Netflix wants to terminate VPN users
April 8, 2015
Netflix is clamping down on users accessing the service through a VPN (virtual private networks), with its updated terms of service threatening to “terminate or restrict your use of our service, without compensation or notice”.
VPNs are used for a variety of reasons, but, with regards to Netflix, usually to combat limited download speeds and access content restricted to other territories.
The new, key clauses read:
Article 6C
You may view a movie or TV show through the Netflix service primarily within the country in which you have established your account and only in geographic locations where we offer our service and have licensed such movie or TV show. The content that may be available to watch will vary by geographic location. Netflix will use technologies to verify your geographic location.
Article 6H
We may terminate or restrict your use of our service, without compensation or notice if you are, or if we suspect that you are (i) in violation of any of these Terms of Use or (ii) engaged in illegal or improper use of the service.
“Virtually crossing borders to use Netflix is a violation of our terms of use because of content licensing restrictions,” a Netflix spokesperson said. “We employ industry standard measures to prevent this kind of use. We have not recently made any changes to these measures or to our terms of use. By way of background, what we do is nothing different than what traditional TV networks do to prevent, for example, someone from outside the US from watching the Olympics on NBC.com. … We are working to become a global Internet TV network and, as part of that, will have more global rights to series, features, docs, comedy specials etc, this should make this whole issue moot overtime.”