What is Geo-Blocking?
Geo-blocking is the concept of limiting the accessibility of the content, website, or platform-based on the geographic location of visitors. In simpler words, there isa number of sites that you cannot access from your region. This is basically because of the geo-blocking.
Taking a simple example of Netflix would be the best here. Criminal Minds was one of the best shows by Netflix, but it was reported that it was only available in the US Netflix library, and people used to access it with a Netflix VPN. But this is not the only way of accessing the geo-restricted content. But before we discuss the ways of bypassing geo-restrictions, let’s explore the reasons for geo-restricting the content.
Why Content is Geo-Restricted?
There are numerous reasons why the content is geo-restricted, and here below, we have discussed some of those reasons.
- Copyright Agreements
Content providers like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc. don’t have all the rights to the content they have. They just have their broadcasting rights of that content. So, copyright holders can impose restrictions. The best example of this point is that we see different Netflix Library for different regions.
- Licensing Rights
Copyright holders and content distributors need to acquire the licensing rights from that country as well. At times these rights are expensive or impermissible in the law of that specific country. This also becomes a reason for geo-restricting the content.
- Legal Reasons and Requirements
Legal issues can cause a lot of hindrance in making the content or platform available in specific regions. Such as accessing Facebook is not allowed in China because of the legal restrictions.
These are the reasons you might see geo-restricted content, but there are ways of accessing it, and here in the section, we have stated the ways to bypass geo-restrictions.
Ways to Bypass Geo-Restricted Content
We have analyzed that there are four ways to access or bypass geo-restricted content.
- VPN
VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a way of accessing geo-blocked content as it masks your IP address and connects you to a server from the country that is not geo-restricted. There are a number of complications or requirements in selecting the VPNs. You should assess its speed, servers, security, and prices as there area number of options available for VPNs. Even you can get the VPNs for DisneyPlus or Netflix with optimal servers for accessing these platforms.
- Proxy Servers
The proxy server is considered to be a middleman between you and the site you are trying to access. Proxy servers have their IP address, which they use to redirect you to the geo-restricted site. When you connect to the internet through a proxy, it grants you a different IP address before redirecting you to the website you’re trying to access.
- Tor Browser
Tor is another way to bypass geo-restrictions. It works like any other browser – Chrome, Safari, etc. You can open all the regular websites, as well as special. Onion sites that are only available on the Tor network. However, it is not usually protected and your data is exposed to third parties while using this browser.
- Smart DNS
A Domain Name System (DNS) makes domain names, like Facebook, readable. Imagine if every time you wanted to go to Facebook, you’d have to type in a long sequence of numbers instead of a short, 8-letter name. You have to thank DNS for making it easier.
Using Smart DNS or DNS changes your DNS servers from the devices to the local ones to DNS servers based in a different country.If a website uses DNS level blocks to deny users access in particular countries, then using Smart DNS or DNS changer will do the job.
However, there are many drawbacks of changing DNS for unblocking regionally restricted content. It doesn’t change your IP address, it doesn’t encrypt your data, and it doesn’t unlock everything. Again, you’ll be better off using a VPN since it offers much more functionality and security.
These four ways could be useful to access the geo-restricted content from anywhere; however, the best way that we can recommend you is to use a VPN. Though it might cost you a little price it is the fastest, safest and the best way to get to any content that is geo-restricted in your region.
