It’s estimated there are some 200,000 Australians with virtual private networks allowing them to access to overseas streaming giants such as Netflix, but now the media company has begun blocking subscribers.
The move comes ahead of an Australian launch of Netflix in March.
TorrentFreak reports Netflix is testing a variety of blocking methods from querying the user’s time zone through the web browser or mobile device GPS and comparing it to the timezone of their IP-address, to forcing Google’s DNS services in the Android app.
“I have a sneaking suspicion that Netflix may be testing these new IP blocking methods temporarily in certain markets. At this time the blocks do not seem aggressive and may only be targeted at IP ranges that exceed too many simultaneous logins,” TorGuard’s Ben Van der Pelt says.
The changes have been requested by the movie studios who want full control over what people can access in certain territories.
Netflix is expected to confirm House of Cards to join launch titles including Bloodline and Marco Polo for Australian subscribers, but is yet to announce pricing.
