Geo-Blocking: How and Why Netflix Does It

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Netflix is one of the largest streaming “networks” – If I may say it that way – in the world. And with it comes many benefits such as updated content, and users can enjoy viewing their favourite TV shows and movies without ads or undesired interruptions.

However, one thing that we see with Netflix is that some of their content is restricted. Well, that’s not something a paid subscriber would like to hear. It’s discouraging to visit another country and find out that you can’t stream your favourite TV show from that location.

So, why does Netflix do it?

In this article, we are going to look at how they do it and why they do it. We’ll also show you some solutions that can help you bypass these restrictions. Let’s get right into it.

How they do it

Primarily, the term used to describe this kind of restriction is Geoblocking.

What Netflix does is that they will limit some of its content to US subscribers only. That means if you are in Canada, you may not have the ability to view the restricted content from there. However, not all shows are limited to the US only. Some shows may exclusively be available in certain regions, and so, you’ll not find them in others.

In our study, we found out that each country has a specific number of movies and TV shows allocated to them. And the US has the highest number of content. In some states, they may have as low as 150 films and TV shows combined.

So why does Netflix restrict their content?

If you are a US citizen, it could be the worst news to find out if you are in another country. But Netflix has a good reason for it.

The first reason is:

1. Licensing Agreement

Netflix, like any other video streaming services, will purchase content from other production companies, and then provide it to you. And so, since they are a “retailer” of some sort, both parties will have an agreement.

And that agreement may, or may not, limit the number of regions that Netflix will stream the content to, or not. So instead of having to go through any legal confrontations with other companies, they would instead follow the contract.

2. Business reasons

According to Netflix, some shows and movies will do well in particular regions, while in others it may not. Netflix will have to pay more to the production companies, depending on the number of areas they want the content to stream in; therefore, instead of having to pay extra money to make this content available to these areas, they will use Geoblocking.

Besides that, since some shows will make sense in specific regions and not in others, Netflix may not want a situation where they would have to release different versions to users. And that, if you didn’t know, can be a bit costly, especially for the production. 

Is Geo Blocking illegal?

Well, in the entertainment industry, it isn’t. Since the firm doesn’t want to infringe on any copyright laws or waste money trying to stream content that may not interest some of the viewers, geoblocking becomes reasonable. 

And dealing with Geo Blocking is easy

The first thing that Netflix is doing is coming up with its content. Having to pay to get content or pay to stream content to many regions might be quite expensive for them. That’s why they are investing billions of dollars into producing their content for the sole reason of reducing restrictions and expenses. Meaning, geoblocking may not be a problem in the future.

Another way to deal with dealing with this issue is this. Let’s say you are in Canada. If you notice that you can’t stream your favourite show from there, there are many ways to access American Netflix in Canada.

Nonetheless, the only problem you may have to deal with is finding the right VPN. The firm already knows that there are users that want to view the restricted content from other countries. In that case, they have a system that can detect when users use a popular VPN. So to avoid detection, research to see if you can find a VPN that’s not easy to detect. You can read reviews online when choosing the best one.

Conclusion

As you can see, Geoblocking is not something terrible. Netflix is only trying to keep you entertained and keep their profits at the same time. Plus, with a reputable VPN and DNS, you can solve this problem in an instance.