Netflix cracking down on virtual border crossers?

[G-ZUS]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/netflix-upholds-geoblocking-rules-amid-reports-of-crackdown-1.2889895

[Tik-Tok]

I was wondering what was going on. A couple of days ago I was trying to watch a film on the Netherlands Netflix, and it wouldn't play on my wdtv (with DNS altered with unblockus), but it would play on my computer (using the unblockus program).

[Sdeibert]

UB-US says there are no issues only that certain devices have the DNS hard coded on them now. (Android). Those devices need to be changed manually, per device not just on the router.

Having said that, it's sure been erratic this past week and a lot slower then normal. I'm running all iDevices, Mac mini, iPad & phone and sure have noticed a change.

I tried my laptop (asus) with a VPN and it worked perfect, a lot slower though then unblock's DNS.

[sputnik]

Netflix added hard coded DNS servers to their Roku clients (as well as others) to hopefully stop some people from using services like UnblockUS and UnoTelly.

The way around it is to black hole traffic to those DNS servers by adding a static route or firewall rule on your router/firewall.

[pheoxs]

:dunno:

Mine still works fine on:
Roku
Chromecast
AppleTV
Directly on laptop

Don't have any game consoles to test on so can't comment on those.

[nzwasp]

Mine still works fine on apple tv, however im using playmo.tv instead of unblock.us

I have only changed my dns on my apple tv. Router still using telus dns.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by pheoxs
:dunno:

Mine still works fine on:
Roku
Chromecast
AppleTV
Directly on laptop

Don't have any game consoles to test on so can't comment on those.

Are you using a VPN or DNS redirect?

What I described is only for those using the DNS method.

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by sputnik


Are you using a VPN or DNS redirect?

What I described is only for those using the DNS method.

DNS (unblockus) done through my router, not per device if that makes a difference.

I did have to blacklist google's DNS service for the chromecast, but that has been that way since it first came out. I haven't touched anything in months.

[Seth1968]

Ah yes. The movie studios are the ones crying.

Here's an idea movie studios. This latest moronic tactic is only going to hurt your profit even further. You people don't know such thing as "compromise". As such, you develop even more public disdain, and are shooting yourselves in the foot. This is the WORLD Wide Web. Get over it.

With that said, any possible sort of blocking would be temporary. It wouldn't be long before another circumvention program is introduced.

Netflix knows this, and that's why they're actually doing nothing about it.

[jsn]

^^ I was wondering why netflix would actually do anything about this. At the end of the day, they're still getting subscription fees regardless of which country's version we're using. If anything, I can see it hurting their user base if they start enforcing this.

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by jsn
^^ I was wondering why netflix would actually do anything about this. At the end of the day, they're still getting subscription fees regardless of which country's version we're using. If anything, I can see it hurting their user base if they start enforcing this.

It's the same reason a lot of download sites comply with DCMA takedown requests. They don't really care, but they do it for the sake of looking like they're making an effort to stop people.

In reality it's always easy to get around, but for appearances sake it looks like they're trying to do something about it. Netflix already has issues dealing with movie studios getting licenses and such, they don't want as little hassle as possible.

[msommers]

Is it possible to use US-Unblock with the Telus router? I tried once before and couldn't get it working properly.

[Asian_defender]

Originally posted by msommers
Is it possible to use US-Unblock with the Telus router? I tried once before and couldn't get it working properly.

Don't bother, I tried to do it at my buddies and couldn't get it to work for the life of me. Just go aftermarket

[thetransporter]

what if they stop the DNS stuff

and have the content servers block the video stream from Canadian IP ?

but and the end of the day its still Netflix..

[spike98]

Originally posted by Asian_defender


Don't bother, I tried to do it at my buddies and couldn't get it to work for the life of me. Just go aftermarket

Worked for me. But i had to flash the firmware to a non-telus firmware. It opened up the settings where you can manually assign a DNS.

[16hypen3sp]

Never been on netflix before but thinking about signing up and using my xbox one to watch. Is season 6 of Sons of Anarchy on there? I heard rumours that Canadians can't watch it.

[J.M.]

Originally posted by 16hypen3sp
Never been on netflix before but thinking about signing up and using my xbox one to watch. Is season 6 of Sons of Anarchy on there? I heard rumours that Canadians can't watch it.

Season 6 is on the American Netflix, I couldn't find it on the Canadian one.

[16hypen3sp]

Originally posted by J.M.


Season 6 is on the American Netflix, I couldn't find it on the Canadian one.

So how do I get the American Netflix?

Seems like the more and more I find out about Netflix, the more I learn that its useless.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by 16hypen3sp


So how do I get the American Netflix?

Seems like the more and more I find out about Netflix, the more I learn that its useless.

Use Chrome. Install "Hola" add-on. Log in with whatever device you want to watch it on. Can watch US, UK, Canada..whatever you want. Took me about two minutes.


http://i62.tinypic.com/2dcbvxt.png

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/netflix-upholds-geoblocking-rules-amid-reports-of-crackdown-1.2889895


Netflix: VPN crackdown claims 'false', says executive (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30726631) :dunno:


The company denied reports it had stepped up its attempts to block access via virtual private networks (VPNs).

Netflix said its existing policy against the use of VPNs to circumvent geographical content barriers remained unchanged.

But it said its service would still work via some VPNs.

"The claims that we have changed our policy on VPN are false," said Netflix's chief product officer Neil Hunt.

Speaking at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, he said: "People who are using a VPN to access our service from outside of the area will find that it still works exactly as it has always done."

He was speaking in response to widespread claims that the popular media streaming firm had begun a crackdown on customers who used VPNs at the behest of studios unhappy at their licensing arrangements being ignored.

They followed complaints by Netflix users on Reddit that their normal VPN setups were no longer working.

Netflix said it did routinely block the work-arounds using "industry standard" techniques, but there was no special effort being undertaken to block more of them than usual.:dunno:

[16hypen3sp]

Originally posted by C_Dave45


Use Chrome. Install "Hola" add-on. Log in with whatever device you want to watch it on. Can watch US, UK, Canada..whatever you want. Took me about two minutes.


http://i62.tinypic.com/2dcbvxt.png

Do I have to sign for Netflix using the normal canadian route, then use Hola?

I just tried signing up while I using Hola and I can't get around the zip code issue, nor can I use PayPal because Netflix isn't set up to accept PayPal from Canadian accounts.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by 16hypen3sp


Do I have to sign for Netflix using the normal canadian route, then use Hola?

I just tried signing up while I using Hola and I can't get around the zip code issue, nor can I use PayPal because Netflix isn't set up to accept PayPal from Canadian accounts.

Sign up for normal Canadian Netflix, then use hola to use netflix from damn near everywhere. You don't need to signup as an American.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by 16hypen3sp


Do I have to sign for Netflix using the normal canadian route, then use Hola?

I just tried signing up while I using Hola and I can't get around the zip code issue, nor can I use PayPal because Netflix isn't set up to accept PayPal from Canadian accounts.

Yes, just sign up using the normal route through Netflix.ca.
Once you have your account, then you use hola to log in with a US VPN.

I can use Netflix US, Netflix UK, Netflix CA...I just need to use the pull down menu from the Hola add-on to choose what country I'm "viewing" from.

[16hypen3sp]

Ok, got it. And I can watch it through my Xbox or just with my computer through Hola?

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by 16hypen3sp
Ok, got it. And I can watch it through my Xbox or just with my computer through Hola?

Using Hola, just your computer, if you want to watch another regions netflix through xbox (or smart TV, or wdtv, etc.) you need to subscribe to a VPN or DNS service.

[J.M.]

^^ Yup most people use Unblock-Us. It's 4.99/month or 49.90 if you pay for a full year of service.

[Seth1968]

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/386812/hola-crapping-out-netflix-/

[FixedGear]

can anyone comment on how UK and Canadian versions differ from US? I've just been using US but is it worth paying for a VPN, or is the content much the same? thanks! :thumbsup:

[lasimmon]

I think it goes USA > Uk > Canada in terms of quality from what I have heard.

[C_Dave45]

I use Hola for the PC, but it also works on my PS3 and my WDTV box. Couldn't get my tablet to connect with it though. The last few episodes of Peaky Blinders I've had some buffering issues...once or twice in each episode. Might just try the unblock us

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by FixedGear
can anyone comment on how UK and Canadian versions differ from US? I've just been using US but is it worth paying for a VPN, or is the content much the same? thanks! :thumbsup:

A lot of it's the same, but I think it's worth the $5 a month. Most of the comedies I like are on UK, but not here.

[16hypen3sp]

Ok thanks.

[FixedGear]

Dave, can you explain how to use Hola with WDTV? Isn't Hola for a browser, so how do you get WDTV to work with that? thanks.

[blairtruck]

i used unblock us for nhl network blackouts. its a plus that it worked for netflix. but basically only the kid watches netflix.

[EG_Civic]

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30726631

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by FixedGear
Dave, can you explain how to use Hola with WDTV? Isn't Hola for a browser, so how do you get WDTV to work with that? thanks.

And this is why I'm not in IT.

I watch Netflix on our big TV which is hooked up to the computer. The kids TV has the PS3 and WDTV...and for some reason I THOUGHT I was getting US content on there, but I just checked and I'm not.

I thought for sure when I first installed Hola, I originally had a PS3 on our big TV, and I was getting the US version. I was wrong. Must've been after I hooked up the PC to the TV.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by EG_Civic
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30726631

Can I call "repost"? :D

http://forums.beyond.ca/st2/netflix-cracking-down-on-virtual-border-crossers/showthread.php?s=&postid=4400154#post4400154

[FixedGear]

Thanks Dave

[K3RMiTdot]

I still use media hint - with a werid bypass.

[msommers]

Originally posted by C_Dave45


Use Chrome. Install "Hola" add-on. Log in with whatever device you want to watch it on. Can watch US, UK, Canada..whatever you want. Took me about two minutes.


http://i62.tinypic.com/2dcbvxt.png

How did you go from computer -> TV? Do you have a stand alone computer with HDMI for that? Oops didn't read far enough :D

Regarding the Telus Router, can I just buy a different router and use it or with the high speed does it have to be Telus'?

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by msommers

Regarding the Telus Router, can I just buy a different router and use it or with the high speed does it have to be Telus'?

On Shaw's I had to call and get them to turn on "Bridge-mode" before I could use my own router, I imagine it would be the same for a Telus router, unless they give you the flexibility to do it yourself.

It basically turn it from being both a modem and router, to just being a modem.

[Asian_defender]

bump
Unblock US has finally been affected. Anyone have ideas for alternatives?

[schocker]

Wonder if they will be able to get around it. Checked mine and it is blocked also, but Hulu and HBO still work as they are not actively blocking.

[pheoxs]

UnblockUS was affected a long time ago, they keep shifting addresses to get around the block. Email customer service and they should give you a new set of DNS addresses

[calgary350z]

was using unblockus but even the new dns wouldn't work so switched to a site called unlocator and the their new beta DNS worked like a charm. US Netflix in full effect again.

[taemo]

unblock-us still works for me, just make sure that before you go to netflix, you go to unblock-us and verify that your account is on and region you want access to is set to.

keeping blockless.com and unlocator as back-up in case unblock stops working but so far so good

[Seth1968]

Limiting access due to a geographical location just causes the studios to lose money. That is, if the studios don't provide us with fair priced content, then people will get it for free via Torrents, etc.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Seth1968
Limiting access due to a geographical location just causes the studios to lose money. That is, if the studios don't provide us with fair priced content, then people will get it for free via Torrents, etc.
Studios don't lose money, they've already sold the rights. It's the license holders that owns these rights for Canada, AU, etc. whom are bitching, and expecting people to stop region hopping Netflix and subscribe + watch the content locally through their archaic distribution channels, which is laughable.

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by rage2

Studios don't lose money, they've already sold the rights. It's the license holders that owns these rights for Canada, AU, etc. whom are bitching, and expecting people to stop region hopping Netflix and subscribe + watch the content locally through their archaic distribution channels, which is laughable.

Thanks for the clarification.

Why don't these license holders realize that they're just kicking themselves?

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Seth1968


Thanks for the clarification.

Why don't these license holders realize that they're just kicking themselves?

The license holders are Netflix, Hulu, Shomi (Shaw), Crave (Bell), Amazon and all of the other streaming sites around the world.

The problem is that these companies pay good money for exclusive licenses so that they can have shows that "the other guys" in their country don't have.

So if CraveTV here has Orphan Black but Netflix in the UK has it, CraveTV is going to be pissed at the owners of the Orphan Black show if Netflix is allowing Canadians to use Netflix UK through a VPN/DNS service.

[schocker]

Bell can stuff it after their CEO's comments calling people getting around geoblocking as criminals. :rofl:

I still don't understand how Hulu isn't available in other countries when it is owned by NBC/Universal, Fox and Disney/ABC :nut:

[rage2]

Originally posted by schocker
I still don't understand how Hulu isn't available in other countries when it is owned by NBC/Universal, Fox and Disney/ABC :nut:
Because most of their shows (ie Seinfeld) already sold their exclusive licenses to a Canadian company (Bell) to stream on their service (CraveTV) which means Hulu won't be able to show it. A Hulu Canada service would require Hulu to obtain Canadian licenses for shows that hasn't been picked up by others, which would end up being a watered down service with crap content and probably no profitability.

There's no fix for this, until it gets to the point where studios can sell global licenses that earns nearly as much revenue as selling regional licenses. Once we get to that point and all content becomes global, then you'll end up purchasing multiple global products (let's say Netflix, Hulu, HBO, SHOtime) in any country to get the same shows. I doubt that'll happen any time soon though.

Netflix actually talked about the change to this model in their press release talking about VPN/DNS unblockers.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[C_Dave45]

I'm still using "Hola" on my Chrome and have never had a problem with US Netflix.

[Mar]

Anyone get this working with unblock-us? I contacted them multiple times, got set up with different DNS, they changed settings on my account and I still can't watch Top Gear. I'm using a Boxee Box with my television, is there another piece of hardware which will work better with the VPN? Or should I switch to something like Amazon Prime or HBO Prime?

[taemo]

^im still using unblock-us for netflix and works great.

one thing to do if you're getting error messages is go to the unblock-us page first to verify what region you are set to, then restart the service that you're trying to access.

works great on my computers and laptops in the house when needing to jump from US to Japan to South American netflix.

[Mar]

Tonight I learned 2 things:

1. Netflix now works in Linux (when the hell did this happen?)
2. My unblock-us account is working on my computer, just not on my old Boxee Box for some reason.

Looks like I need to upgrade my media player, is anyone else using a media player they know is still working with unblock-us?

[pheoxs]

Originally posted by Hero_X


P.S. How are you going to get past the region locking for Netflix? I'd love to know as well :D

Use a different DNS redirect or VPN. It's a shell game, the popular ones are getting blocked, the lesser known ones are sliding through the cracks and working fine.

When my unblock us got blocked I switched and haven't had any issues. The downside being not many people want to post what is still working because netflix seems to be putting a fair bit of effort into tracking all the different ones down.

[Hero_X]

PM'd :D

[Hero_X]

Naw man, I got no solution. I'm hoping Pheox will share his dns service name with me :angel:

[Gman.45]

Shell game is the most accurate description I've heard regarding defeating Neflix's countermeasures for DNS/VPNs.

I subscribe to a number of VPNs right now - some servers work for various countries with some VPNs, and others for other countries.

Example - the Denver 2, Chicago 1, and San Jose 3 servers with Astrill VPN work for Netflix and Hulu right now in the USA. Germany 6 works for German Netflix with Astrill. For Sweden and Norway I'm using IPVanish's servers for those regions.

It's hit or miss, and every day Netflix seems to pick off another server - then the VPNs set up different IPs for their servers, and the game starts all over again.

Eventually Netflix is going to lock regions to subscription credit cards or stated locations, and that'll be that. I'm surprised they haven't resorted to this yet, must be some legal thing regarding traveling or something, but if I was playing for their team, it'd be the easiest way, just to state in the end user agreement that whatever country you sign up in is the one you're locked to regardless of where you travel. I hope that doesn't happen. Having a dozen + Netflix catalogues is great, there are search sites which show which shows/films are available by region, so generally you can find almost anything on one of the Netflix countries' catalogues.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Gman.45
Eventually Netflix is going to lock regions to subscription credit cards or stated locations, and that'll be that. I'm surprised they haven't resorted to this yet, must be some legal thing regarding traveling or something, but if I was playing for their team, it'd be the easiest way, just to state in the end user agreement that whatever country you sign up in is the one you're locked to regardless of where you travel.
That's how it was setup at first. US account only gets US Netflix, and no access when travelling. Due to licensing deals, they can't legally stream US licensed content to a US account holder when travelling.

[Gman.45]

I thought it was something along those lines - I'd read that before someplace. I hope they don't try and get a legal "finding" to return to how it initially was, as I said. I'm happy to play the shell game, there is always going to be some service/system that works for geo location spoofing, so long as it remains as is regarding licensing agreements/traveling legal issues.

Are you still buying US Hulu and iTunes cards Rage? I haven't set up a US Itunes account yet, but did a Hulu one, and have found many servers work just fine, and I bought a very inexpensive 6 month card off ebay, it was about 1/3 of what a monthly sub to Hulu cost, and worked just fine.

[zipdoa]

Not sure if VPN's are working again, but Windscribe does work with netflix.

They use IPv6 with their masking, which netflix hasn't caught onto (yet).

[Gman.45]

Windscribe works for Netflix, I can add a +1 to that, however none of their US servers work for Hulu, which was a deal breaker for me, for now. Great little bit of software/service, if you don't care about Hulu, you can't go wrong with Windscribe IMO.

NordVPN has quite a few international servers that work for various Netflix catalogues too, and a few US servers that work for Hulu as well.

Astrill still has the greatest number of international + Hulu effective servers, and is pretty fast still for us N.A. continent users, if I was to torrent something, I'd see 4 to 5 megbytes/sec on my Sasktel 260 gig connex, and around the same on the Shaw 250 (grandfathered connex, tee hee!), from a decent site like TorrentDay or whatever. Astrill's program is easy to use, gives you the option to set it to DNS or VPN, and pick from the servers by country, and city. VPN works for Netflix with many, it used to be all, but since the crack down, I'd say about 1/3 to 1/2 of the servers are still up or have been changed as a counter measure. Same with the DNS option/IP numbers. It may take a bit of screwing around, but eventually I can find a server in any country so far, between the VPN/DNS servers I sub to, and Astill by far right now has the most, and it's pretty cheap. I watch most of my Netflix with the Windows App, so I can get Super HD stream rates of 5800kpbs+ and can manually select 5.1 sound through my home theater PC to my TV, and Astrill servers have no trouble keeping up with 3 TVs running 3 HTPCs at once at those rates.

Lots of options out there, keep the thread alive, as I'm sure it'll be a tug of war for a while still regarding location spoofing.

[Hero_X]

nvm

Windscribe is working now. Lol not sure but it magically started working thanks!

[Asian_defender]

Unblock US has finally shit the bed
Unlocator has been caught as well

anyone using a DNS service and not a VPN service?

[taemo]

Originally posted by Asian_defender
Unblock US has finally shit the bed
Unlocator has been caught as well

anyone using a DNS service and not a VPN service?

i noticed that Unblock-US blocks only Netflix USA, however it seems like the other regions are still working (Belgium and Japan still working for me) so for now, it's not a big deal to me that USA is blocked.

trying Overplay as well but havent had to chance to try it on USA yet, will try later today.

[mix123]

Here's something interesting I didnt know until yesterday. If you're using a ROKU and setup an account with an american address through VPN and connect your paypal account to it. Hulu just charges the monthly fee to your Roku account. No need to mess around with American CC's or anything.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by mix123
Here's something interesting I didnt know until yesterday. If you're using a ROKU and setup an account with an american address through VPN and connect your paypal account to it. Hulu just charges the monthly fee to your Roku account. No need to mess around with American CC's or anything.

I've been doing that for a couple of years now. Its a great service.

[Gman.45]

Hrrm, I have a Roku3 sitting in a box unused, it might be worth pulling it out, setting up a US account, and doing that paypal/roku US account deal - I have a US address (condo in Palm Springs) which I used for the Hulu account already, this will simplify things. Thanks for that tip, didn't know that one.

[Sdeibert]

playmo.tv

DNS for Netflix, it's currently up and working. But it's the same as others, just a wack-a-mole so it can go down anytime.