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2 years, 11 months ago

Why aren't websites like hulu.com and the like available outside of the USA?

Seriously. I love the idea of being able to watch whatever I want, when I want. But I can't get over this blockage of entertainment that the TV Industry has created. Wouldn't it be better to allow yourself access to the majority of the world instead of a select country. I live in Australia & I used to watch programs on it using an IP anonymizer but they've blocked those as well now. But I just fail to even comprehend the notion that it would be bad for the industry to allow the world access to a website with such potential. Can someone please tell me why it isn't available outside of the USA and who i should contact about the issue to try and breakdown some of the barriers.
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becauseisaidso | 2 years, 11 months ago
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They set up to block incoming IP's from any other country other than the U.S. due to content restrictions on digital media exiting the U.S. It's in all the sites fine print in one way or another.
Like Amazon.com's disclaimer "Due to restrictions placed on us by our content providers, we are currently only able to make the Service available to customers located in the United States. We regret that you may not use the Service if you are outside of the United States. If you are inside the United States, you may not transfer Digital Content outside the United States."
So there are ways around it like you said. The best right now is hotspot shield it uses a VPN (virtual private network) to allow you to get past these digital content restrictions.

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mgruchy | 2 years, 11 months ago
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Usually a different company will have rights to content (i.e. TV show) in each country. The company that makes the content in the U.S. will sell those rights to companies outside the U.S. and then those companies control how they distribute the content in their country. So if HULU(NBC, FOX, ABC...etc) let everyone (outside U.S.) see it free over the net it would jeopardize those contracts or potentially buyers.

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radioray1025 | 2 years, 11 months ago
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There are copyright issues that involve Hulu.com which requires them to block access in certain parts of the world. Some companies have adopted policies to block other media access from outside the US. Clear Channel Communications, the largest radio operator in the United States, prevents its streamed audio from going abroad. The company documents claim it was a copyright issue. Uncertain laws on intellectual property in other parts of the world make US companies fearful of unrestricted access.

There are programs that can be used outside the US to get access to hulu.com Proxy servers with US addresses can solve that problem
source(s):
Lifehacker.com, Clear Channel corporate policy

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timcadieux | 2 years, 11 months ago
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The barriers aren't what you think. It all has to do with advertising and the revenue that the big TV companies are losing by letting people outside the US watch these TV shows 'for free'.

In the US, the Advertising on HULU is geared towards US audiences. Until Hulu and these other sites can convince the TV studios that the revenue can be provided, you'll have to wait.

Don't forget, to you this is just free tv, but it's actually a whole lot of money!!

Check this article

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n4thanl | 2 years, 11 months ago
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It's a legal issue. Different companies own different rights to various shows in different parts of the world. Take Planet Earth for example. BBC owns the Broadcasting Rights in the UK and Discovery owns the broadcasting rights in the US. If one company wants to stream the show online, they can only do it in their country. This means that there is nobody you can talk to who can do anything about this. This intellectual property is so closely guarded, that you can't do anything about it. There is one workaround that may work for you, though. Find a proxy server or vpn that is in the US and use that to connect.

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