'I guess I'm back to piracy' — Auckland man as HBO NOW follows through on cut-off threat

After a dramatic pause, the axe has finally swung.

HBO has cut off NBR's hero Kiwi customer, Ben Gracewood*, from its new $US15/month streaming video on-demand service.

"My HBO NOW has now stopped working," Mr Gracewood messaged NBR before tweeting to the world at large: "I guess I'm back to piracy again."

If the Codemania organiser does not want to head in that direction, his options include Sky TV's recently-launched $20 a month Netflix clone Neon, which includes some HBO content (including episodes of Game of Thrones the same day they screen in the US), or a fully-fledged monthly subscription to Sky TV (priced from $48.07/month) including its Soho channel, which carries HBO shows (an extra $9.99/month) and a My Sky HDi decoder (another $15/month).

"I might give Neon a try but SD?" Mr Gracwood says, screwing up his virtual nose at Neon's standard definition-only picture quality (most streaming and broadcast services offer high definition).

Launched earlier this month, HBO NOW aims to cut out middle men old (pay TV broadcasters) and new (Netflix etc) to deliver HBO shows to consumers directly over the internet for $US15 a month. Apple TV acts as a conduit for the service but Apple does not hold rights to content. HBO says it will add other platforms shortly. It also plans to expand HBO NOW into territories outside the US.

Is this a fight over old world territorial monopoly, copyright, or intertwined principles of distribution rights and copyright? The debate continues in the media and the courts. Meanwhile, a lot of consumers go their own way.

Til Tuesday
HBO’s threat to cut off Kiwis seems to have rung hollow.

Last Saturday (April 18), the US company sent an email to many New Zealand-resident subscribers to its new HBO NOW streaming video on-demand service (see it here).

Mr Gracewood was one of those who received the message.–

It informed him “If we do not hear from you by April 21, we will proceed to deactivate your HBO NOW account without further notice.”

April 21 rolled aroun, and then April 23 and April 24  Mr Gracewood’s HBO NOW account was still working.

The $US15/month HBO NOW service is US-only under its terms and conditions. Sky TV recently signed a new multi-year exclusive contract with HBO covering both broadcast and internet streaming rights for New Zealand.

“We appreciate HBO’s steps. That’s our most valuable content,” Sky TV communications director Kirsty Way told NBR as HBO NOW’s cut-off threat emails were first dispatched. As well she might. HBO's stable includes Game of Thrones, one of the most viewed, streamed and downloaded shows on the planet.

How was Ben busted?
It’s also not clear how HBO identified New Zealand and other non-US subscribers. It could have been through software used to sniff out people using VPN (virtual private network) services, which can be used to mask your country of origin (Netflix has said trying to block VPNs would be a fruitless game of Whac-a-Mole).

Another NZ-resident user of HBO NOW, who had been cut off, told NBR he only lost access after upgrading his Apple TV's software.

A third HBO NOW user, who did not want to be named, had not received the email, and still enjoyed access.

* Mr Gracewood, I should point out, is also a critic and reviewer, which gives him safe harbour to research content services under Section 42 of the Copyright Act. S42 covers exemptions for researchers, reviewers and news reporters. And of course it’s a moot point whether using a global mode or other service to access offshore content does in fact transgress any NZ law.