VPN users are raiding content sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer, according to the Global Web Index.
A significant percentages of VPN users in countries such as China, India and Indonesia are accessing services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer (see chart below).
By connecting via one of these tools, internet users are bypassing geo-restrictions which would typically limit the content in question to individuals based in the USA or UK.
Other countries with large numbers of people accessing iPlayer without paying for subscriptions include the US, India, Brazil, Russia and Germany. A total of 63.4m are using the BBC streaming service via VPN, said Global Web Index.
Broadband TV Views. Access to premium services via VPNs is nothing new – and details of this study date back to November, 2014.
The better the content, the more problems exist for Netflix, iPlayer and the likes, especially in those territories where the content is not available. A famous example is Iceland, where Netflix is not active, but where a significant percentage of the TV viewers subscribe to the service.
Another ‘market’ for VPNs are expats, who want to access their regular TV channels from back home, but which is usually impossible because of rights issues.
A similar situation exists with satellite DTH services – e.g. German, Dutch and British pensionados in Spain all watch their national DTH service by taking their smart cards with them. Although technically illegal, this practice seems to be de facto accepted, as little can be done about it and people pay for the service anyway in their respective home countries.
The same probably goes for using VPNs when accessing premium services. Icelandic Netflix subscribers – pretending to be in the US – pay for their ‘membership’, but this might not be the case for viewers in China and India.
It is technically possible to detect VPN usage, but so far content providers have not taken an active role.
