Graham Burke, co-CEO of film production and distribution company Village Roadshow, has confirmed that U.S. video streaming service Netflix is negotiating a launch in Australia.
"[On] Netflix, they're talking to our people about supply of products, so they are opening and coming to Australia," he said, according to ZDNet. Other streaming services that have already entered the Australian market include Quickflix, Ezyflix, and Presto.
Burke did not mention when exactly the service would be available in the country.
But the CEO did say in a separate interview that it was "pretty widely known that Netflix is opening operation in Australia next year," CNET reported. Rumors about an Australian version of the service have been going on for years, with The Australian reporting last year that Netflix was influenced to open locally by the number of Australians getting around geo-block to use the service.
Australians currently use VPNs to get Netflix from the U.S., showing the popularity of the service in the country. Matt Phipps, IT lawyer for IDEALAW, said last year in an interview with ZDNet that that streaming content would not be in violation of copyright law in Australia, but it would be considered a crime to breach terms of use to access a streaming website.
Streaming content has also been compared to piracy in the country, CNET reported. ScreenLaunch, a film group in Australia, said that "viewing international video sites is no more right than bittorrent films." Consumer watchdog Choice, on the other hand, has said that people should use VPNs to get content, and has even offered advice on how to set them up.
The service is accessed through virtual re-routing by an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 Australians, The West Australian reported.
Netflix, known for producing popular shows, such as House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey, and has over 32 million subscribers. A variety of TV shows and movies is offered for a subscription fee of $US7.99 per month.
