How Netflix, HBO, ESPN punish international travelers

Netflix does not allow American customers to stream outside the US, as you can see from this message served up in India.

I am writing this post sitting in New Delhi, India, as I wind up a trip that included several social-media talks to mark the centennial of Columbia Journalism School.

Thanks to apps like Apple's FaceTime and the free texting-and-calling service Viber, I was able to connect in better ways with my wife and kids than on any international trip I've ever been on.

But I also was deeply disappointed by one aspect of technology on this trip. And it was the fact that some services that I use regularly in the U.S. don't work overseas.

Here's my list of apps/services that love that I couldn't get to work in India: Netflix, HBO Go, and WatchESPN.

While I know there are complicated reasons, especially rights issues with Hollywood, for such services to have constraints outside the U.S., this is unacceptable in 2013.

HBO Go does not work outside the U.S.

These are services I pay a monthly fee for -- directly, in the case of Netflix; via my monthly cable subscription, in the case of HBO Go; and via my overall cable account, in the case of WatchESPN. I believe the... [Read more]