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Hastings: Netflix will cut Oz piracy

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is confident its new Australian service will deter viewers from using virtual private networks (VPN) to avoid geo-blocking and access the US version of the site.

Reed Hastings

Reed Hastings

Hastings, who was in Sydney for the launch in Netflix’s 50th market, told Sky News: “We do not support the use of VPNs but it is awfully hard to detect. There is no effective block around payment methods that works.”

Hastings was asked about reports that as many as 200,000 Aussies subscribe to the US feed via a VPN. He suggested illegal file-sharing via BitTorrent and similar sites is a far greater concern.

“If you have a legal and affordable service most people will pay for it,” he said. “What we are trying to do is to have a great service in Australia so there is no reason to go to the complexity and cost of a VPN.”

This week Australia’s assistant treasurer Josh Frydenberg said offshore companies such as Netflix should pay the 10% goods and services tax when they come into the country.

Netflix has argued that, as a cloud-based company, it is not liable to be taxed. Hastings said: “Every nation is trying to figure out how they want to tax their citizens when their citizens buy global goods. We follow the laws in every nation.”

Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos spoke on Tuesday night to a packed house at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Foundation Hall.

Sarandos thanked reps from Netflix’s content partners including NBCUniversal, the Walt Disney Co, Roadshow, Australian pubcaster ABC and Warner Bros.

The WB reference is significant because the streaming service has not yet announced a deal for Oz with that studio, which is widely expected to align itself with Netflix, along with MGM and Studiocanal.

Hastings also stressed Netflix’s appetite for the best content, whether Danish thrillers, Argentinean films or Australian productions. “I know we took too long to get here…,” he acknowledged. “It’s the culmination of so much work.”

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