Breathe easy if you’re one of the estimated 200,000-300,000 Aussies using a VPN tunnelling service to access the beefier Netflix subscriptions found in the US- the online streaming platform has a tactic for dealing with you: nothing.
Netflix is officially launching Down Under in March next year, but many Australians would most likely prefer to keep their current US subscriptions rather than sign on for the watered-down version launching in Australia.
Lifehacker.com.au pressed Netflix’s director of corporate communications and technology, Cliff Edwards, on the subject of geo-block beating Australians currently subscribing to US content. It turns out the company frowns on such users, but won’t force them, or even track them, into purchasing Netflix Australia subscriptions.
“With VPNs, it’s very hard to track someone down,” Edwards said. “We say very clearly that VPNs violate the terms of our service, and we believe that people who license content should get paid for it. If we had content that someone was VPN-ing in and viewing and we were not getting paid for it, we’d be very upset too. At the end of the day, that’s all we can say about that.”
“We do try to track down [VPN] folks, but it’s a game of whack-a-mole: no company can track them all down,” he added. “The biggest thing when people are VPN-ing into the US is using 90210 as a postcode and a lot of people do use American Express cards which don’t necessarily have to have an Australian address attached to them.”
Industry analyst Steve Allen from Fusion Strategy explained in an interview with the ABC Netflix’s difficulty launching in international markets and why US accounts may remain the more attractive option for Australians.
“Some of the key programs that really have got Netflix the reputation that is has got aren’t available to them at launch (in Australia) because they are contracted to others,” he said, referring to shows such as House Of Cards, shown in Australian on Foxtel.
“In fact, a good deal of their inventory that they carry in the States and in other territories in the world are contracted elsewhere in this country.
“It is going to take two or three years before they get a full inventory. Certainly what they’ve announced for launch in programming doesn’t seem awe-inspiring.”
Netflix will launch in Australia in March with subscriptions estimated to range between $10-15 per month.
