An American In London: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Internet Laws...

The Internet is a wonderful, super awesome thing. It's world wide, you guys. I mean like, a world wide web. Connecting anyone around the world to each other. The UN even deemed access to the Internet is actually a human right (don't believe me? I know some Americans don't believe it's a human right...but here's a nice NY Times article to prove it).

But the Internet has some funny rules that apply to it, and those rules vary from country to country. Licensing rights dictate what can be accessed in certain countries, and content providers then use your IP address to determine where your whereabouts are. Of course, there are always ways around these, but if you don't feel like expelling the energy, it can be quite frustrating when you are used to accessing certain sites and content, and you suddenly can't. It makes me want to throw an American-style fit, contact the provider, and say "but I'm an AMERICAN, I'm just IN ANOTHER COUNTRY". That last bit may be a bit exaggerated for entertainment purposes.

I discovered yesterday, for example, that Pandora is not accessible in the UK. Apparently, it is only available to US, Canadian, and New Zealand IP addresses. Seems a somewhat odd mix, but hey. There you have it. I did see an ad for Netflix in the Tube recently though, so I figured "okay cool, Netflix should work!" So I gave it a shot. And lo and behold, it happily let me in. And I was pretty excited to see that ALL THREE seasons of Downton Abbey are up. A little surprised, since the second one wasn't even up last I looked, but hey.

Then I tried to find Mad Men, to see if the fifth season was FINALLY up yet. And..."sorry, this title is not available for streaming." What? Mad Men is always on Netflix. They have a contract to have every episode available eventually. Poop. The Internet rears its ugly head again. My Netflix content has been changed based on my IP address. Nevermind the fact I am using my dad's Netflix account with a US billing address; I'm in the UK, so I get different content than when my family accesses the same account at home. Crazy.

Some aspects of the Internet have loopholes though, that are quite nifty. Google Voice is a US-only service; but I've discovered that if you set up your Google Voice account in the US and then link it to your email account, you can continue using it free of charge outside the US. I can call any US number for free from my laptop, anytime I want. I can text from my phone, on my UK data plan, for free, any time I want. Oh, Internets. I guess I forgive you.