by Not so long ago it looked like Netflix was hardcoding DNS entries right within their Android offering to stop VPN / DNS services such as UnoTelly from letting you watch content not available in your geographical area. Now it seems they really are doubling down on this.
It turns out that Netflix’s Rumoured VPN crackdown was nonsense in the end but there was some interesting points pointing towards Australia, NZ and Japan looking like the major guilty parties in this.
A basic rundown on how to get, lets say American netflix content in the UK. Sign up to a service like UnoTelly or HideIPVPN which in turn gives you a bunch of DNS servers, selecting one of those DNS locations tells Netflix you’re originating from that country and thus serving you content from that locale.
All was good until an eagle eyed Reddit posted noticed the following changes within Netflix terms and conditions.
Article 6C
You may view a movie or TV show through the Netflix service primarily within the country in which you have established your account and only in geographic locations where we offer our service and have licensed such movie or TV show. The content that may be available to watch will vary by geographic location. Netflix will use technologies to verify your geographic location.
Article 6H
We may terminate or restrict your use of our service, without compensation or notice if you are, or if we suspect that you are (i) in violation of any of these Terms of Use or (ii) engaged in illegal or improper use of the service.
Although this is directed toward changing your location, I did confirm with a Netflix employee via their chat that VPNs in general are against their policy.
There doesn’t appear to be anything in there about using a DNS service specifically but it’s not too hard to imagine they could bundle any penalties applied to you under the same terms.
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