Australia is a large island. This we know, because there is water all around it and it says so on Wikipedia. We have often been isolated in many ways both in a geographical and social sense and lets face it, that is how some of us like it. Every now and then though it does come back to bite ya and even though the world is connected by that world wide webby thing it may not be as wide as we all hoped for
Many people say I remind them of a more handsome Kenny Rogers. Or a slightly flatter Dolly. I will take either one
Recently finished the rather excellent Daredevil on Netflix. And I streamed it all. Amusingly, or not, it was still one of the most pirated downloaded shows with Australia well near the top of culprits. Why is this so when Netflix is now here and you get a free month anyway even if you wont support original series for a lousy $10 a month ? Piracy is a complex issue and in the past where there may have been some “valid though still illegal” reasons for Aussies to do it those reasons are getting less and less. I remember when the big channels like Nine bent you over the bonnet regularly with the screening schedules of their big premiere US shows like Friends or Sopranos. Then PAY TV came in – originally with no ads:) Hell , I had a 5th Austar box in the toilet just in case. Piracy is piracy at end of day and we all know it is illegal although most would consider the download of “in theatre” movies as more illegal than simply downloading a TV show that was shown last night in America. Dallas Buyers Club LLC of course recently had their successful court case although interestingly it appears they went more after the DVD rippers rather than the Screeners/Cammers.
With the pending release of Netflix Australia a few other streaming services like Stan got in early and all for very reasonable and affordable prices. When recently in US the cable was great mainly because of the on demand feature so you could watch last nights Justified the next day at your leisure. Places I stayed at did not have Netflix but their cable was more than adequate. Of course when Netflix launched here it was quickly apparent that the Aussie Library was about 25% of the US library! One quickly became familiar with terms like geoblocking and smart DNS. What the smart folk do is set up their router so as to appear to be in US and then whooshka you have access to the US Netflix while paying for the Aussie one. Illegal ? Maybe looking at terms of use but most would think they were at least paying a subscription. Now , the Aussie Netflix was aligned with some ISPs like Internode so that the at times significant data download was not “metered content” so did not count towards monthly quota. If you alter your DNS to get US netflix, then it does count. Swings and roundabouts. Companies like Telstra with their Presto set up simply gave people massive increase in their monthly quota to offset this streaming impact.
Now any Pirate worth his rum would know GOT Season 5 was coming and if not then the early release on the net of the first 4 episodes would have cleaned the barnacles of their withered brain. At the same time HBO (purveyors of GOT) released their on line streaming service for $15 per month. Good value when you throw in Veep, Silicon Valley, Girls etc But the catch? You have to reside in the USA. Not an issue for the smarties who simply set up US iTunes accounts to false addresses etc and off they stream. Of course the companies are not exactly thickos and would appear looking at the “cease and desist” emails received to said smarties that by and large they can determine when you are streaming outside of the US. One may ask why would HBO turn their back on money from anywhere? Dont know really but assume it would be something to do with the shitload that Foxtel no doubt pays to show GOT exclusively on Showcase in our island nation. Recently Netflix have suggested that they should not have limited uncapped downloads to selected ISPs on their Aussie launch but rather prefer a world in which everyone can stream from everywhere. Good luck with that one
This is where our isolation at the bottom of the world will impact us. That of course and the butchering of the NBN by Tony et al. BC1 lives in Toowoomba and has had shocking internet service over the years but NBN cable is in the street and only a matter of weeks now. Rejoice?? Stayed at Beccles B&B on the other side of Toowoomba last weekend and they have the new NBN already installed . How do I know this ? When trying to pay by credit card on little card reader it took 3 tries to connect to the web. “Yeah ever since the NBN was installed our internet keeps dropping out or simply falls over”
Lord, take me now. Or at least drop me off at NYC on the ascent ok?
Oh crap I just assumed it was an ascent not a desc………
flashman181 