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Comment by swe_dima | Hacker News Reader

An unplesant surpsise I got from Netflix is when I went to a vacation to Thailand and got welcomed with "you can't watch it here" screen.

Customer support told me I can only watch Netflix in the country I purchased it from.

This was not my first trip so must be a new development.

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This kind of thing is exactly why most of my media library is on iTunes (and Bandcamp) because for the longest time, I had to work abroad and it was the only service that allowed me to watch what I paid for and allowed me to buy more.

Even Steam used to be an issue: I could play my existing library abroad, but not purchase more until I was physically back in the country.

I got this with Amazon Prime in Thailand recently too. Incredibly annoying - what does it matter where I stream from?!

I imagine they're trying to prevent the reverse, purchasing a cheap subscription in a developing country to use when you actually live in a more expensive country.

They know I live in the UK though, I have a UK-based history with Amazon going back 10+ years.

I believe they need a license to stream in different countries. If they don’t have a license to stream in Thailand I don’t think they will let you watch there.

Regardless, it certainly "feels" unfair.

I did try using a UK-based IP too, but that didn't work (it was a data centre IP, so I guess they block them all).

Sometimes some shows are not available or you get different voice languages if you watch your Netflix from a different country.

That's what I was expecting, and what I got from Google and Netflix website, but it flat out refused to open up.

Through some mystic fuckery it worked via VPN for me, but not for my wife (same exact VPN server).

I haven’t experienced this yet. I’ve got a USA subscription, currently watching in Tunisia.

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