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Netflix has made good on its promise to stop users of VPN and proxy services from accessing its US version from other regions, though providers of these services are already starting to put up a fight.
The streaming service previously stated that they would “continue to respect and enforce content licensing by geographic location,” adding that “in coming weeks, those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are.” Seemingly the first VPN service to be hit by this aggressive new stance adopted by Netflix is the Melbourne-based uFlix, a popular VPN provider in Australia.
Some users utilizing the VPN service have reported that they now see the following message when trying to access US Netflix: “You seem to be using an unblocker or proxy. Please turn off any of these services and try again.” uFlix released a message addressing this issue, which reads: “Some users are starting to have issues with Netflix blocking non-Australian content when going through uFlix. Though it is only affecting a few users at the moment, we expect this number to grow. We are working on a solution to get around these new measures and apologise for the inconvenience to those who are currently only getting Australian Netflix.”
Unfortunately for Netflix, it seems that this victory was short-lived, as uFlix has now sent out a message claiming that a fix has been deployed allowing Australian Netflix users to access US Netflix once again. As reported by TechCrunch, uFlix made the update to their Twitter page, writing: “The new fix is in place. Please test it out. If anyone gets proxy/vpn error issues, please submit a ticket immediately.”
This doesn’t spell good news for Netflix, who will continue to face an uphill struggle in ridding its service of VPN and proxy server users. It’s doubtful that it will ever manage to do so in any meaningful way, but in the meantime, the company will continue giving those providing workarounds a headache.
