Netflix, Hulu streaming illegal in South Africa

Using services such as virtual private networks (VPNs) or a DNS-based “un-blocker” such as UnoTelly to access Netflix, Spotify, and other online content services from South Africa is copyright infringement.

This is according to Nicholas Hall from Michalsons Attorneys. The problem isn't that you are fooling these services into believing that you are from the United States. Using a tool such as UnoTelly or a VPN is perfectly legal so long as you use them for legal purposes, Hall said.

However, it is illegal to access content outside the region that it has been licensed for, Hall said.

This is because you are using copyrighted material outside the terms of its license, which is copyright infringement. Or, in the vernacular, “piracy”.

Hall is not the only South African technology lawyer who is of this opinion. Director of Web Tech Law, Paul Jacobson, made a similar argument on the firm’s blog last year.

“Having the capability to access Netflix’s content doesn't equate to permission to access it. If you lack permission to access the Netflix content you lack a license to access that content and unlicensed or unauthorized access to the Netflix content is copyright infringement,” Jacobson said.

“In legal terms, this is tantamount to torrenting the content,” he added.

When Hall was asked whether it would be accurate to say that SA law regards bypassing region locks and simply downloading a movie using BitTorrent or Usenet as the same offence, Hall said that different sections of the Copyright Act apply.

“Strictly speaking it isn't the same offence, but it amounts to the same thing,” Hall said.

Hall explained that such infringement isn’t criminal, but added that rights holders could sue offenders if they wanted to, though he doesn’t believe they would.

“In my personal opinion, I think the rights holders would prefer that people access their content this way, where they will derive some revenue, as opposed people just downloading it without paying,” Hall said.

The services themselves could also hold you in breach of contract as circumventing their region restrictions is against their terms of service, but Hall said that they are unlikely to take action.

“In most cases you are paying for the services, such as in the case of Netflix and HuluPlus, and so are a revenue stream,” Hall said.