Canadian Netflix Users Will Soon No Longer Be Able to Access the U.S. Version

Netflix is one of the only constant things in a University student’s life- between dwindling GPAs and non-existent bank accounts, that is. However, if you’re a McGill student who has access to the U.S. version of the beloved streaming site, this all may be coming to an end.

The Huffington Post reports that over a third of Canadian Netflix subscribers use the U.S. version of the site, but this is set to change in the coming weeks. Netflix has been working diligently on evolving its technology to fight unblockers and proxies that allow users to access different versions of the site. Netflix is reportedly committing to block users from accessing content that is supposed to be unavailable in their countries. According to a post on their blog, Netflix has said “those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are […] we are confident this change won’t impact members not using proxies.”

On the bright side, Netflix has also said that they are working to make the same content available everywhere so there is no need for unblockers. The same blog post explains, “if all of our content were globally available, there wouldn’t be a real reason for members to use proxies or ‘unblockers’ to fool our systems into thinking they’re in a different country than they’re actually in.”

However, it’s unclear how realistic either of these goals are. Combating unblocking services and proxies is a difficult task. Earlier this week, Neil Hunt, Netflix Chief Officer, said to the Globe and Mail that there is no clear path to fighting against unblocking services. He explained, “Once [VPN providers] are on the blacklist, it’s trivial for them to move to a new IP address and evade”. In addition, achieving the licensing to provide the same content in all countries seems like an extremely daunting task- one Netflix has brushed off as almost impossible, given the strict geographical limitations that vary from country to country.

Unblocking services have become a more significant issue in recent years, as Netflix has quickly expanded into more than 190 countries. It has become harder for the company to moderate and control their services. While many have pointed out Netflix may have little incentives to prevent unblockers- as they receive subscription revenue either way- this issue makes it harder for them to respect the geographical restrictions on the licenses of certain shows and movies, which is how they are allowed to stream so many shows in the first place. 

Using unblocking services has been equated to “stealing”. Just last year, Mary Ann Turcke, Bell Media president, said that accessing U.S. Netflix from a different country is “stealing” and that we need to make it “socially unacceptable to admit to another human being that you are VPNing into U.S. Netflix”. According to the Huffington post, Canada may even pass a law prohibiting the use of unblocking services. They report, “The Trudeau government is looking at the possibility of banning VPN and proxy services outright, which would in effect make access to U.S. Netflix illegal.”

Whatever happens, it looks like Netflix and Chill for students may be undergoing some major changes in the coming year. At least you can use this as an excuse to binge-watch all those shows you’ve been meaning to watch since it looks like you might not have the chance soon. Better safe than sorry!

Images obtained from:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/netflix-original-programming-2…

http://www.theplaidzebra.com/netflix-binge-watching-is-re-wiring-our-bra…

https://annoyingrambles.wordpress.com/tag/student-life/

• illegal
• movies
• Netflix
• Streaming
• tv
• university