5 ms·

"Sorry, currently our video library can only be watched from within the United States" - same as the old Hulu

addies 14y ago
I wrote a blog post (http://goo.gl/PnaxJ http://goo.gl/PnaxJ) on this a while back along with a work around
stanleydrew 14y ago
This is not a terribly difficult restriction to get around: 1) Boot an ec2 instance in VA, US 2) ssh -D 8888 <ec2hostname> 3) Configure Chrome/FF to use a SOCKS proxy on localhost:8888
- arunoda 14y ago
  nice.
  - arunoda 14y ago
    why down voting this? I just said nice.
- jhchabran 14y ago
  I'm already using a VPN in the US to handle that (Netflix), but they reject my credit card (french one). Any idea of a workaround ? EDIT : typo
  - Moto7451 14y ago
    You could try purchasing a prepaid Visa, Mastercard, or American Express gift card online and have it shipped to you. I see that amazon.com has various prepaid gift cards. Another option I'd be less excited about is a "reloadable" (i.e. Green Dot) debit card. I believe most US issued reloadable cards require a social security number however.
  - mbesto 14y ago
    I think you can buy a US gift card[1] and use that instead. I haven't tried it, so don't quote me on it ;) [1] - https://www311.americanexpress.com/BOLWeb/bolfeOrder.do?request_type=orderProduct&promotion=ACP&program=ACPWEB&selleracctnbr=6430098999I&intlink=GC:hm:Pg:PGC https://www311.americanexpress.com/BOLWeb/bolfeOrder.do?requ...
  - oemera 14y ago
    I was successful with a prepaid credit card with US dollar as the currency. Just go to entropay.com, create a credit card and put some money on it.
  - discountgenius 14y ago
    Are you willing to wait "6 to 8 weeks?" http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/21/3257144/bitinstant-bitcoin-debit-credit-card-rumor http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/21/3257144/bitinstant-bitcoin...
- recursive 14y ago
  If you think that any one of those three steps is not far beyond the technical ability of most hulu users, you're dreaming.
  - iconfinder 14y ago
    And probably also beyond a lot of Hacker News readers' technical ability.
    - donall 14y ago
      This is an interesting comment. I take it for granted that the majority of readers are pretty comfortable doing that kind of thing. Is there any way of telling what the real distribution is?
      - recursive 14y ago
        I doubt it. Maybe a survey. I'm one out of three. I could set up a socks proxy in chrome. As for the others, I'm sure I could learn them, but I have no idea where to start.
- Argorak 14y ago
  Quoting the old Erlang meme: did you just tell me to go ---- myself? Seriously. I won't jump through hoops to give others my money, broken copyright or not. I don't see a huge push by those companies to change the way things are. Wheres the lobbying for a global copyright or easier access rules? Where are the visible changes? As long as all those efforts don't lead to a change, they won't have my business.
  - DiabloD3 14y ago
    Yes, Bob, I think he did.
  - stanleydrew 14y ago
    I don't think you should pay them. I certainly don't. I was merely pointing out how I've been able to watch Hulu content while traveling outside the US.
    - Argorak 14y ago
      I am not able to use Hulu (wrong country), but don't they at least have a travel mode? Spotify has one, for example.
  - snowwrestler 14y ago
    How would you be giving Hulu any of your money when the shows are free to watch?
    - Argorak 14y ago
      http://www.hulu.com/plus http://www.hulu.com/plus
      - snowwrestler 14y ago
        I know about Hulu Plus, but the subject of this particular discussion is their (free) website redesign.
- mistercow 14y ago
  You know what's even easier than that? BitTorrent.
- jwr 14y ago
  Have you actually tried? Can you pay for Hulu with a non-US credit card?
jeffool 14y ago
Sadly, that's not Hulu, that's the rights holders. And that's not changing for a long time.
dusing 14y ago
Every conversation about Hulu gets highjacked by this kind of talk. We get it, its not changing anytime soon, and its not even Hulu's fault. Now back to the topic at hand...
- jwr 14y ago
  Well of course it does. Hulu does not want to sell to the majority of the world population, that's a pretty significant issue. Also, it's irrelevant whether it's Hulu's fault or not. It needs to be brought up regularly, to put pressure on everyone (including Hulu). If we ignore the issue, we accept the status quo. Look at it another way: for a large number of HN readers this news item is just an annoyance. Something we can't even check out. You see a news item, you click on the link and get a "nyah nyah nothing for you here, just go away". I'd say that merits a mention in the comments.
- lukifer 14y ago
  They could at least make the effort, even if the library available to each country starts out small.
- officemonkey 14y ago
  >its not changing anytime soon, and its not even Hulu's fault. Of course it's Hulu's fault. Hulu's owned by NBC, FOX, and Disney. I am certain those three content providers could retain world-wide internet streaming rights for their shows and make them available in any number of countries. As long as they make it impossible for the rest of the 6.4 billion people to watch their site, they're not only leaving money on the table, but they're encouraging people to pirate.
house9-2 14y ago
Checkout http://www.unblock-us.com/ http://www.unblock-us.com/ to get around this, i was able to watch olympics on bbc which was great
necenzurat 14y ago
meh... you can try thepiratebay.se

I wrote a blog post (http://goo.gl/PnaxJ http://goo.gl/PnaxJ) on this a while back along with a work around

This is not a terribly difficult restriction to get around: 1) Boot an ec2 instance in VA, US 2) ssh -D 8888 <ec2hostname> 3) Configure Chrome/FF to use a SOCKS proxy on localhost:8888

arunoda 14y ago
nice.
- arunoda 14y ago
  why down voting this? I just said nice.
jhchabran 14y ago
I'm already using a VPN in the US to handle that (Netflix), but they reject my credit card (french one). Any idea of a workaround ? EDIT : typo
- Moto7451 14y ago
  You could try purchasing a prepaid Visa, Mastercard, or American Express gift card online and have it shipped to you. I see that amazon.com has various prepaid gift cards. Another option I'd be less excited about is a "reloadable" (i.e. Green Dot) debit card. I believe most US issued reloadable cards require a social security number however.
- mbesto 14y ago
  I think you can buy a US gift card[1] and use that instead. I haven't tried it, so don't quote me on it ;) [1] - https://www311.americanexpress.com/BOLWeb/bolfeOrder.do?request_type=orderProduct&promotion=ACP&program=ACPWEB&selleracctnbr=6430098999I&intlink=GC:hm:Pg:PGC https://www311.americanexpress.com/BOLWeb/bolfeOrder.do?requ...
- oemera 14y ago
  I was successful with a prepaid credit card with US dollar as the currency. Just go to entropay.com, create a credit card and put some money on it.
- discountgenius 14y ago
  Are you willing to wait "6 to 8 weeks?" http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/21/3257144/bitinstant-bitcoin-debit-credit-card-rumor http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/21/3257144/bitinstant-bitcoin...
recursive 14y ago
If you think that any one of those three steps is not far beyond the technical ability of most hulu users, you're dreaming.
- iconfinder 14y ago
  And probably also beyond a lot of Hacker News readers' technical ability.
  - donall 14y ago
    This is an interesting comment. I take it for granted that the majority of readers are pretty comfortable doing that kind of thing. Is there any way of telling what the real distribution is?
    - recursive 14y ago
      I doubt it. Maybe a survey. I'm one out of three. I could set up a socks proxy in chrome. As for the others, I'm sure I could learn them, but I have no idea where to start.
Argorak 14y ago
Quoting the old Erlang meme: did you just tell me to go ---- myself? Seriously. I won't jump through hoops to give others my money, broken copyright or not. I don't see a huge push by those companies to change the way things are. Wheres the lobbying for a global copyright or easier access rules? Where are the visible changes? As long as all those efforts don't lead to a change, they won't have my business.
- DiabloD3 14y ago
  Yes, Bob, I think he did.
- stanleydrew 14y ago
  I don't think you should pay them. I certainly don't. I was merely pointing out how I've been able to watch Hulu content while traveling outside the US.
  - Argorak 14y ago
    I am not able to use Hulu (wrong country), but don't they at least have a travel mode? Spotify has one, for example.
- snowwrestler 14y ago
  How would you be giving Hulu any of your money when the shows are free to watch?
  - Argorak 14y ago
    http://www.hulu.com/plus http://www.hulu.com/plus
    - snowwrestler 14y ago
      I know about Hulu Plus, but the subject of this particular discussion is their (free) website redesign.
mistercow 14y ago
You know what's even easier than that? BitTorrent.
jwr 14y ago
Have you actually tried? Can you pay for Hulu with a non-US credit card?

jeffool 14y ago

Sadly, that's not Hulu, that's the rights holders. And that's not changing for a long time.

dusing 14y ago

Every conversation about Hulu gets highjacked by this kind of talk. We get it, its not changing anytime soon, and its not even Hulu's fault. Now back to the topic at hand...

jwr 14y ago
Well of course it does. Hulu does not want to sell to the majority of the world population, that's a pretty significant issue. Also, it's irrelevant whether it's Hulu's fault or not. It needs to be brought up regularly, to put pressure on everyone (including Hulu). If we ignore the issue, we accept the status quo. Look at it another way: for a large number of HN readers this news item is just an annoyance. Something we can't even check out. You see a news item, you click on the link and get a "nyah nyah nothing for you here, just go away". I'd say that merits a mention in the comments.
lukifer 14y ago
They could at least make the effort, even if the library available to each country starts out small.
officemonkey 14y ago
>its not changing anytime soon, and its not even Hulu's fault. Of course it's Hulu's fault. Hulu's owned by NBC, FOX, and Disney. I am certain those three content providers could retain world-wide internet streaming rights for their shows and make them available in any number of countries. As long as they make it impossible for the rest of the 6.4 billion people to watch their site, they're not only leaving money on the table, but they're encouraging people to pirate.

house9-2 14y ago

Checkout http://www.unblock-us.com/ http://www.unblock-us.com/ to get around this, i was able to watch olympics on bbc which was great

necenzurat 14y ago

meh... you can try thepiratebay.se