TPM and Geo-blocking under the Copyright Act 1987 If the answer is in the affirmative, the circumvention of geo-blocking using VPN would thus amount to a circumvention of TPM, which is an act prohibited under copyright law.ī. Hence, to determine the legality of VPN under copyright law, as far as the circumvention of geo-block is concerned, the main issue to be discussed here is whether geo-blocking is considered as a ‘technological protection measure’ (‘TPM’).
To access content that is exclusively available in another country, one must circumvent the geo-block imposed by Netflix and the most common way to achieve this would be using VPNs. This ensures that the customers can only access content in the region they are located, which Netflix is licensed to provide. For example, Netflix’s geo-block implementation helps prevent the United Kingdom (‘UK’) subscribers from accessing movies that are exclusively made available to United States (‘US’) subscribers. Geo-block is a technology commonly used by streaming websites like Netflix to restrict the consumers’ access to copyrighted content on websites based on their geographical areas. In this article, we will examine the role of VPN in circumventing geo-blocking and site-blocking, the liability of various parties related to VPN and enforcement issues. In short, while VPN enhances the experience of the public in the digital environment, it is also prone to be used for illegal purposes. Other illegal activities can be done by users through VPN such as hacking, buying or selling materials on the dark web and cyberstalking.
Besides, users can also use a VPN to bypass other types of blocking and download pirated material while avoid being caught for copyright infringement because of their anonymous identity. As an example, the users can access overseas content unavailable in their country by using the VPN to bypass geo-blocking. In such situations where revelations of public data have been used in shady ways, keeping information private is more vital than ever.Īlthough VPN services bring several benefits to users - especially in protecting their privacy - such services are not equally exalted by certain parties, particularly among copyright owners because they raise copyright concerns. For instance, if the users are browsing for flight ticket prices, most travel sites would know the users’ activity from the ISP and web browsers, which might lead them to display fares that are not the cheapest available. Otherwise, the ISP and web browsers can track everything the users have done online and keep histories.
The users’ ISP would be unable to know the users’ browsing history as the VPN will associate their online activities with the VPN server’s IP address and not the IP belonging to the users. A VPN service provider works by utilising servers worldwide where the users’ online activities can originate from any one of them. It hides the users’ internet protocol (‘IP’) addresses and data traffics from external snoopers, making their online actions virtually untraceable.
For instance, when users install a VPN on their device, the VPN routes the internet connection through their VPN’s private server rather than the internet service provider’s (‘ISP’) server. It enables users to connect to the internet via an encrypted tunnel to protect their online privacy and sensitive data. Consequently, this has muddied the waters within cyber law.Ī Virtual Private Network (‘VPN’), as the name suggests, is a service that provides users with virtual networks by creating private networks from public internet connections. Nonetheless, due to its nature of being commonly used to bypass site-blockers and allowing users the liberty of anonymity, VPNs have unknowingly aided the growth in suspicious internet activities. VPNs have facilitated the usage of the public within the digital environment. The rise of Virtual Private Networks ('VPNs') is the product of the vast influx of internet accessibility and online services.