Why does Netflix prevent you from watching the catalog of other countries?
Netflix not only detects the country where your IP address is registered to offer you content in your language. The streaming platform is actively fighting against people linking to catalogs that don’t really correspond to the country they’re in. Reason ? Netflix offers both original content in its catalog that the company can offer to all its subscribers, regardless of country, and content that the company has to license, often at a strong price.
However, licensing agreements that allow Netflix to deliver content are negotiated on a case-by-country basis in the vast majority of cases. The total may vary greatly from one market to another, or may be so high in a strategic market that it is not profitable to purchase rights to catalogs from other countries. Therefore, the content of catalogs varies greatly from one country to another. And we might be quickly tempted to browse other versions of Netflix.
Until recently, it was pretty simple to make use of almost any catalog: any VPN service or even some proxies let you do this without much headache. However, Netflix has been blocking the vast majority of these services for two years. And it is common to subscribe to a VPN to better understand that it no longer works.
Using a VPN to watch Netflix: is it legal?
Netflix is fighting VPNs, but are you using one illegally to connect to Netflix? To shorten it: there is nothing illegal in itat least in countries where the use of a VPN is permitted and does not subject you to criminal sanctions, such as France and all European Union countries.
Under no circumstances can Netflix prosecute you for connecting to a catalog other than your country. The platform is truly responsible for the technical procedures it implements to comply with the license agreements it has signed with different distributors. That way, you risk nothing except your VPN’s IP address being detected and blocked by Netflix.
But always remove your VPN when you go to the following countries Where VPN use is limited or even severely punished by law:
- Belarus
- Chinese
- North Korea
- United Arab Emirates
- Iranian
- Iraq
- Oman
- Russia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
Netflix US: What you need to know before you get started
The Netflix catalog in the United States is, without a doubt, the most complete catalog to date. There would still be almost 70% more movies, TV shows and documentaries compared to the French catalogue. For example, The Walking Dead is only in the US version. Of course, with time and the release of hundreds of original creations that Netflix has to offer everywhere, the differences will eventually fade.
When you access the US catalog, French is only rarely available (with subtitles). Spanish is generally offered in the content both in dubbing and subtitles. Therefore, taking advantage of the US catalog requires a good knowledge of these languages or a desire to develop. It is also very effective for progress!
Another thing to know is about the Netflix app. You can of course download content that allows this. But be careful to restore the VPN while gaming or putting yourself in airplane mode.
Netflix in Europe: a special case
Due to European directives, Netflix has removed geo-blocking in Europe as is practiced in the rest of the world. For example, you can use your French subscription in the UK, Netherlands, Poland or Greece. What matters now is the country in which you created the account. If linked to an address in France, you will have access to the French catalog wherever you are in the European Union.
There is still one problem: it does not allow you to access the catalog of other countries. This prevents using a simple VPN to access other catalogs. You also need to create an account in the country or countries whose videos you want to see.
Netflix: How to choose a working VPN?
If you want to access the US Netflix catalog or all the catalogs of other countries, you definitely need a VPN. But beware, not everyone is created equal. However, there are a few tips that will make it easier for you to choose a service that will work despite the platform’s blocking techniques. Netflix may not know that you are connecting to the site through a VPN. It can see a suspicious number of connections coming from a single IP address. Or sometimes the IP address the traffic is coming from is registered with a VPN provider.
There are also cloud services such as Amazon Web Services, Google Web Services or Microsoft Azure. Here are three platforms that allow you to create your own private VPN service for free during a 12-month trial period and will generally work against Netflix blocking (if configured correctly). The only problem with this solution is that you usually have to install everything yourself on the command line and learn how these platforms’ free resources work. It’s pretty complex but there are some pretty detailed tutorials on the internet and the game is worth the effort.
In any case, you can be sure of one thing: The weakest VPN services against Netflix geo-blocking are free VPNs and proxies and shared VPNs. That’s why you should always choose a private VPN (hence more expensive) with an IP address that only you use. Even then, Netflix can sometimes catch the scam, especially if the VPN service has registered a block of IP addresses under its own name. We’ve tested a few services over the past few months, but some, like MyIP.io, NordVPN, or ExpressVPN, worked most of the time and offered responsive technical support.
Probably best to test before unsubscribing. Did you manage to access the Netflix US catalog and other catalogs? Did you find any other solutions that we didn’t mention in this article? Share your views in the comments!
