work with their content providers to be more flexible given their stalled subscriber growth. There are other streaming providers to choose from, though they may be doing annoying filtering at the behest of content owners as well.
**shrug**
You can always vote with your feet.
Small Claims Court and similar. (Score:4, Insightful)
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The American solution. Shoot it, or Sue it. It's not conceivable that this is a temporary issue that will be resolved quickly. Nah gotta run right in with your guns and injunctions ablazin. 'MURIKA
Re: Small Claims Court and similar. (Score:2)
Organized crime is organized crime. (Score:2)
They're robbing money from people, using the works of badly paid creative people, two crimes made law (monopolism and artificial scarcity), and a lie that literally contradicts causality (that one could "own" information), ... so they can make others work once, but rake in free money forever ... and have the audacity to call those that they can't rob from "thieves"...
It's organized crime. nothing else.
So what did you expect?
Pay those creative people directly. Don't subscribe to Netflix. BE your own Netflix.
I'm just about done with Netflix (Score:2)
Why doesn't netflix... (Score:2)