Three months ago, Netflix decided that it was time to crack down on users that use VPNs to access content from its service in other regions. CEO Reed Hastings said today that despite users complaining about the crack down, it hasn"t hurt the firm"s bottom line.
Hastings said in this week"s earnings call, "It’s a very small but quite vocal minority. So it’s really inconsequential to us, as you could see in the Q1 results."
The use of a VPN for a service like Netflix can be for multiple reasons. Users that are traveling abroad may wish to access their home catalog. For some users with handicaps, they may need to access that home catalog, as closed captions may only be available in that region"s language.
The one thing that Hastings is worried about is getting more people to sign up for the service. “We are but a little boat in a vast sea,” the company’s executives wrote in a letter to shareholders. “We earn a tiny fraction of consumers’ time and money, and have lots of opportunity ahead to win more of your evenings away from all those other activities if we keep improving.”
Even with prices rising, Netflix remains one of the best deals around for consuming entertaining content.
Source: Wired