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Answerman - Why Do Streaming Sites Block VPNs?


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DRosencraft



Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 671
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 11:43 am Reply with quote
I wasn't aware that anyone who even knew how to setup a VPN would have cause to be uncertain of how or why a streaming site might block them, but I suppose you don't know what you don't know. It's a shame for those who use VPNs, but it's a matter of cost/benefit for the streamer. How many people do they stand to lose tot heir site by blocking VPNs, vs possibly losing streaming rights to valuable properties because the principle owner thinks you can't be trusted. Is a doorbell camera gonna stop a masked burglar from breaking in and stealing stuff from your house? Probably not, but it'll give you some peace of mind, and can probably get you a bit of a discount on your homeowner's insurance.
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TheMorry



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 660
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 11:45 am Reply with quote
Quote:
If your goal is to try and uphold the legal agreement you signed with your valued business partners, and block access to content that you promised to block from countries you don't have the rights to service, putting these protections in place is a no-brainer.
And this is totally rubbish, all this rules and agreements only creates more piracy. I for one are doomed to piracy since anime isnt a big thing here in the Netherlands/Holland. And before i get flamed for pirating streaming anime. I probably spend more than a lot of you out there on anime/games/movies. I import my anime from the UK/Australia and the US. But that said i refuse to be condemned to wait forever till i can watch it legally while everyone in the legal streaming zones can watch it before i do.

I believe if a lot of these rules are changed and the streaming regions are opened to people who wanna watch English dubbed anime by Funimationand sentai that there would be a lot less piracy.

Honestly I can watch all anime that get released a few minutes later.... Im not rpoud of to sort to piracy but if there is no legal option... well...
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Karl2



Joined: 16 Nov 2015
Posts: 59
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 11:56 am Reply with quote
The things with that is that I can get most shows I want to watch legally nowadays, except titles licensed by Sentai because they are cheapskates when licensing to Nordic region and just license to Mainland areas and ignore places like Åland Islands and it is not possible to VPN their content on HIDIVE due to checking the postal code you are forced to give to watch premium content and this is the entire Åland catalog



Also then I won't bother watching their shows due to being tired using illegal streaming on my PS4
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Shaterri



Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Posts: 173
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 12:31 pm Reply with quote
DRosencraft wrote:
Is a doorbell camera gonna stop a masked burglar from breaking in and stealing stuff from your house? Probably not, but it'll give you some peace of mind, and can probably get you a bit of a discount on your homeowner's insurance.

It won't stop someone who's determined to break into your house specifically from doing so, but that's not the goal. It's the old 'running away from a bear' idea; you just have to be faster (or in this case, more visibly secure) than the next house (car, bicycle, streaming site, ...) down. This doesn't work as well with respect to e.g. CR because the exclusive nature of content means that people [i]do[/i} have a vested interest in breaking into their house specifically - but deterring the more casual pirates is still (as was noted in the article) a pretty strong benefit for them.
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DRosencraft



Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 671
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 12:58 pm Reply with quote
Shaterri wrote:
DRosencraft wrote:
Is a doorbell camera gonna stop a masked burglar from breaking in and stealing stuff from your house? Probably not, but it'll give you some peace of mind, and can probably get you a bit of a discount on your homeowner's insurance.

It won't stop someone who's determined to break into your house specifically from doing so, but that's not the goal. It's the old 'running away from a bear' idea; you just have to be faster (or in this case, more visibly secure) than the next house (car, bicycle, streaming site, ...) down. This doesn't work as well with respect to e.g. CR because the exclusive nature of content means that people [i]do[/i} have a vested interest in breaking into their house specifically - but deterring the more casual pirates is still (as was noted in the article) a pretty strong benefit for them.


I think you misunderstood my example. Most home burglars don't wear masks. They walk up to a house where an unattended package was left and snatch it, or they break in when they think no one is home. In my example, the burglar wearing a mask would be the 1% referenced in the article - the determined thief that won't care if VPN is blocked.

But, now that I've over-explained my example, I think we're saying the same thing; blocking VPNs is a necessary and reasonable step streamers must take to address a problem. Crunchyroll can't be responsible for the fact that there aren't many other streaming options out there, so they can't help being a target. They can't go to content providers and say, "well, your stuff is just so great people are gonna break in and take it anyway, so we're not gonna bother taking any steps to protect it". Is it a perfect solution? No, but they have to try. From a legal perspective, the lack of appropriate or reasonable safeguards can be used to mitigate civil liability if they were ever to catch someone who did rip content from their site. It won't change criminal liability, and won't completely wipe out civil liability, but it can lessen damages (for whatever that ends up being worth).
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Kimiko_0



Joined: 31 Aug 2008
Posts: 1796
Location: Leiden, NL, EU
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 1:43 pm Reply with quote
Necessary though it may be to block them, someone using a VPN to access CR would at least be paying their subscription. Someone blocked from accessing the site will most likely resort to piracy. Ah well.
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Puniyo



Joined: 08 Oct 2015
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 1:58 pm Reply with quote
Alas if they put more effort into negotiating global streaming rights instead of stopping VPNs, people wouldn't have to resort to VPNs or piracy.
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VoidSeeker





PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:08 pm Reply with quote
Puniyo wrote:
Alas if they put more effort into negotiating global streaming rights instead of stopping VPNs, people wouldn't have to resort to VPNs or piracy.

To my knowledge all of CR's co-produced shows are available worldwide ex. asia.
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GHDpro



Joined: 16 Feb 2004
Posts: 5
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:13 pm Reply with quote
Actually in this particular case the reason for CR to block all of DigitalOcean might not have anything to do with VPNs. Providers like DigitalOcean offer VPS hosting for relatively little so it's easy for malicious people to grab a VPS and start hacking or DoS-ing Crunchyroll.
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Crext



Joined: 04 Nov 2012
Posts: 211
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:15 pm Reply with quote
Was there ever any legal way of getting, say eromanga sensei, in the EU?

If no, then why would someone block content towards that region? In case of a potential future deal? I kinda feel it would be a way to deny getting more costumers. Video games even have "English Asian releases" with no region locks even if they don't publish it in the West, which I'm sure is also meant to somewhat tap into the Western shadowmarket.


Last edited by Crext on Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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VoidSeeker





PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:18 pm Reply with quote
Crext wrote:
Was there ever any legal way of getting, say eromanga sensei, in the EU?


IIRC you could watch it on Daisuki. But that's gone now Sad
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Puniyo



Joined: 08 Oct 2015
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:37 pm Reply with quote
Crext wrote:
Was there ever any legal way of getting, say eromanga sensei, in the EU?

If no, then why would someone block content towards that region? In case of a potential future deal? I kinda feel it would be a way to deny getting more costumers. Video games even have "English Asian releases" with no region locks even if they don't publish it in the West, which I'm sure is also meant to somewhat tap into the Western shadowmarket.


Eromanga sensei was available on CR in the UK when it was airing, but I don't know about the rest of Europe.

I agree with the SE Asian English releases (and JP games with English text options) though.
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CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:44 pm Reply with quote
I was able to watch the free stream of Girls' Last Tour with a VPN on HIDIVE (getting around both my school filter and the US limitation).
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xchampion



Joined: 21 Jan 2009
Posts: 370
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:11 pm Reply with quote
I know Crunchyroll is the example in the question but Netflix started to do something similar. I used free and even paid VPNs to access shows that were only available in other countries and Netflix has started to crack down on it. I justified that as long as I was still paying for Netflix that it was okay, but it's not. You can even get an lifetime ban for using VPNs for Netflix. Now sadly I just stick to the US version.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3768
PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:31 pm Reply with quote
Yeah it isn’t too much trouble to just turn off my VPN (which I use for reasons other than going around region blocking) when watching shows on my laptop on Amazon or Netflix for example, but I usually watch shows on my TV through my Roku anyways, which is not on the VPN. I can’t say I haven’t been tempted to use my VPN to access shows available in other regions, but I prefer to just wait so I can watch it on my TV.
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