Netflix no more

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CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
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Yeah, so after more years as a subscriber than I can remember, I finally cancelled my Netflix membership (a few minutes ago).

I leased a small office starting in January. Internet service is provided by the building ... They're using the Class B RFC 1918 set of addresses as a flat network with a /16 for both wired and wireless access for the building.

Do I need to say any more?

Needless to say, I got a VPN subscription from Private Internet Access to use at the office. I finally got around to setting up pfsense at home with an OpenVPN client today. And of course found out that Netflix is blocking my VPN provider. As they use Amazon's CDN I am completely uncomfortable with white-listing Netflix sources (destinations) from my VPN connection.

My privacy and security is more important to me than the convenience of watching a few shows. I bought the full series set of "Magic School Bus" which is currently the only thing on Netflix my kids care about, paid about 4 months worth of Netflix fees for it. Geo-location by IP has got to be the least sensible way to enforce content restriction. It makes me wonder what other lazy and stupid development practices Netflix is using, which makes me think my personal data is not safe with them.
 

dataoscar

Member
Dec 2, 2013
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I contemplated cancelling as well, but I ended up creating a transparent proxy at home just for Netflix traffic. It was a pita, but for now it works. I almost cancelled after fumbling with it for over a week.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
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After thinking about it, I realized that I don't watch Netflix enough to justify the hassle. The cost is minimal, but I kept it as a convenience to entertain the kids every so often. They are young enough that they are flexible.

It appears that the Disney Jr app also blocks pia nodes, which is kind of a dick move, but whatever. I just set my kid's tablet up to access the DirecTV DVR while I work on getting Plex setup with the content we already own.

I get content restriction, but some of this crap is over the top. I WILL rip copies of my media (for backup purposes only, of course) and if the cost of doing business with Netflix is to give up my privacy and security then that is a business relationship I don't need.
 

CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
485
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And the content providers all wonder why people resort to piracy.
They aren't stopping the real pirates (those who profit), all this kind of crap does is generate bad will among their once loyal customer base. This is the reason that I prefer physical media and making portable versions on my own. Streaming services are of garbage quality anyway.
 

whitey

Moderator
Jun 30, 2014
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LOL, I'm sooo lost as well, what happened, did netflix have some sort of data breach or is infringing on personal information or not delivering the service as advertised, we use it a fair bit here but my plex server certainly see's most of the action at home.

What I keep thinking is what in the HELL we are all gonna do not IF but WHEN Plex sells it's soul to 'the devil'? Really starting to enjoy my plexpass sync features when I am out on travel.
 

CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
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@CreoleLakerFan I'm confused, what does a new office have to do with netflix at home for the kids?
I signed up with a VPN service to use at the office, and decided to use it at home as well. Yesterday I configured my pfsense VM as an OpenVPN client to my VPN provider and set all egress traffic to route through the tunnel. It's something I had been meaning to do for some time and seeing how insecure the office connection is what motivated me to sign up for a VPN account.

I don't torrent or Usenet, I'm not a "security researcher," but my Internet traffic is none of my ISPs damn business (or anyone else's).
 

rubylaser

Active Member
Jan 4, 2013
846
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Michigan, USA
LOL, I'm sooo lost as well, what happened, did netflix have some sort of data breach or is infringing on personal information or not delivering the service as advertised, we use it a fair bit here but my plex server certainly see's most of the action at home.

What I keep thinking is what in the HELL we are all gonna do not IF but WHEN Plex sells it's soul to 'the devil'? Really starting to enjoy my plexpass sync features when I am out on travel.
I love Plex and use it everyday. If this ever happened i would just deal with the switch to Emby (or Kodi). At least there are some options other than just Plex. Although, Plex's broad base of platforms and ease of setup is pretty tough to beat. Emby is a pain in comparison (I've tried setting up a couple times and always end up back with Plex).
 
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CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
485
180
43
LOL, I'm sooo lost as well, what happened, did netflix have some sort of data breach or is infringing on personal information or not delivering the service as advertised, we use it a fair bit here but my plex server certainly see's most of the action at home.

What I keep thinking is what in the HELL we are all gonna do not IF but WHEN Plex sells it's soul to 'the devil'? Really starting to enjoy my plexpass sync features when I am out on travel.
Netflix uses IP based geo location to enforce regional content restriction. Some people have been using VPNs to get around this. Earlier this year Netflix knee-jerked by blacklisting known VPN provider IPs.

I don't care about any of that, i just don't want my ISP looking into my traffic. Netflix could do something sensible, like using the billing zip code on the account to lock content by region, but they are perpetrating a thinly veiled assault on individual privacy by blocking VPN users.

Yes, I am from Berkeley. LOL
 

CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
485
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Ahhh, ok @CreoleLakerFan do you notice much latency from the Private Internet Access service?
Sometimes there is a slight delay when the connection has been idle for a while, but no observable latency. My VPN node is in San Jose, which is where my normal traffic probably egresses anyway ... ping times are within 1ms of where they were before.

I tested Amazon Prime streaming and HBO Go last night and didn't notice any ill effects. Guess we'll find out when we watch GoT tonight.
 

CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
485
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I love Plex and use it everyday. If this ever happened if just deal with the switch to Emby (or Kodi). At least their are some options.
I use Kodi for raw mkvs. I recently upgraded to a Unifi AP AC lite, but haven't tried streaming 60GB files wirelessly yet. Going to set up Plex for the kid's tablet and PS3.
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
3,184
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Netflix themselves really don't care very much. They've known about people using VPN to receive content in other countries - its always been restricted in their TOS but was never enforced.

With their expansion into new countries last year they got intense pressure from the content owners to respect their regional rights deals and block the use of VPN to hide your true viewing location. Can't say which content owner put on the most pressure but I understand it's one with lots of animated movies in their collection. They threatened to pull all rights if Netflix didn't 'do something'.

Unfortunately netflix chose to use a dull knife. Any VPN detected is blocked...

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
 
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CreoleLakerFan

Active Member
Oct 29, 2013
485
180
43
Netflix themselves really doesn't care very much. They've know about people using VPN to receive content in other countries - its always been restricted in their TOS but was never enforced.

With their expansion into new countries last year they got intense pressure from the content owners to respect their regional rights deals and block the use of VPN to hide your true viewing location. Can't say which content owner put on the most pressure but I understand it's one with lots of animated movies in their collection. They threatened to pull all rights if Netflix didn't 'do something'.

Unfortunately netflix chose to use a dull knife. Any VPN detected is blocked...

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
It's easy to speculate that there is some deeper political agenda at play than simple content enforcement. Maybe they don't want terrorists in other countries using VPNs to view animated films.

The Disney Jr. app doesn't stream anymore ... I haven't tried the Disney Anywhere app, since I use discs or raw rips at home. It is convenient to download a few owned movies directly for road trips rather than encode for tablet viewing, but it's something I can avoid with a few minutes of planning.

The streaming providers giveth, and the streaming providers taketh away.
 

ttabbal

Active Member
Mar 10, 2016
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And in the process, they make "pirated" versions better. That's the bit they don't seem to understand. The copy isn't only about the money. It's that the copy can be used on any of my devices, with no screwing around with half baked DRM preventing it from working. It just works, every time. If I could get the same format direct from the studios for a reasonable price, considering that I get no physical media, packaging, etc., I'd be all over it. I'd probably spend more money than I do now on DVD/BR/streaming for that.

Honestly, Netflix had no choice. They have contracts they have to honor. I imagine they tried to get the studios to go with billing zip or similar, but got shot down.

I'm getting ready to do a similar VPN setup. I'll probably just route a couple devices direct as needed.
 

TuxDude

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2011
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Cost has very little to do with piracy imho - its all about ease of use. When its easier to download something and watch it through plex than it is to pay for it and watch it, piracy will win every time. And at least for many of us more technologically-advanced types, watching involves playback to multiple devices that could include TV's, PCs, tablets, consoles, etc., and the ease-of-use for most subscription services is just not there at all in that scenario.
 

Navy_BOFH

Active Member
Aug 2, 2013
179
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28
I love Plex and use it everyday. If this ever happened i would just deal with the switch to Emby (or Kodi). At least there are some options other than just Plex. Although, Plex's broad base of platforms and ease of setup is pretty tough to beat. Emby is a pain in comparison (I've tried setting up a couple times and always end up back with Plex).
Based on the history of XBMC and Plex - and the LONG journey Plex has taken to its (recent) v1.0 status - I don't think Plex will ever "sell it's soul to the devil". It's a GREAT piece of software with a very loyal userbase who also contributes heavily into debugging and smoothing out their product. In the end I think their product will remain a good mix of a paid-yet-open-source ecosystem which is a good trend for them.

I have used Plex server for over 3 years now and have been impressed since day one. The upgrades they've made to it just keep me happier and it is surprisingly resource-light for what it is. I run my server off a Core i5 Mac Mini with a Drobo Thunderbolt RAID unit which it currently in a local drive for the server and NFS for the rest of the network. However - I have some L5639 processors and RAM that might go into a 1U Supermicro box with some 2.5" drives and go from my WD Se drives to WD REDs.