Ask HN: why are so many media services unavailable outside US?

2 points by Vitaly 15y ago ↗ HN

This is one of the most annoying things on the Internet outside US. Lots of video and music services simply not available. I could understand the opposite (like spotify), as I can imagine media companies being afraid of loosing substantial ravenue streams from whatever sources US customers are getting their media right now (and US is obviously the biggest market). But restricting it to US only? Doesn't make sense to me.

Grrrrrr. I'm sick of it. Why is it even legal? It's discrimination as far as I'm concerned. Why you cant discriminate based on gender or race, but there is no problem discriminating on country?

I'm in Israel, which is far from being a third world country, but as media services are concerned i might as well be in Zumunda or something.

I want my Netflix, Rdio and Pandora. Seriously, WTF?

2 comments

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buzpnick2 15y ago ↗

for pandora, i actually ran into this issue today. so i did some googling and found this site: http://globalpandora.com/ it costs 1.99 euro a month and it is as fast as it was in the US

and i am in israel too. its not a third world country issue. its a licensing issue

mikecane 15y ago ↗

Just because the Internet is worldwide does not mean that entertainment IP rights are. Companies still sell based on geographical territories. This is true for movies, TV, and books. I'm as pissed as you are, even though I'm in America. I'm prevented from getting eBooks published in the UK.