Netflix crackdown on VPN services has begun

Martin Brinkmann
Feb 26, 2016
Music and Video
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81

If you are currently using a virtual private network, unblocker or proxy to access Netflix, you have likely been greeted by an "whoops, something went wrong..." message on the site on stream start.

The error is listed as a streaming error, and the description found underneath it reads:

You seem to be using an unblocker or proxy. Please turn off any of these services and try again. For more help, visit netflix.com/proxy.

Error code: H7111-1331-5059

Netflix You seem to be using an unblocker or proxy

netflix error unblocker

The proxy help page on the Netflix website provides little information besides what the company mentioned already in the error description:

This error occurs when our systems have detected that you are connecting via a VPN, proxy, or “unblocker” service. Because our content library can vary by region and these types of connections are frequently used to bypass geolocation methods, you will not be able to stream when connected in this way.

Netflix's only recommendation is to disable "any proxies, VPNs, or other software that might route your Internet traffic outside of your current region".

Many unblocker and VPN services stopped working today, including Mediahint, Zenmate, Betternet, AppVPN, ExpressVPN, Tunnelbear, and Private Internet Access, and it is likely that a lot of services not listed here have stopped working as well.

It is unclear how Netflix determines when a user is using a VPN connection to stream content on the site, but there are several possibilities how the service could have done it.

  1. Sign up for popular VPN and Unblocker services, record all IP addresses you get while connecting to the service, and block those.
  2. Check which IP ranges VPN and Unblocker companies have purchased, if possible, and block those.
  3. Check which IP addresses are used by multiple users on the site, verify who owns them, and block those that you can associate with these services.
  4. Compare a user's home country with IP addresses he or she connects to, scan those IP addresses for association with VPN and unblocking services, and add hits to the blocklist.

What can you do about it?

There is little that can be done about it. Most users probably don't want to set up their own VPN network as it is a technical process and comes with additional costs.

One could try to connect to different servers offered by a service provider to see if some are not blocked. Many VPN services offer several entry locations in the US and sometimes other countries.

This is a temporary solution at best though considering that more and more users of the service will utilize those.

Another option is to find a smaller VPN provider and test if their servers are blocked by Netflix.

Last but not least, you may vote with your wallet. Unsubscribe and let Netflix know that they have lost a customer because of this practice.

Now You: What will you do about it?

Summary
Netflix crackdown on VPN services has begun
Article Name
Netflix crackdown on VPN services has begun
Description
VPN, proxy and unblocker users may see the error message "you seem to be using an unblocker or proxy" on Netflix as of today.
Author
Publisher
Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Anonymous said on August 1, 2010 at 12:43 pm
    Reply

    Why not make use of the mplayer.conf?

  2. Mike J said on August 1, 2010 at 2:58 pm
    Reply

    Huh, I have never even seen this “font cache” pane; videos play at once for me, using VLC & XP SP3.

    1. Martin said on August 1, 2010 at 3:39 pm
      Reply

      Mike, in theory this should have only been displayed once to you, at the very first video that you played with VLC. The time this window is displayed depends largely on the number of fonts in your font directory.

      1. Mike J said on August 2, 2010 at 2:30 pm
        Reply

        huh, I lucked out for a change?? Amazing!!
        Apparently VLC keeps this info through version updates, but I didn’t see this message after a fresh OS install about 8 weeks ago, & a new VLC.

  3. myo said on August 1, 2010 at 5:52 pm
    Reply

    yes, yes, i have the same problem. sometimes, VLC crashes when it is playing .mov file.

  4. Kishore said on August 13, 2010 at 2:55 pm
    Reply

    Error:
    Buidling font Cache pop-up

    Solution:

    Open VLC player.

    On Menu Bar:

    Tools
    Preferences

    (at bottom – left side)
    Show settings — ALL

    Open: Video
    Click: Subtitles/OSD (This is now highlited, not opened)
    Text rendering module – change this to “Dummy font renderer function”

    Save
    Exit

    Re-open – done.
    Progam will no longer look outside self for fonts

    Source – WorthyTricks.co.cc

    1. Martin said on August 13, 2010 at 3:10 pm
      Reply

      Great tip, thanks a lot Kishore.

  5. javier said on August 14, 2010 at 1:50 pm
    Reply

    @Kishore, I’ll try your tips, but does this mean it will no longer show subtitles either?
    I do use subtitles, but the fontcache dialog box pops up (almost) everytime I play a file.

    Could this be related to the fonts I have installed? Or if I add/remove fonts to my system?

    I’ll try to do a fresh install also, if your tips does no work. I’ll post back here later…

    /thanks
    /j

  6. Kishore said on August 15, 2010 at 12:38 pm
    Reply

    @ Javier, The trick i posted will show up subtitles too. If not,

  7. Kishore said on August 15, 2010 at 12:39 pm
    Reply

    @ Javier, The trick i posted will show up subtitles too. If not,Dont worry, VLC is currently sorting out this issue and the next version will be out soon.

    No probs @ Martin !! Its my pleasure

  8. Ted said on October 22, 2010 at 3:57 am
    Reply

    Try running LC with administrator privileges. That seemed to fix it for me

  9. Evan said on December 8, 2013 at 1:48 am
    Reply

    I am using SMplayer 0.8.6 (64-bit) (Portable Edition) on Windows 7 x64. Even with the -nofontconfig parameter in place SMplayer still scans the fonts. Also, I have enabled normal subtitles and it is still scanning fonts before playing a video. Also, it does this every time the player opens a video after a system restart (only the fist video played).

  10. Mike Williams said on September 6, 2023 at 1:26 pm
    Reply

    Does that mean that only instrumental versions of songs will be available for non-paying users?

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