30m Netflix users in non-launch countries

US streaming giant Netflix has more than 30 million users in countries where it has not yet launched, according to a market research firm.

GlobalWebIndex claims that more than 30 million Netflix viewers use the service illegally, with 20 million of these coming from China alone.

Internet users are able to access Netflix and other VoD sites from countries where they are unavailable via virtual private networks (VPNs) that trick their web browser into thinking the sites are being accessed from another country. The best free VPN providers for streaming, anonymity and security.

The VoD site is under growing pressure from distributors who feel it is not doing enough to prevent people from flouting their licensing agreements and it was reported last week that Netflix had begun a crackdown on the practice.

However, the US company strongly denied this at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, with chief product officer Neil Hunt labelling the claims “false.”

Meanwhile, the Television Critics Association tour, chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the firm’s latest big budget original, Marco Polo, was proving particularly popular in China.

In related news, Netflix is transforming 2001 comedy movie Wet Hot American Summer into an eight-part series.

The majority of cult film’s cast will reunite for the series, which starts filming this week. The movie took place during the last day at a fictional Jewish summer camp in 1981. It was a commercial and critical flop, but has since received a cult following.

The new cast includes Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks, Janeane Garofalo, Ken Marino, Zak Orth, David Hyde Pierce and Joe Lo Truglio, among others.

Last week, the launch date of Netflix in Australia was unofficially revealed in the country’s local media as March 31.