Geo-blocking (also known sometimes as region locking) is another popular method by which content creators can protect their intellectual property. This form of intellectual property protection is seen primarily with physical media such as DVDs and Blu-Rays which are designed to only play on dvd players from specific regions. With the recent expansion of online media such as Netflix and Hulu, geo-blocking is becoming more and more prevalent on the world wide web.
Geo-blocking isn’t prevalently used in the music industry to protect intellectual property. It may be enforced in online streaming services such as Pandora and the upcoming iTunes streaming service, but these services simply require a billing adress and valid bank card from the area where the service is offered. This isn’t geo-blocking in the traditional use of the phrase, but it can be interpreted as a loose form of it.
The main crux of this blogpost is to do with a a recent incident in New-Zealand which caught my interest. The ISP Slingshot, is allowing their customers to bypass the geo-blocking used by content creators. Bypassing geo-blocking is not a new phenomenon, there are various method by which an internet user could bypass geo-blocks if they wish to do so. Whats interesting about this however is the fact that the ISP is promoting the feature as part of their service (calling it “world mode”) and seemingly encouraging their users to bypass a method put up for the purpose of protecting intellectual property.
Bypassing geo-block isn’t exactly illegal, but can be a violation of the terms of services. This can result in accounts being banned without a refunned being issued. In a couple years time, will we see other ISPs trying to intice customers to use their service by promoting access to music and movies from a “free” source? Probably not- theres a huge difference between bypassing geo-blocking and straight forward piracy. Even still, this is (in my opinnion) a very bold step by an ISP, and will hopefully encourage other ISPs to adopt similar changes in the upcoming years.
Source: http://www.brw.com.au/p/tech-gadgets/netflix_services_slingshot_lets_BJHrv5ffpuJDiVDmw85XWI
