Anyone who's traveled to another country knows how frustrating it is to be geoblocked from streaming content that's available back at home. Due to licensing restrictions, content providers like Netflix aren't always able to provide the same viewing experience across different countries, and so some countries get access to a worse content library than others. Hypothetically, this shouldn't happen within the European Common Market (to which the European Union belongs), which seeks to "guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labour," but in reality there's always some gap between theory and practice. However, that begins to change with the EU's Cross-border portability of online content services policy, which went into effect yesterday. Essentially, the policy ensures a 'Digital Single Market' within the European Union, meaning that any EU resident that travels within the EU is guaranteed access to the same content he or she pays for back at home, … [Read more...] about EU residents now have access to the same online content anywhere in the EU as they do back home, but that’s not necessarily a good thing
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Netflix’s European users can access their home catalog throughout the EU
Europeans now can watch online streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Video Prime, and others that they’ve subscribed to at home wherever they are traveling in the EU without facing region blocks. The European Commission announced its new digital portability rules went into effect yesterday, as spotted by Engadget. The rules cover any digital content subscriptions, but it doesn’t cover free content, which will be up to the providers’ discretion. The new change also means that Netflix will be able to serve films and TV shows to subscribers without having to obtain licenses for the territories. Users’ accounts will automatically check their IP addresses to spot their location. The commission noted that between 2010 and 2014, European spending on video subscription services grew 113 percent each year. It estimates that at least 29 million people will benefit from the change in rules. Between different European countries, the number of films and television shows … [Read more...] about Netflix’s European users can access their home catalog throughout the EU
Why London startups are immune to the EU brain drain to the U.S.
Earlier this month, I detailed how the EU is currently losing its best and brightest in a startup brain drain to the U.S. As I explained, EU startups are finding it necessary to look to U.S.-based venture funds for investments but often have to “flip” into subsidiaries of U.S.-based parent companies as a condition of the deal, resulting in a mass migration of EU innovators to the U.S. Europe faces the real danger of blowing its startup moment. But if the EU acts quickly, it can counter that threat by engaging with U.S.-based venture funds that are open and willing to invest in foreign startups without requiring them to flip. What I didn’t detail in that earlier story is that the UK is proving to be an exception to the brain drain trend. Last year the UK’s tech sector hit an all-time high of VC investment, attracting almost double ($4.2 billion) the total amount of venture capital invested in UK firms in 2016 ($2.3 billion). The lion’s share of that … [Read more...] about Why London startups are immune to the EU brain drain to the U.S.
EU to seize UK-owned .eu domains after Brexit
When the UK leaves the EU next year, it will lose whatever .eu domains it owns. The European Commission announced it will cancel more than 300.000 domains under the .eu top-level with a UK registrant following Brexit, which is now just a year away."As of the withdrawal date, undertakings and organisations that are established in the United Kingdom but not in the EU and natural persons who reside in the United Kingdom will no longer be eligible to register .eu domain names," the document states, adding, "or if they are .eu registrants, to renew .eu domain names registered before the withdrawal date."The European Commission also added that .eu domains can be terminated without the right for appeal."As a result of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, a holder of a domain name does no longer fulfil the general eligibility criteria... the Registry for .eu will be entitled to revoke such domain name on its own initiative and without submitting the dispute to any extrajudicial … [Read more...] about EU to seize UK-owned .eu domains after Brexit
UK companies and residents will be stripped of .EU domains after Brexit
The latest casualty in the UK’s impending departure from the European Union? Domain names ending with .eu. As spotted by The Register, the European Commission announced on Thursday that after Brexit, any and all UK citizens and companies will be barred from owning .eu domain names. In a letter to stakeholders, the Commission, which is the legislative body of the EU, said: “As of the withdrawal date, undertakings and organizations that are established in the United Kingdom but not in the EU and natural persons who reside in the United Kingdom will no longer be eligible to register [or renew] .eu domain names.” Exactly when these domain names will be taken away isn’t clear, but the Commission suggests it could happen on the date of Brexit itself, currently scheduled for March 30th, 2019. This won’t have a catastrophic impact (the .eu TLD never really took off in the UK) but will still affect the 317,000 or .eu domains estimated to be registered in the UK. … [Read more...] about UK companies and residents will be stripped of .EU domains after Brexit