BAD IDEA OF THE WEEK: Geo-blocking

It's stupid as. But there are ways around it. Sadly, it appears Hollywood interests have responded to that. New Zealand internet users say they have been cut off from United States television streaming service Netflix. Slingshot spokesman Quentin Reade said the internet provider believed Netflix had made some changes to its systems, preventing access by some New Zealanders. "Something upstream from our network was changed, that's all I can confirm," he said. Netflix does not offer its service in New Zealand as it does not have rights to stream its programming here. It has always attempted to block access using a technique called "geo-blocking", but an unknown number of Kiwis had found ways around the block and subscribed. Slingshot provides one such option. It introduced a Global Mode service last June that disguises customers' internet protocol addresses so it can appear as though they are in the US. Slingshot has marketed Global Mode as a free tool that lets overseas visitors continue to access popular online services that are blocked in New Zealand, such as Netflix, but does not police who uses the service. Reade said Slingshot did not know whether Netflix was trying to enforce geo-blocking restrictions and prevent its service being accessed outside North America or whether the issues were unrelated to that possible goal. But I'm not on Slingshot and I don't use Netflix, however, I've got a better way around those stupid geo-blocks. It's a Chrome and Firefox plug-in called Hola. It lets you choose which country to fool the servers into thinking you're accessing a particular site from. I installed it on Chrome specifically for the Jonah from Tonga "binge weekend" early this month, when the entire series was available on ABC iView in Australia and BBC iPlayer in the UK. I am currently halfway through re-watching the entire series as it goes back up episode by episode each weekend.