This move comes right after Netflix extended their presence in 130 countries and we had just discovered a tool called Smartflix which helped bypass the country restrictions. David Fullagar, Netflix’s VP of content delivery, has said, “In coming weeks, those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country they currently are” He further added that these changes would not affect folks not using any sort of proxies and playing it by the book. Commenting on the difference in the content catalog, Fullagar said, “We have a way to go before we can offer people the same films and TV series everywhere.” Netflix says that it is en route getting the same content everywhere globally, but it seems it would take some time. This issue has many things to do with the licensed films and TV shows which cannot be served globally. In the meanwhile, Fullagar requested the patrons to stick to the content delivered in their country and refrain from trying to bypass it. The company could very well block the IP addresses used by the VPNs and proxy services somewhat similar to what happened for TOR users recently. Now coming to the Indian context, although this move is rational for the company, it still doesn’t make sense for the users. The diluted content on Netflix simply doesn’t justify the charges one needs to pay for it, and in all likelihood, folks would finish watching most of the TV shows in a month or so. The best cure for this problem will only come in the form of new content or at least an increase of focus on regional content.
