Last millenia distribution deals are whats driving piracy
I don't blame Netflix, even though if they were to do this, and if I were a customer, I would surely leave, as the AU catalog is largely bare or uninteresting compared to US/UK/CAN eyes only content.
The bigger problem here is geographic exclusive rights agreements which are the product of a time long gone when we still used spools of tape to timeshift. Much has happened since then but even now I don't think most big content creators get it.
If exclusive deals are gone, more people licence the content far cheeper - so more and more TV networks can maintain profitability in the age when falling ad revenues and increasing prices for exclusive content are making the industry marginal at best. First win - Terrestrial TV gets a reprive from its inevitable end.
Content creators get the same if not more money from the 'pile it high, sell it cheap' approach.
More importantly, the new players like Netflix / Amazon Prime 'et al' get to compete on original content they create, and the quality of their offering from an ease of use / customer service perspective, rather than who had more money to give Mr Murdoch, or compete with him for the rights to show the content.
Lastly, if reducing piracy is the goal, ubiquitous affordable access for all globally is the only option that will put a stop to people turning to torrents because content is either delayed excessively, exclusive to Pay TV or otherwise not available. Plus, its ad free!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
