March 28, 2024
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Using Proxies To Access Geo-Restricted Streaming Services

Photo by cottonbro

Did you know that Netflix customers in different countries have access to different content? This is referred to as geographical restriction.

This can be very frustrating for users who wish to access a certain TV show or movie that their service provider gives access to in other countries, but does not give access to in their country.

Luckily there are ways you can get around these restrictions by using proxies. In this article, we talk about this challenge and how proxies can help you access geographically restricted media content.

Why You Need A Proxy

Though streaming services such as Netflix, claim they want to provide the same content to all Netflix customers around the world, there are some big differences in the content available to Netflix customers in certain countries.

The main reason that online content providers like Netflix may restrict access to certain content, for certain countries, relates to the legal rights they have regarding the content.

In some cases, these streaming services might have purchased the rights to a certain movie or TV series, but only for broadcast to one country (e.g. the United States) and the ability for them to broadcast that same content in other countries may be either unavailable to them, or just may not be commercially viable (due to costs or purchasing “worldwide” rights).

These issues arise because the people and entities that own the rights to the content understand that they can potentially make more money by selling the rights to their content on a country-by-country basis, instead of granting rights at a worldwide level.

It is rarely the case that the streaming services, like Netflix,  just decide to restrict content on a location basis, as that would likely be detrimental to their success. It is due to the licensing rights that the streaming services have committed to.

Given these limitations, many people have started using proxies and VPNs, to mask their computer location and appear as if they are in the country where the desired content is being streamed.

Providers Are Fighting Back

As part of these licensing agreements, the streaming services are not only obliged to restrict the locations the licensed content can be accessed, but are also required to proactively prevent people from trying to get around these limitations.

What this means is that there are many individuals who are trying to access geographically restricted content with the use of proxies or VPNs, and these streaming services are legally obliged to try very hard to stop this from happening.

As a result, it is not easy to access this restricted content, but it is possible.

What You Can Do

At a conceptual level, the best thing you can do to access geographically restricted content is to mask the IP address of your location, and use an IP address from the country where the desired content is available to be streamed.

An IP address is a unique identifier associated with your internet connection that reveals information about your location, typically at the country and region level.

However, by using proxies you are able to mask your actual IP address and browse the internet through an IP address from another country, thus giving different information about your location to the websites and services you are accessing.

But it is not just a matter of finding a proxy provider to give you a new IP address to access through a proxy, then forgetting about it, it will be an ongoing process.

This is because many of the streaming services, particularly Netflix, are very proactive in their battle against people trying to circumvent these limitations (due to their legal obligations).

The following characteristics are things you should look for in a proxy provider (such as proxy-store) to maximize your chance of getting around these geographically based content restrictions.

A Large Number of Available Proxies

Given how aggressive some of these content providers are, in their blacklisting of certain IP addresses where they suspect people are accessing their services from another location, you need a proxy provider that has a large database of available proxies.

When your proxy provider has a large database of available proxies, you can easily change proxies, if the one you are using gets blacklisted.

Fresh IPs On A Regular Basis

But it is not enough that your proxy provider has a large number of available proxies, they also need to actively be bringing new IPs into their network on a regular basis.

This is because even a large database can quickly be blacklisted by these streaming services, so it’s important that new IPs are being brought into the network that have not yet been blacklisted.

Look At User Reviews

Checking out the reviews of proxy providers is also another great way to see if the proxy provider is likely to be able to provide a consistent service that meets your needs.

People are very quick to post on the internet if they are happy or unhappy with their experiences of these services, so look for reviews around the proxy service you are considering going with.

Final Thoughts

Keep in mind, that if you are trying to access content from a certain provider that they do not wish you to access based on geographic restrictions, then you will be involved in an ongoing battle.

They are actively working to prevent you from accessing the content from your location, so any efforts by you to circumvent that are going to be met by resistance and continual efforts from them to stop and prevent that from happening.

So what might be effective today, and this week, may not be effective next week or next month, but what you have learned in this article will give you the best chance at ongoing success.

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