Mimimi: Geoblocking
Geo-blocking is a problem that has been getting on my nerves for a long time. The EU has now come up with a solution that does me no favours. And it doesn't do EU citizens much good either.
I have given away my television. Firstly, I don't watch much TV and secondly, I can also watch it on my PC or tablet. But now I can no longer use the German channels. ZDF, for example, tells me: "For legal reasons, this article can only be broadcast in Germany."
Geo-blocking once again.
I should have known. I could still watch ZDF on free-to-air TV with a normal TV - as well as many other foreign channels. Apparently, different rights apply for streaming than for traditional TV.
The internet actually has the advantage that you can get everything from anywhere. At least that's what I thought. But the reality is different. I remember music that I could only buy on iTunes in Italy, videos that could only be streamed in the USA and audiobooks that existed but couldn't be bought or downloaded here.
I know that I can get round geoblocking to some extent, but that's not the point here. The fact that I would have to resort to some dodgy hacks to consume the most mundane things is suboptimal to say the least. With its control mania and licence haggling, the entertainment industry has created a monster that can no longer be managed even with armies of lawyers.
Geoblocking is only part of the problem. All sorts of things are blocked everywhere. When our colleague Luca Fontana tests a TV and wants to record it in a ten-second video, YouTube blocks it automatically. After all, content is being shown on the TV (!), and that's not possible because the content belongs to someone.
Or: When music producer Rick Beato analyses a well-known song and explains why the song is so great, YouTube blocks it. As he explains in the video below, he now has to play the song completely himself so that the filter algorithms don't kick in. Thank you Rick for making the effort. It would probably be too daft for me.
The most absurd thing about this theatre is, of course, that the entertainment industry could actually sell and distribute more of its stuff if it didn't put obstacles in its own way.
A new EU regulation to combat the geo-blocking problem has been in force since 3 December 2018. That's actually great. The national borders on the internet are finally being opened up. But according to the report on Heise.de, the following are exempt from this regulation:
- Digital media such as e-books, music, films and computer games
- Streaming services
- Financial services for private customers
- Transport sector
So pretty much everything that is actually a problem. In this sense: thanks for nothing.
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David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
