[AusNOG] Netflix coming to Australia

[Mark Foster]

On 26/05/2014 4:06 p.m., Geordie Guy wrote:
> Suspect it was either a joke article or someone got wind of something 
> that turned out to be false, possibly an article being written for if 
> it ever did happen which can be edited and published quickly to get 
> the scoop.
>
> As I mentioned in my previous comment on this thread, Netflix have 
> made deliberate and clear representations that they are not planning 
> an Australian service on the near horizon.  The majority of 
> Australians who want Netflix content are either torrenting it or have 
> Netflix accounts from the US service. While The Australian's Chris 
> Griffith has a grip on technology and media content similar to a guy 
> trying to grab a personal lube-coated soap using buttered latex 
> mittens, he did credibly project in March that there are between 
> 50,000 and 200,000 Australian Netflix subscribers.  Put that figure up 
> against the fact that Netflix content like Game of Thrones is the most 
> pirated thing in the world, and Australians are some of the biggest 
> pirates out, and you've got an entire Australian Netflix market that 
> are either never going to pay for Netflix or already are.  There's 
> next to nobody out there that won't torrent what they want AND won't 
> subscribe to Netflix until they launch an inferior Australian service.
>
> While I'd encourage providers to build strong networks for the 
> delivery of high quality media content anyway, customers are already 
> placing demand on the existing network capacities here.  The idea that 
> Netflix are going to bother capturing the eight person Australian 
> market that wants their content and doesn't already have it (at the 
> cost of the lawyers being let off their chains and barreling across 
> the yard to latch onto their forearms) seems invisibly thin.
>
> G
>
>

This strikes me as an overly cynical viewpoint.

Many people who draw media from torrents, etc, do so because there's no 
choice.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

I personally would happily purchase a Netflix subscription if I had the 
option to do so. More than that, I think plenty of folks happily pay 
fair prices for services given the choice to do so.  iTunes and Spotify 
did it for music.  Netflix would be one way of doing it for video - 
assuming they removed the geographic limitations.

Of course i'm in NZ, so I clearly have longer to wait. :o

Mark.