Netflix crackdown: Canadians take both sides in border battle
Ending access to some popular shows provokes complaints — and a backlash
The recent Netflix crackdown on cross-border watchers has plenty of Canadians fuming. That's because they're now blocked from hopping virtual borders to watch Netflix shows restricted to other countries.
Some other Canadians are fuming too, but they have a different target. Complaints about the crackdown have sparked a backlash by people who feel the whiners got what they deserved.
"Hammer them good, Netflix," commented one reader on a CBC article about the issue. "So tired of people expecting the world for $9.99 a month."
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Yes, border hoppers broke Netflix's rules by, say, sneaking into its rich U.S. library to watch shows and movies not offered in Canada — such as the Canadian hit TV series Degrassi.
But here's the problem: for years, Netflix customers freely hopped borders with no repercussions.
Then in mid-January, the company suddenly changed its tune and started fiercely hunting down border hoppers.
So don't affected customers have a right to be upset — even if they were defying company policy? Because, for years, Netflix led border-hopping customers to believe that sneaking into other countries' libraries wasn't really a problem.
"Netflix has jilted us customers because it changed a long-standing practice," says David Ellis, who teaches communications at York University and has been a Netflix customer since the company arrived in Canada in 2010.
He also enjoyed border hopping until Netflix recently blocked his access.
'Take your [$9.99] and shut up'
Netflix states in its policy that customers have to stick to shows available in their own country. That's because Hollywood studios often insist on geographically restricted licensing agreements.
So some people believe customers now cut off from border hopping got their just deserts.
"Seriously. Take your [$9.99] and shut up," commented a CBC News reader, referring to the monthly price of membership.
"Because a show exists in the world doesn't entitle you to watch it for [$9.99] a month," echoed another.
"People are getting upset because Netflix finally cracked down on a way to cheat the system," chimed in another reader.
But that's the point — people are upset because Netflix "finally" cracked down.
A 'wink-nudge thing'
For three years, customer Myron Groover freely and easily accessed Netflix shows restricted to other countries.
Groover uses a virtual private network, or VPN, which hides his location because he wants to protect his identity online.
The VPN also enabled him to hop borders and watch TV series such as Sons of Anarchy and Bob's Burgers, available in Netflix's U.S. library but not in Canada.
Groover, who lives in Hamilton, believes Netflix purposely turned a blind eye to the fact he and many other customers were skirting company rules.
"It wasn't just laissez-faire, they were absolutely cognizant of fact that a lot of people were getting around geoblocking," he says. "It was kind of this wink-nudge thing."
That was until the crackdown. Now Groover can only access Netflix Canada, and only if he shuts off his VPN .
'Semi-sanctioned' border hopping
No, Netflix had never openly condoned hopping borders. It was more subtle than that.
According to Sony Pictures emails leaked following a recent cyberattack, company executives complained back in 2013 that Netflix wasn't doing enough to stop abusers.
One suggested the company "semi-sanctioned" border hopping, because it led to more Netflix subscribers.
"Netflix are heavily resistant to enforcing stricter financial geofiltering controls," added the executive in the email.
"Netflix can and should do a much better job," echoed another Sony official in a second memo.
Why so effective now?
In January 2015, Netflix stated publicly that detecting cross-border watchers was difficult, likening it to "playing a game of whack-a-mole."
Yet somehow with this new crackdown, the company's actions are proving quite successful. Border-hopping customers across the globe are now crying that their access has been blocked.
Could it be new technology? When CBC News asks Netflix about the crackdown, it tells us it has nothing more to say and refers us to a company blog on the issue.
The blog implies that Netflix has something new up its sleeve to detect border hoppers. "This technology continues to evolve," it states.
But the company has refused to provide details about what methods it's using and if anything has changed.
Hollywood made them do it?
To be fair, Netflix most probably had no choice when it introduced the crackdown.
Many tech experts speculate that the company's hand was forced by pressure from rights holders to stick to its territorial licensing agreements.
But perhaps the company could have handled its crackdown in a more customer-friendly way. York instructor Ellis argues Netflix should have searched for a better solution than suddenly blocking viewers' access.
"If we have to agree to this so-called set of rules, the territorial approach to making money that Hollywood has always thrived on," says Ellis, "then we have to have a discussion about a much better remedy."
In a way, Netflix agrees. It's investing more money in original programming and has stated that "licensing content across the world" is the ultimate solution.
But, until we reach this utopian state, the company says it's committed to the crackdown. And it expresses no remorse for confusing border-hopping customers who for years freely watched what they wanted.
According to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, those across the globe who enjoyed sneaking into each others' libraries are just "a very small but quite vocal minority."
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