Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Kiwis to farewell 'global mode' browsing

TV broadcasters build crumbling wall around New Zealand

New Zealand ISPs' experiment with bundled VPN services is over: CallPlus has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to axe its Global Mode service on September 1.

The on-again, off-again, on-again service let CallPlus customers get around geoblocks by giving them a US IP address, and the country's TV broadcasters were outraged and launched a lawsuit in April.

Both Slingshot and Orcon, another high-profile NZ ISP, were targeted.

The line-up of plaintiffs included Sky Television, Television New Zealand, Mediaworks and Lightbox.

The service was launched and withdrawn in 2012, and revived in 2014 as an automatic offering to all customers. CallPlus – which is currently on the way to being taken over by Australian telco M2 – owns the slingshot, Orcon and Flip brands, and the Global Mode offering was created by Bypass Network Services.

The settlement gags the parties from making further comment. However, InternetNZ has said the settlement is “disappointing” because it leaves the question of geoblocking circumvention in a legal grey area.

As InternetNZ CEO Jordan Carter told Fairfax, having the issue go before a court would “provide users and the industry with clarity”.

With the law unresolved, TV broadcasters will instead have to go back to complaining about Kiwi netizens setting up their own VPN access, so they can breach Netflix terms of service. ®

Similar topics

Similar topics

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like