Europe bans geo-blocking – but digital media exempt

The European Parliament voted 557 to 89 on Tuesday in favour of a regulation that bans geo-blocking for most types of online content. However some digital media including Netflix and Amazon are exempt.

The move is set to widen access to many online services, including shopping, travel bookings, hotel reservations and car rentals, within the European Union, where many companies continue to use geo-blocking to restrict their content nationally.

However, copyrighted material, including video streaming platforms, computer games and e-books, are exempt, a decision Europe’s primary consumer rights organisations have sharply criticised. The EU is however obliged to assess whether to lift these exemptions in 2020.