
Netflix launches in Germany, Austria and Switzerland within 3 days - julianwachholz
https://pr.netflix.com/WebClient/clientNewsSearchAction.do?contentGroupId=10491&contentGroup=Press+Releases
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mmahemoff
Also France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Netflix announced in May it would launch
in 6 European countries this year and this is the week they are all launching.

[http://www.wort.lu/en/lifestyle/luxembourg-launch-friday-
net...](http://www.wort.lu/en/lifestyle/luxembourg-launch-friday-netflix-goes-
live-in-france-as-part-of-europe-expansion-5417c878b9b3988708065bf3)

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Artemis2
I'm French, and even though Netflix doesn't have as much contents as it does
in the US, I really like using it. I feel that I am supporting something that
will make media companies rethink their distribution and pricing means.

~~~
thibaut_barrere
I came here to say the same thing (I'm French too). I have used the oft-cited
CanalPlay offer, with slightly more hours of shows, and had a hard time
finding interesting content, not because it isn't there, but because the
recommendation engine is clearly not up to the game.

Things I like most about netflix so far: family profiles (not for parental
control, but more because each one has their list, can resume a movie etc), I
can force the quality to excellent (our satellite link has a big bandwidth but
the latency often confuses the streaming services, ending up with big square
pixels), current time in the movie is shared across devices, onboarding is
good, recommendations so far have been excellent.

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newoneyeah
For those looking for a solution that will allow them to watch e.g. the
American version of Netflix (which has the largest selection), check out
[https://unlocator.com/](https://unlocator.com/) or [http://www.unblock-
us.com/](http://www.unblock-us.com/). The latter was a bit unreliable for me,
whereas the former works well.

To save money, create an American Netflix account instead of a Netflix account
in your native country. The way to sign up for the American account is to use
one of the VPN services above, change your DNS settings as explained on the
VPN service's website, and then go to netflix.com. You should then see the
American version and be able to create an account there.

~~~
kiliankoe
Using my German account works just fine when accessing netflix.com through a
US proxy. I'm logged in just the same and get the US catalog instead of the
German one.

~~~
newoneyeah
Sure, but the German account is more expensive.

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MrBuddyCasino
German copycat portals for whatever usually suck, so I was pretty psyched to
hear Netflix was launching, only to then find out that their selection in
Germany is mediocre at best. Here is a comparison (in german):

[http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/apps/netflix-test-
information...](http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/apps/netflix-test-
informationen-review-vergleich-der-deutschen-version-a-991844-2.html)

I'm seriously considering a US VPN, guess thats the country with the best
catalogue. Any experience regarding potential bandwidth issues?

~~~
neotek
Hola Better Internet is a free extension for Chrome that lets you connect to
any site via a proxy, I've used it with Netflix before. It's also handy for
getting around YouTube's geoblocking.

[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hola-better-
intern...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hola-better-
internet/gkojfkhlekighikafcpjkiklfbnlmeio?hl=en)

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jre
It seems that House of Cards is not available in Switzerland and France (at
least French part) because a French TV channel got the rights. Pretty sad.

Source :
[http://www.letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/7d197506-3ef1-11e4-a188-24a0...](http://www.letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/7d197506-3ef1-11e4-a188-24a047c27404|1)
(in French and paywalled, just change your UA to Googlebot)

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hackerboos
As an EU citizen aren't you allowed to register for the UK netflix service?

Pretty sure they need to treat all EU citizens the same.

~~~
newoneyeah
Use a VPN service (see my comment elsewhere on this page), register for the
American service, and then, on the VPN service's website, change your Netflix
region to UK or another region.

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Quequau
Netflix support straight out told me to do this... and I wonder about it.

I'm sort of at the point where I don't see a whole lot of difference between
just torrenting whatever it is I want to watch and using a VPN to circumvent
copyright restrictions... except using bittorrent is cheaper and more amenable
to my crappy unreliable Internet service.

~~~
newoneyeah
The difference is that when you're using Netflix you're actually paying the
people who make the stuff you watch.

~~~
Quequau
Well, no. I would actually be paying Netflix and some company providing a VPN
and neither of them are making the stuff I watch.

~~~
newoneyeah
Netflix pays the content owners / studios for the content they serve, and so
the screenwriters/directors/actors/producers get paid if you use Netflix.

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davedx
Very curious about what's happening to their share price at the moment:
[http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=NFLX+Interactive#symbol=N...](http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=NFLX+Interactive#symbol=NFLX;range=5d)

Sounds like a big multi-country European launch should be a good thing, but
their stock's really nose dived this week. Anyone know why?

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staffan
News got out today that contentowners are pressing Netflix to stop people from
using VPN to get other regions content.

~~~
newoneyeah
Do you have a link to that story?

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junto
Spiegel Online has a comparison of online video providers (In German):

[http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/apps/netflix-alternative-
maxd...](http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/apps/netflix-alternative-maxdome-
watchever-sky-snap-amazon-im-vergleich-a-991197.html)

I welcome these video services here in German. I'm extremely happy to get
original audio versions (OV), which the terrestrial channels butcher with
German dubbing (with no original audio track offered).

I'll be voting with my cash and the next time Kabel Deutschland contact me
again about their shitty cable TV service I'll tell them again why I don't
want it. I really don't want to watch Pulp Fiction in German, however funny it
sounds _.

_
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELLL_qIl80Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELLL_qIl80Q)

~~~
jayd77
German speaker here, although not native. I found German dubbing for some
movies especially war or action movies better then the original some time.
German has this tensity that English don't have. I watched The Matrix in
German and liked it better than the Original.

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fotcorn
The easiest way to watch netflix on Linux is using the Chrome Beta version
with a spoofed user agent:

[http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/08/netflix-linux-
html5-suppo...](http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/08/netflix-linux-
html5-support-plugins)

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manmal
Austrian here. We suffer from a severely restricted library on Netflix, but
there is a loophole: If you connect via a VPN in another country (e.g. US,
Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany,..), you can view the country's respective
content. Very clever of them :)

~~~
fringebook
In Germany and Switzerland (not sure about Austria) it's legal to download
(not legal to upload):

\- [http://thepiratebay.se/](http://thepiratebay.se/)

\- Or, if above is blocked: [http://194.71.107.80/](http://194.71.107.80/)

~~~
heinrich5991
If you're torrenting you're likely uploading too…

~~~
lutoma
Eh, just use put.io or something. I have yet to find a legal service that is
as convenient (built-in conversion to other formats, streaming to Chromecast,
subtitles etc.) and has as big of a selection. It's not like I'm not willing
to pay (put.io costs money as well).

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erikb
I'm using it since the first day and it's the best streaming experience I ever
had. Sad that it doesn't work on Linux without some workarounds, though.

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ck2
How will Europe's ISPs react to the bandwidth increase?

Better than the USA? Or will they also pressure netflix for a cut?

~~~
rsynnott
Non-profit peering exchanges are more common in Europe:
[http://blog.cloudflare.com/the-relative-cost-of-bandwidth-
ar...](http://blog.cloudflare.com/the-relative-cost-of-bandwidth-around-the-
world/)

As far as I know, they've had little trouble in the UK (where they peer at
LINX) or Ireland (where they peer at INEX); I'd expect similar arrangements in
the new countries.

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lmedinas
Anyone knows if the movies/tvshows have original sound and have additional
subtitle languages ?

~~~
manmal
Yes, English is always available, plus localized sound and subtitles where
available. E.g. Austria & Germany have English & German tracks, while
Netherlands only have English audio and English and Dutch subtitles.

~~~
lmedinas
Cool! is also possible somehow to had additional subtitles languages ?

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fs111
Just sign up and try it out. The first month is for free...

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alternize
here's a site with a listing of the currently available content for Germany
(and Switzerland):
[http://www.netflixdeutschland.net/](http://www.netflixdeutschland.net/)

