The European Commission has announced that it wants to put an end to “geo-blocking” that stops customers from accessing online content when abroad.
Currently, if an EU citizen subscribes to a digital service, such as BBC iPlayer, they can only access this service in their country of residence. If they go abroad to another European country, they cannot access the content, despite having paid for it back in their home country.
The European Commission argues that this is unfair and has said in a press release that it “wants Europeans who buy or subscribe to films, sports broadcasts, music, e-books and games at home to be able to access them when they travel in other EU countries.”
To achieve this goal, it hopes to pass a “portability regulation” in 2016, with all digital service providers being required to stop geo-blocking in 2017.
