August 6, 2009
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by Patrick
If you've never been presented with a message of that kind, chances are you live in the United States. For the rest of the world, its a message we see all too often on hundreds of websites telling us we can't enjoy the site just like everyone else because of where we live.
It all started with having withdrawal symptoms from the tv show 'The Office' (US). I needed to satisfy my impatience as the premiere of the new season approaches. I stumbled onto NBC.com hoping to watch some behind-the-scenes footage or deleted sub-plots. To my dismay, I was presented with this ugly message:
That is a violation of the simplest rule of the internet: everything is available everywhere. It's not the first time I've seen such a message, but this one definitely got a reaction out of me. Where else could someone go to see exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of their favorite show? I can't turn to the website of my local TV provider (who airs the show), because they don't have an extensive mini site for the show. Isn't the whole point of the NBC website to provide fans with a little extra to cement them into becoming long term fans? It's especially upsetting as a Canadian because of the proliferation of US culture here, why should I not be considered equal to the US fans of the show?
The location-based restriction is quite simple. There are large databases out there, some paid services as well, which track all the IP addresses in use and the region it is being used from. When you load the site, it cross-checks your IP address with the large database and discriminates accordingly. You can already guess that a workaround for this type of restriction is to pretend you're in the “accepted” region (via proxy, tunnel, etc..) but that's entirely asides the point. You shouldn't have to worry about your physical location in the world while you're surfing the WORLD WIDE web.
IP based region detection should only enhance your end-user experience, not hamper it. If I visit a weather site and my local city is the first option on the list, chances are that's what I was looking for anyways. Thousands of sites using similar approaches, eBay and Google to name a few. Hell, who hasn't seen an advertisement for “singles in your area” with the name of your local city listed? Those who instead choose to restrict their user base based on location simply don't understand the Internet.
Hopefully the situation will get better with proper feedback to these sites. If we segregate the web, at what point does it start to feel like the Canada-Wide-Web. See? I could have used the same technology to put in the country you're viewing from (in place of Canada) for even bigger impact. ;)
This the most annoying thing ever. Nothing gets my angrier. I love when bloggers embed clips and the whole post is based on the clip, but I can't see it. Grrr.
But the lawyer in me knows this is all a rights issue. Canadian broadcasters pay good money to have exclusive rights to shows, and they can't just have anyone watch them on the internet for free.
It's still frustrating as hell
allen | August 6, 2009
As long as TV remains quasi-monopolistic and we have archaic laws in place to protect them, it's not going to change. But as Joss Whedon showed with Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, you can bypass the gatekeepers altogether. The distributed-content model may win out, if the ISPs don't throttle or shape the bandwidth, that is...
AJ | August 6, 2009
Believe me, it happens even if you're in the US. I do not own a television set but last year I had heard about and wanted to see the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. It was available on bbc.co.uk But I was not allowed to watch it because my IP was in the US and NBC, i.e. GE, is powerful enough to block it, in the vain expectation that it would force me to turn to television, so it could sell my spectatorship to some advertiser. Pathetic, Unfair. Maybe illegal?
SImilarly, I cannot watch TV programs available on rai.it, the Italian state-owned broadcaster, because of the location of my IP address in the US.
Alberto | August 25, 2009
Alberto, NBC/GE do not block it--BBC blocks it, because they know they don't have the license to broadcast it in the US. The law is in fact forcing them to do this.
Patrick, I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment--The world-wide web should not discriminate. Unfortunately, as AJ said, the TV industry is greedy, so they are content offering the ultimatum of region-restricted content or no content at all.
Frasier | September 24, 2009
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has a strong opinion on this (and I work in digital media and entertainment)
Territorial restrictions are perhaps the worst culprit of the an entertainment industry that wants its viewers and listeners to access content through the "legal" route.You would have thought that years of experience and history taught content providers that the consumer doesn't respect boundaries, affiliations or partnerships. The consumer wants quick and easy access to music, shows and tv content. If I search for "Heroes" on Google, do you think I am going to think "hmm, oh yes, I'm in Canada so I shouldn't visit the http://www.nbc.com/heroes/ page, I should spend 10 minutes finding out who has the rights in Canada. Of course not!
If the consumer doesn't have quick legal access to content they will turn to P2P. The proof is in the pudding with the high level of P2P downloading in Canada, especially of TV shows. Canada is exposed to all the same content as the US but has to wait longer to watch the same episodes on TV that we can find on P2P the day after.
Until the barriers come down and domestic carriers lose some of their "paranoia" about losing rights to "foreign" networks, film and TV content in Canada through the legal channels will continue to wane. Industry pundits can argue all they want about who has the rights, what the restrictions are etc etc etc but in the end, that's what the music industry did years ago when Napster surfaced, and look where they are now.
Conrad Buck | November 5, 2009