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Netflix Declares Party Over For Members Sneaking Into U.S. Service

Netflix Is Not Very Chill About You Sneaking Into Its U.S. Library
The website for the Netflix Inc. video streaming service sits on a mobile device screen in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. Naspers Ltd., Africa's biggest company by market value, is planning to expand its video-streaming competitor to Netflix Inc. into three new continents next year while Samsung Electronics Co. has agreed to include the service on its smart TVs, according to a person familiar with the matter. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg via Getty Images
The website for the Netflix Inc. video streaming service sits on a mobile device screen in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. Naspers Ltd., Africa's biggest company by market value, is planning to expand its video-streaming competitor to Netflix Inc. into three new continents next year while Samsung Electronics Co. has agreed to include the service on its smart TVs, according to a person familiar with the matter. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Don't worry, you can still 'Netflix and chill'. But the honeymoon for Aussies currently enjoying the foray of content on the U.S. Netflix is apparently over.

Netflix has announced it is cracking down on members using proxies and apps like Smartflix to access content unavailable in their own country.

In a statement released on Friday, David Fullager, Vice President of Content Delivery Architecture at Netflix declared the party over for those bending the rules online.

“Some members use proxies or 'unblockers' to access titles available outside their territory. To address this, we employ the same or similar measures other firms do. This technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it,” Fullagar said.

“That means in coming weeks, those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are. We are confident this change won’t impact members not using proxies.”

Fullager said Netflix members will eventually be able to enjoy the same content globally but “we have a way to go” due to geographical licensing agreements.

While Fullager also announced the subscription service is now available in 190 countries, it hasn't stopped the Twitter outrage.

A Netflix Australia spokesman said the current content provided to Australians "should provide a service members find valuable no matter where they’re watching".

"As we continue to strive towards licencing content on a global scale, along with our slate of originals which launch globally simultaneously, the use of VPNs will become redundant," the spokesman told The Huffington Post Australia.

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