Have you ever sat down to watch a TV show or movie on your laptop, PC, tablet or smart TV only to be faced with an irritating message that tells you in some manner that the content is not available in your region?

This is a geoblock in play. Frustrating as it is, many businesses around the globe put these blocks in place to make sure that only select audiences get to see and view set content. So that’s that. Or is it?

What’s the story with geoblocks?

Okay, so we know they exist but why bother? Many TV giants and online streaming services use geoblocks usually on the basis of two reasons, one being advertising contracts and the other involves copyright.

In regards to advertising contracts with third parties, it kind of makes sense why a company would want to set audiences to see their content. It may be that they only operate in certain countries so they want the residents within those boundaries to be aware of their services or products.

Copyright, on the other hand, can boil down to a huge amount of individual clauses which reflect on any aspect of a TV show or movie, no matter how small. Character names, featured brands, locations and even pet names can all be included in copyright laws which can often be the heavy burden on geoblocks. Some streaming businesses may not want to enforce the actions but they are forced by the law.

How do geoblocks work?

Geoblocks are intricate pieces of coding which are designed to pick up on IP addresses. IP addresses are other pieces of coding which tell broadcasters and other interested parties where in the world you are connecting to the Internet from. For example, if you are in the UK trying to access Italian Netflix you will display a UK IP code, which means no Italian TV for you.

The regions for geoblocks are pre-set boundaries which are usually based on geographical borders of countries. So each country will have their own style of IP address which gives away a user’s location at the time of joining up to the World Wide Web.

Getting around the geoblocks

Most people will say that it can’t be done, but oh yes it can.

Not many people know about the Netflix vpn perk. Joining up to a vpn service for your computer sessions brings more than just extra security protection for you computer or laptop.

VPN services are found throughout the world and have enabled millions of people to gain access to a world of content with very little effort. By choosing a vpn server in a different country you will be able to watch all of the content available in that region. So if you want to watch Italian Netflix from a different country, join up to a vpn server which is based on Italian soil to start viewing Italian content.