Netflix cracks down on proxies ahead of global launch

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Netflix might be cool with you sharing your password, but now that it's spreading its reach around the world, the streaming service is cracking down on proxy users.

Netflix Vice President of Content Delivery Architecture David Fullagar explained in a blog post that the company will frown upon any users spoofing a fake US IP address through proxies and 'unblockers'.

Essentially, Netflix is telling users to be patient while it's in the process of working out the content licenses to make all the same movies and TV series available in 190 countries.

"Over time, we anticipate being able to do so," Fullagar said. "For now, given the historic practice of licensing content by geographic territories, the TV shows and movies we offer differ, to varying degrees, by territory."

"In the meantime, we will continue to respect and enforce content licensing by geographic location," he added.

Don't think this isn't just a polite request, either. In the coming weeks the service will also begin penalizing those using proxies and unblockers. When this goes into effect, Netflix subscribers outside of the US will only be able to access content normally available to the country in which they reside.

So get in your last few days of sweet, sweet US Netflix access if you're a proxy user – it won't be there for much longer.

Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee was a former computing reporter at TechRadar. Kevin is now the SEO Updates Editor at IGN based in New York. He handles all of the best of tech buying guides while also dipping his hand in the entertainment and games evergreen content. Kevin has over eight years of experience in the tech and games publications with previous bylines at Polygon, PC World, and more. Outside of work, Kevin is major movie buff of cult and bad films. He also regularly plays flight & space sim and racing games. IRL he's a fan of archery, axe throwing, and board games.