New Zealand ISP's Anti-Geoblocking Service Makes Waves 153
angry tapir writes New Zealanders and Australians are often blocked from using cheap streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu and instead at the mercy of local content monopolies for popular shows such as Game of Thrones. However, a New Zealand ISP, Slingshot, has caused a stir by making a previously opt-in service called 'Global Mode' a default for its customers. The new service means that people in NZ don't need to bother with VPNs or setting up proxies if they want to sign up to Netflix — they can just visit the site. The service has also caused a stir in Australia where the high price for digital goods, such as movies from the iTunes store, is a constant source of irritation for consumers.
Great! (Score:3, Interesting)
But how well will this work when IPv6 becomes ubiquitous?
Don't they feel special.. (Score:3, Interesting)
It's not a Geo-block designed to prevent Australians and New Zealanders from accessing the content, it's a whitelist designed to allow only US residents. The pricing in various other countries also varies greatly.
There is no valid argument as to why New Zealanders are paying much more for the same content as others in the world. We shouldnÃ(TM)t tolerate it.
The reason they have to pay more is that the producers think they can extract more money that way. One way to counteract that is to stop buying their wares.
South Africa (Score:3, Interesting)
South Africa needs this from an ISP.
We get raped on fee's, and other charges that *literally* don't exist anywhere else.