
Smartflix – Access the entire Netflix catalogue, region-free - calbearia
http://smartflix.io
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res0nat0r
> Smartflix is a simple application that combines an index of Netflix content
> available worldwide, an optimized proxy service and a chromeless web browser
> that embeds the Netflix web player.

Welp, this will be shutdown anytime soon since it is an obvious violation of
the Netflix TOS.

~~~
rtpg
Could they shutdown the site itself though? Sounds like the TOS violations are
from the users themselves, not the site

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malka
Site is helping violating copyright. Will be closed very soon.

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rdtsc
I maybe wrong but I don't think Netflix has these restrictions just to fuck
with people and ruin their day. It would seem from their implementation point
of view, simply having same content everywhere would be easier. I suspect
these are enforced by licensing rules from those who own the content. Anyone
want to confirm that?

This might get Netflix in trouble if those who own the contents will see it,
see Netflix not to anything about and either increase their fees or refuse to
let Netflix license the contents.

~~~
cynix
Aren't these licensing rules precisely designed to fuck with people and ruin
their day?

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hesdeadjim
I'm sure Netflix would wholeheartedly agree. It's no surprise they've pushed
so hard into self-published content where they no longer have to deal with
this.

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jbombadil
I don't understand. I mean I agree that at some point smartflix is going to
get into trouble for doing this, but I doubt it will come from Netflix (unless
forced to). As far as legalities are concerned, Netflix is serving content
allowed in country X to an IP address located in country X. Netflix is not
breaking copyright that I can see. Why should Netflix worry?

~~~
Veratyr
They've been known to send cease and desist letters at the very least:
[http://www.itbusiness.ca/news/netflix-sends-cease-and-
desist...](http://www.itbusiness.ca/news/netflix-sends-cease-and-desist-
letter-to-virtual-border-hopping-service/53321)

Not sure if it's ever become more serious than that though.

~~~
toomuchtodo
They've reserved the right to cancel accounts for using proxies.

[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/netflix-vpn-cheat-accounts-be-
termi...](http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/netflix-vpn-cheat-accounts-be-terminated-
users-threaten-piracy-if-they-cant-pay-content-1495223)

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splat
This shouldn't be confused with SmartFlix.com, which is like Netflix DVD, but
for instructional and educational videos:

[https://smartflix.com/](https://smartflix.com/)

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cynix
So if I have a Netflix account in my home country, I can access content from
other regions as long as I go through the corresponding proxies? Or do I need
an account in each region I'm trying to access?

~~~
biot
By merely accessing a country-specific DNS server, Netflix will serve up the
country-appropriate selection. You don't need to proxy your traffic through a
VPN for this to work. There are DNS services which let you pick which country
you would like to appear from and people use this for Netflix, Hulu, and
others.

~~~
martinp
This is not entirely accurate. The way these DNS services work is that they
return a different IP address (one they control) for certain Netflix domains.
Then they do TCP proxying between you and Netflix to get around the region
restrictions.

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Cyberdog
tl;dr: It routes your Netflix traffic through proxy servers in other
countries, thus granting you access to content available in that region.

It seems to me that Netflix could easily just block traffic from the proxies'
IP addresses, should this start to bother them or their licensees.

~~~
jadengore
I think they have, I just tried to use it and I'm getting a Netflix site
error.

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fweespeech
Advertising this is a bad idea and I'm 99% sure this is going to get taken
down because of it :p

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malka
yes. If you build an obviously illegal service, stay under the radar for god
sake.

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danielhlockard
This seems like it'll get DMCA'd or something... I doubt netflix will like it
too much.

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jastanton
Hmmm people seem to be pretty shooken up w/ the whole C&D bit, meanwhile here
I am worrying about putting my credentials into this custom browser. At the
very least I would like to compile this myself from the source. Thats just me
:)

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exhilaration
_Netflix data from across all regions is provided by the great folks at
uNoGS.com — by far the most accurate Netflix database on the Internet. Check
them out!_

Now that's useful!

~~~
pasbesoin
I had a quick look at uNoGS based on personal knowledge, and just across the
few titles I examined, they had numerous inaccuracies -- both missing regions
that have support and also missing any regions/listings for titles I know
Netflix streaming is currently carrying.

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broodbucket
Side note, does anyone know if there's a way to determine what's available on
Netflix in each country so you could emulate this manually? i.e. any public
catalog search engine?

~~~
Veratyr
From the bottom of that page:

> Netflix data from across all regions is provided by the great folks at
> uNoGS.com — by far the most accurate Netflix database on the Internet. Check
> them out!

So yes, you can use the exact same database:
[http://unogs.com](http://unogs.com)

~~~
broodbucket
Missed that, thanks.

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michaelmior
I can't see how they think they can get away with _charging_ for a service
that defeats restrictions which were deliberately put in place by Netflix.

~~~
barbs
I find that a bit frustrating too, though to be fair it's not Netflix's fault
those restrictions are in place - they're just complying with copyright laws.

At least it's not as bad as Paragon charging for basic NTFS reading/writing
functionality on Mac OS X.

[https://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/](https://www.paragon-
software.com/home/ntfs-mac/)

~~~
Veratyr
Paragon puts in a non-trivial amount of effort to build functionality that
people are willing to pay for. I'm not sure how that's bad at all.

~~~
barbs
Thinking about it further, I guess my main beef is with Apple for not
including that functionality in the first place, and I don't like the idea of
paying money for something that should be free in essence.

It's also why I don't like how mIRC was so popular, despite numerous open-
source IRC clients being available. And I'd feel pretty uncomfortable paying
for text-editors like Sublime Text or TextMate. But that's just me :).

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hesdeadjim
This isn't a product I would be proud of. Netflix doesn't block content
because they feel like it, they do it because of licensing issues in the
various different countries. It is not your choice as a user to be able to
access whatever content you please, as you are a customer of Netflix and must
abide by their terms of service. Don't like it? Don't use Netflix.

And this service charging for breaking Netflix's ToS? Super sketchy. I
personally hope this is shutdown before this team can start making money off
of it.

~~~
pboutros
Absolutely agree. I can't imagine that someone built this without considering
how illegal (immoral?) it is.

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kbrwn
How could this be considered immoral?

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hesdeadjim
Because you are making money off of breaking someone else's terms of service?

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nitrogen
It is quite easy to make the case that breaking bad rules is moral. In this
case, ridiculous region-based restrictions on copyrighted material are the bad
rules being broken. These are paying customers, after all. Why should it
matter where they watch what they paid to watch?

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ac29
> Why should it matter where they watch what they paid to watch?

Because they are watching things they didn't pay to watch.

If, for example, HBO locks up rights to broadcasting a movie in US, Netflix
might be able to get the rights in the UK. Watching it in the US via a UK
Netflix proxy is (theoretically at least) depriving HBO of revenue, since they
paid for exclusivity.

~~~
nitrogen
That's really HBO's problem, then, for thinking they can continue to forcibly
segregate the world. I'll note that I don't use this service or any like it,
but I do think that people need to keep pushing against the insane excesses of
copyright through the political process, through education, _and_ through
civil disobedience.

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gravypod
I sure hope no one invested in this company. This will be destroyed once
Netflix's lawyers see this.

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x5n1
I hope they get a C&D from Netflix, I see services like this ruining Netflix
for the rest of us who actually know what they are doing, rather than Joe user
who could care less and just wants more movies... causing push back from the
industry.

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calbearia
I also wish bad things upon people.

~~~
x5n1
You are already breaking Netflix's Terms and Conditions by doing this. It's
just when a few people break the rules, they go unnoticed, and perhaps those
who make the rules don't care. When the masses do it then it's a problem that
then gets special attention.

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nitrogen
When masses break rules it's often a sign that there's something wrong with
the rules.

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x5n1
Yes I want unlimited free content for $7.99/mo. What's so hard to understand?

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nitrogen
You could look at the argument a bit more charitably, as in, "I don't want to
be treated as a digital inferior just because of the country I happened to be
born in." If $X/mo is good enough for a certain lineup in the US, it should be
good enough for the same lineup anywhere.

~~~
x5n1
valid point.

