If you’re one of the many Aussies who likes to access the American version of Netflix via sneaky software to bypass geoblocks, your days of doing so may be numbered – the service is reportedly cracking down on Australian users in the lead-up to the local launch.
Per a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, the crackdown began over Christmas, when several providers of VPNs, used to bypass Netflix geoblocking, noticed that their IP addresses had been banned by the service.
“A few weeks ago we received the first report from a handful of clients that Netflix blocked access due to VPN or proxy usage,” said a representative of VPN provider TorGuard. “This is the first time I’ve heard Netflix displaying this type of error message to a VPN user.”
A recent update to the service’s Android app has also made it more difficult to bypass geoblocking.
It is estimated that up to 200,000 Australians currently use the American version of Netflix. The local version will launch in March, although its content and price will be different from that of the US version, and it remains to be seen whether Aussies will adopt it as readily.
Photo: Pascal Le Segretain via Getty Images
