- Copyright issues

- Procurement of local films and dubbing/subtitles for existing ones

- Localization of interfaces/apps

- Payment options adequate for every country

- Local tax issues

- Local marketing

I think just the top one is the biggest one.

If someone in Germany wants to pay for non-localised movies or tv shows in English (or any other language) and can use the English website... why stop them?

As the co-founder of the only truly global feature film VOD service I can confirm this is the case. The situation with rights is quite nuanced. An example of one small but annoying detail is the fact that content is often licensed by language, and the local distributor owning streaming rights for a given film will only be interested in the local language rights. So in practice, you may have subtitles in German, French and English, but you can only allow their use in the respective countries. In order to realize the dream of a VOD service where everything is available globally in any language is going to require a complete sea change in the mechanics of film licensing. The technical challenges are comparatively trivial.

If Netflix just started taking money from German customers while providing them with a terrible service, we would be angry at that.

It makes sense that they might have to get local servers, or at least test the waters before opening the floodgates.

> If Netflix just started taking money from German customers while providing them with a terrible service, we would be angry at that.

That's not the limiting reactant. The actual issue with region lockout is copyright bullshit.

This. The fact that most people seem this ignorant to practical law issues is a major part of why the overall situation (patents, Hollywood, etc) is as shitty as it is, methinks. Uneducated flocks are easier to steer.

Netflix's control plane is in AWS, and their content is distributed by global CDNs; there are no local servers to get.

I would agree though that you do have to ensure content has been staged to your CDN, you have a local control plane in the EU for end-user latency, etc.

I use it from Greece through a proxy and, even then, it's great.

While it may be that easy for Netflix on a technical side all of the content must be relicensed for each new region. Often times the content distribution rights for the same TV show may be owned by different companies depending on the country or region thus Netflix must renegotiate a mess of contracts every time it wants to become available in a new place.

This is why content available on Netflix in the United States may be different than content available in Norway.

> This is why content available on Netflix in the United States may be different than content available in Norway.

This hardly feels like an "expansion", then.

I guess the people who care can still use VPNs, like they do right now.

For me, understanding and accepting the answer to this question was an important step to understanding the difference between pure technology and business.

And even in a technologist's utopia where there were no local legal/cultural/language differences between countries, on a pure technology level you'd need to provision server capacity for new locales.

For me, understanding but not accepting the answer to this question was an important step in my moral argument for pirating movies.

I am strongly against piracy, but I am even more strongly agains restrictive, profit-driven, privacy and freedom-trampling business models and legal systems.

I dunno - while there maybe French subscribers who would kill for US TV shows in english only, maybe there's the issue of either subtitling all their content for German and French at least, dubbing some or all of it, and likely adding French-specific content.

Just wondering whether I'll be able to get the French Netflix content without using VPN and a local CC.

The subs or dubs (France prefers dubs, right?) typically already exist.

See this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7780650

As for needing local credit cards, hopefully some day bitcoins or something like it can truly enable international commerce.

Well, France not so much prefers as is forced to listen to dubbed.

But this is (slowly) changing, you now start to have major TV channels broadcasting TV series and Films in both French dubbed version and Original Version with subtitles. Not all of the channels, and not all of the content, but this is progressing.

Same goes for movies at the cinema (which was already the case in Paris but less in smaller towns),

"money"...

Lawyers