The Eurocámara eliminates the geographic blockade in Netflix and Spotify

Those who have purchased digital content on the Internet in their country of residence can access them through their mobile phone, tablet or computer when they are in another EU country.

   The European Parliament (EP) plenary session today approved an end to the geographical blockade for online digital content accounts such as Netflix or Spotify when the subscriber uses them in a country other than the Union.

Consumers who have subscribed or purchased digital content on the Internet in their country of residence can access it through their mobile phone, tablet or computer when they are temporarily in another EU country.

   The new rules, agreed in February with the Board and that will take effect within nine months, will apply to online content services accessed through a paid subscription, to ensure the benefit of both consumers and consumers. the authors.

Open services, like those of public channels, will benefit from regulation if they verify the country of residence of their subscribers.

The current obstacles to the portability of Internet content services derive from the fact that the rights of transmission of copyrighted or protected related content, such as audiovisual works or major sporting events, usually have licenses linked to a territory.

Avoid abuse

To prevent abuse, online service providers will "verify the country of residence of the subscribers", a check that should be in accordance with the EU data protection rules.

It is expected that the end of roaming, next June 15, is also an incentive for Europeans to increase the consumption of these services also when they travel to other countries, since it will no longer entail additional costs.

In the debate prior to the vote, the rapporteur of the text, the French liberal Jean-Marie Cavada, said that "the final agreement satisfies both citizens and audiovisual service providers, holders of rights and creators."

"This new regulation means important progress for the single market," said Cavada, who, like other MEPs, said that they will now be able to continue watching their series or football matches of their teams when they travel to Brussels and Strasbourg.

For his part, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy, Andrus Ansip, recalled that 20% of Europeans spend at least 10 days a year in another EU country.

For 29 million users

He stressed that this measure will help to end the fraud of locating Internet IP addresses, and will also help reduce illegal downloads.

Brussels estimates that 29 million people, 5.7% of European consumers, will potentially use the portability of audiovisual services, a figure they estimate will grow to 72 million in 2020.

After the vote, the Association of European Commercial Television (ACT) welcomed the new rules and the established methods to verify the country of residence of each viewer or client.

In a statement, the ACT stressed that its members expect the rapid implementation of the new rules that they consider "will have a beneficial impact especially for all European consumers."

In this sense, the director of the European consumer organization (BEUC), Monique Goyens, congratulated herself for what she achieved, although she pointed out that portability is "only a first step" since "consumers should opt to contract services from other countries of the EU if they are more satisfied ", instead of only those from their country of residence.

"The audiovisual industry is struggling to keep the benefits of the single market for itself and not extend it to consumers," he added.