Online Video Sites Harming Themselves With Geographic Restrictions
from the the-internet,-it's-global dept
Techdirt reader Santiago Crespo recently wrote in making a really valid point about all the various authorized online video sites that seem to employ geographic restriction, much to their own detriment:I live in Argentina, in South America and am an avid Heroes and House follower, but there's a problem watching those shows in our side of the world. Big network subsidiaries offer cable access to American TV shows, but for some unknown reason they can take up to six months to subtitle them in Spanish, and therefore we're stuck watching last season episodes all the time. I don't need subtitles to watch the series, since my grasp of the English language is decent enough to understand what the show is about.It's a really good point. Some of it may be due to rather old school and silly geographic "rights" issues, where certain contracts allow companies to only have the right to broadcast content in certain geographies so that the content owner can try to resell the same content in other areas as well. Yet, by now it should be clear that geographic specific content makes less and less sense, and really is detrimental to the content owners. Rather than making it easier to score big deals, all they're doing is encouraging piracy.
But every time you want to use any legal video site such as Hulu, the NBC website, Sling.com or even some bits of YouTube (Geo-restricted music videos), it will show an error message saying you're "geographically challenged." So instead of geolocalizing ads (as Google does, since I get ads for Deremate.com, a Latin American eBay clone here on Techdirt) they leave me no choice but to head over to the pirate bay to get my fix ad-free.
And even if your comprehension of English isn't good enough to watch the shows downloaded from Bittorrent, every single TV episode gets fansubbed within 24 hours of airing. I think the big networks are wasting a revenue opportunity by limiting who can watch their shows (6 months from now if you have cable) instead of letting you watch them on-line (unlimited audience potential) with some geo-located ads.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: geographic restrictions, online video
Companies: hulu, sling, youtube
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Then let them encourage it.
I guess Sprint will be spending much, much more on its in-air advertising for the next season of "Heroes".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
does this REALLY slow you guys down?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Even worse...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Several years ago...
So I just kept bittorrenting the show. That was probably 3 years ago, and that show has lost at least a few hundred dollars of revenue from me alone. I've often said that really popular shows (like Top Gear) could probably make at least $100 million/year if they would just allow viewers to pay some small sum for it (say $5/month or something, with access to premium private bitorrents).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Same thing here in Canada
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Same thing here in Canada
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Same thing here in Canada
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Old news
Digitally, it's just as bad. I'd like to watch the new Doctor Who, but I'm blocked online because I'm not in the UK. Local TV doesn't show it, and when they do British TV, it's dubbed into Spanish so is pretty useless to me (my Spanish isn't great and the lack of lip sync annoys the hell out of me). The answer would supposedly be to buy the DVDs, but I'm not going to blow 30 Euros or more when I don't even know if I like the thing. So, they're actively rejecting my money. Another silly example is the Amazon music store, who will sell me a CD but not an MP3 through the same website.
Maybe it's down to a rights issue for historical content, but I cannot understand why new content produced in the Internet age is restricted like this. Remember, no illegal P2P site is ever going to say "oops you can't download this". IMHO, if a content producer blocks me from being able to buy something legally, that means they don't want my money. in that case, they're implicitly asking me to pirate it! Cunning plan not thought all the way through, i believe...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Stupid Thing...
SciFi seems to be the worst offender of this sort. Instead of allowing everyone to view what is essentially promo content they block us. And then either don't bother to license it elsewhere or they try and charge a ridiculous amount for the license and it STILL doesn't get shown elsewhere. Why aren't they showing it with an ad to buy the dvds or something?
I can understand IP restrictions if they have actually licensed it to someone else in the user's country but IP blocking, apparently just to save bandwidth, is stupid in the long run. If someone is just surfing because they have heard about "Program X" then booting them to save bandwidth is chasing away a potential future source of revenue.
They are
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
online video stream/geographical isolation/payed subscribers/mixed bussines models/no happines both sides
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
We need international distribution agreements
If we move to international online distribution without borders and all coming from the same site, what happens to the local media companies that show mostly American content? In Canada CTV, Global, and even CBC will be cut out of the game..... They might be forced to find and promote their own content, and not just broadcast whatever their American counterparts have put together! Oh no :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
use bittorrent
For those who have and will jump on me for the usual "if everyone used bittorrent, there would be no tv programs left" I say, yeah, so what?
So, use bittorrent (I like uTorrent [micro torrent]) and watch what you want when you want.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Even nextdoor neighbours...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Also, as it has already been pointed out, it's worst with promotional content. Heroes webisodes for instance will never be available on TV, and I don't get to watch them on-line because of geographic discrimination. Only choice: crappy youtube versions.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
DITTO
I like cartoons.
And many sites (cartoon network and such) have links to other countries they have sites.. The Cartoons change and have versions I havent seen.. BUT I cant play them.
So, I have to use backdoors, and other alternatives to watch them.
the SAME happens with Yahoo, MSN, and others.. If you would like to play GAMES from other countries, where they have servers, YOU CANT..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Online Video Sites Harming Themselves With Geographic Restrictions
As many of you point out now. Scarcity, the same situation that caused fortunes to be built in media, now causes piracy. And if its not there, users find other ways.
Now there are sites opening up all over the world with legal premium content, but the idea of geo-targetting the web, which is exactly the opposite of what it was meant for is an archaic approach.
that said, these content companies do face agreements and value chain partners that inevitably slow them down from evolving past this or at a pace that is more user friendly.
It is like a result of pressures from cable, satellite, talent, retail, theaters and others that choke the speed at which things are global.
Also note, if the content is available, its often not in perpetuity, thus, shows and episode are up one day, taken down the next.
Its getting better, but not at the pace we want.
Jason Hirschhorn
Sling.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Dont blame the messenger (or video site), as with most syndications, the restrictions are usually contractual obligations coming from the content owner/provider, not the video site.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: "Don't Blame The Messenger"
This isn’t about blame, it’s about what’s happening. And what’s happening is that all these tangled contractual agreements and restrictions are getting in the way of fulfilling market demand. When a potential customer wants to get access to content, and finds that access blocked, do they care why it’s blocked? No—and why should they?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
map of the u.s.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: map of the u.s.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Just wrote about this
http://bfpower.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/tricks-using-ssh-web-proxy/
Beyond that I think it is wrong, though. Before the internet there were natural geographic barriers, but in today's world there are none, and this game of artificially blocking the content seems silly to me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Use a Proxy
http://tinyurl.com/6hxntc
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's all Relative
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
But even so, I still download Heroes because it's just much easier to watch it when I want, rather than being locked to a schedule. Also, by downloading I can get it in HD.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Language
However, even if the content is available, I don't want to watch (say) the Pixar shorts dubbed into Italian. I want the English-language version, but iTunes will only deliver a dubbed version because my credit card is billed to an address in a non-English-speaking country. I was ready to drop six Euros or whatever it was per short, but I torrented the lot instead.
The same goes for DVDs. Sometimes something is not made available in my country because it hasn't been dubbed, so I have to buy it from an international supplier and pay extra tax and shipping. That's if it makes it to my DVD region in the first place, of course, and even when it does show up it's several months after the US release most of the time, which means lots of DVD rips taunting me on the tracker sites.
Another pet DVD peeve is with hard-coded subtitles. I can speak French perfectly well, why can't I turn off the English subtitles? Never mind the incredibly annoying anti-piracy message on the DVD. I already *bought* the stupid thing, don't make me watch two minutes of your incredibly irritating advert. That just makes me want to torrent films in the future instead of downloading them.
As for Top Gear, I torrent that as I am outside the UK, even though I subscribe to a satellite service which licences it. However, they are at least six months behind the broadcast schedule, so I use the torrent to stay in sync. At least the satellite provider is passing on some of my money, so I don't feel too bad, but this is not the case for all programmes.
I think iTunes could be the way to go, as they are already set up in all the various regions. I just wish they would add an "international" option to the store, so that I could get content and recommendations that are not tied to where my credit card is billed. People have much more eclectic tastes and experience these days than in the past, and there is a market for a truly global media portal, if the content licencing can be sorted out.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Someone posted about tv shows disappearing if everyone torrented them. I don't think so. I think the quality of fan made shows would rise. I'm beginning to think that you wouldn't need the content at all.
A lot of people mentioned Heroes. Do you honestly believe you couldn't write a story that moved extremely slowly with heroes who suck at using their powers? The difference is still in special effects and production costs, but I bet those costs head south soon.
Online in the last few years I've seen lightsaber battles better than star wars and I've seen translations happen in days not months.
What do we need the big content providers for? Is it just so we can get great actors like Peter Petrelli?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
whoops
It would be a waste of money for Hulu to pipe gigabytes outside the continent for no additional revenue.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
hehe.. This page about watch bones is good too.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
sadasd
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddhwkbzg_13fq3qp6cr
http://buy3viagra.freehostia.com/map2.html
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
proxy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Geographical restriction on internet video content
Why can't I simply see highlights of a Lakers game, anywhere in the world?
By putting up restrictions on even the simplest of content, the U.S. is again alienating the rest of the world. The idea/belief that no one else matters remains enforced.
Don't worry, keep your restrictions, we will find another way to keep ourselves entertained. When we do, find someone else to blame.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Canada's restriction on streaming video to USA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Canada's restriction on streaming video to USA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]