If you are one of those who is using a Proxy or unblocker to gain access to all the movie and TV seriesĀ titles available (even ones that are not accessible in your geography) on Netflix, you are in for a disappointment. Netflix is now getting strict and wants to restrict access to such users.
In an official blog post, David Fullagar, Vice President of Content Delivery Architecture at Netflix said that they now are getting better at detecting proxies and unblockers and very soon these users will not have access to all the content which is not allowed in their geography.
While he has not mentioned any exact timeline, he has said, this change will happen over next few weeks.
Why Users use Proxy on Netflix
So, if you are not aware of what a proxy or an unblocker is, you donāt have to worry. But if you want to know what it is ā here is a simple explanation.
When you are accessing any server (in this case Netflix) that has content limitations for certain geographies, with use of proxy, the user can mimic to be from a different country and thereby gain access even to the content, which is not allowed.
For example, when Netflix launched in India last week, only about 10 percent content was allowed for Indian users compared to what American users can see on Netflix. This happens because of licensing restrictions put forth by production houses. So, for example, if a TV channel has an exclusive right for India to show a particular movie, Netflix cannot show the same on their platform to Indian users due to Licensing restrictions. But the same content can be seen in the US or other countries as Netflix has the license to showcase it.
In the blog post, Fullagar said that while they would want to show all their content in every geography, it is not possible due to these restrictions.
Can Netflix restrict?
The blog post clearly states that proxy and unblocker users will not be able to see content, however only time will tell as to how effective that is!
There is no perfect way to detect a proxy. And even if Netflix does, these proxy users will find new ways to bypass their checks and firewalls.
Lot of online companies across the world have tried to detect proxy users and restrict them, but most of them have had only limited success.
Once this change is implemented, we will see how effective it really is.
What do you think? Will Netflix be able to restrict access to content for proxy users?
