HBO Unhappy With Non-US Customers Using VPNs To Access HBO Now Service

As a Canadian, I am all-too-familiar with the struggle of finding the best legal sources for great content. In most cases, those sources just don’t exist. One great example is with none other than Netflix.

While Canadians have their own version of Netflix’s service, the content selection is almost appalling compared to the US version, and I am not exaggerating when I say that every single local friend I have (even the non-technical ones) that subscribes to Netflix uses a VPN to get around that hurdle. Whether that’s a legit way of doing things or not, these are paying customers who would be getting a stripped-down service otherwise – and if it came down to it, they’d simply leave the service if the VPN workarounds were battled against.

While Netflix is fully aware that some of its customers use VPNs to gain access to better content selections, it’s been quite lenient about letting the practice continue. Rumors have surfaced on occasion about supposed crackdowns, but at last check, the company said it had no plans to take action.

However, if HBO’s recent move is a gauge to things, I can’t help but wonder if that’s going to change at some point.

Earlier this year, the Game of Thrones creator launched its own cable-agnostic service called HBO Now. For $15/mo, you can access a ton of HBO goodness – as long as you live in the United States. As it now appears, many outside of the US have figured out that using a VPN to sign up to the service is easily done, and thus, many have taken that route. To be clear, these are paying customers – they just happen to live outside of the US.

HBO’s Game of Thrones

None of that matters to HBO, though, as it recently sent out letters to customers it suspects of using VPNs to access its service to remind them of the terms and conditions. It’s quite clear about the action it will have to take: “If we do not hear from you, we will proceed with deactivating your HBO NOW account without further notice to you.”

That’s about as clear-cut as it gets. HBO under no circumstance wants non-US viewers to access its content this way, even if they pay in cold hard cash. Now, I admit that HBO undoubtedly has agreements with content providers in other countries that would have a beef with this VPN workaround, but HBO could have just let things go as they are and reap the rewards of additional revenue. I think if someone is desperate enough for legal access to HBO to go the VPN route, they’re not willing to simply sign up for a cable TV subscription. And if they’re blocked, their solution is an obvious one.