Pandora stopped International Streaming

Pandora.com made the decision to stop streaming music to users who are not living in the United States.They use an IP checker script to determine whether a user comes from the United States or from a different country. If the IP is associated with a US server, users are authorized to access the website and play music just like before. If the IP address is associated with a non-US server, users are blocked from accessing the website.

Pandora already updated their FAQ section to reflect the change: here is what the entry states:

Delivery of Pandora is based on proper licensing from the content rights holders - we have always believed strongly in honoring the guidelines as determined by the artists, labels and publishers. In the U.S. there is a federal statute called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that provides this license for all the music you hear on Pandora. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent license outside the U.S.

A tiny note on the frontpage is stating that "Pandora is currently for US listening only" which is another blow into the face of music lovers from all over the world.

While it is not clear who is responsible for the restriction, Pandora because of financial reasons or the music industry or rights holders because of rights, or both, it is clear that users from all over the world are again punished for a system that should not exist in its current form anymore.

Update: If you are living in a country that Pandora has shut out from their service try the following Chrome extension. Media Hint is an unobtrusive extension for the browser that lets you access contents on Pandora, Hulu and a lot of other US-only websites even if you are living in another country. There is no configuration and connections should work right after you have installed the extension in the browser.

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