# Can non-UK users view content on the iPlayer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712 "2009-11-07T13:32:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/1 "2009-11-07T13:32:10Z")
[iPlayer](http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/). Just curious. If you click around it live streams about 7 BBC channels but the main thing is the on-demand library. For exammple, a very nice performance of Empire by Jay-Z (with Bridget Kelly) on Jools last night. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/2 "2009-11-07T21:27:35Z")
Not…legally. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/3 "2009-11-08T07:44:43Z")
> [@chique](#): > > Not…legally. 😉 I would imagine you could use a proxy, which is the internet equivalent of using a region free DVD player. But I wonder what the actual legal issues are when you access material internationally that is legal for you but illegal in the host country, or vice versa. Also wonder what the SMDB’s policy is on talking about things for which either 1) the legality is not clear or 2) varies by region. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/4 "2009-11-08T09:36:00Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I would imagine you could use a proxy, which is the internet equivalent of using a region free DVD player. But I wonder what the actual legal issues are when you access material internationally that is legal for you but illegal in the host country, or vice versa. Also wonder what the SMDB’s policy is on talking about things for which either 1) the legality is not clear or 2) varies by region. Well, for one, you UKers have already payed for the content via the television license. We haven’t. They’d probably need extra funds to set up a global market, which would require some ad revenue. It’s pretty much the same deal for others. For example, Hulu’s ads target Americans. Their ad partners are smart enough to know that advertising outside the US isn’t going to help them, and thus won’t pay Hulu to advertise overseas. So if Hulu aired those ads overseas, there’d be no way for the partners to know which ads they were allowed to be payed for. Hulu needs overseas partners, so it can afford to stream overseas. So it all boils down to money. A company isn’t going to license their works for overseas if they can’t make money out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/5 "2009-11-08T09:48:34Z")
Well anyone one can listen to BBC radio on iPlayer any where in the world (which is a bloody godsend I can tell you). The same is not true of TV. I’ve been told that proxy servers can work, but I’ve never had any luck trying this and am unsure of the legal issues. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/6 "2009-11-08T10:44:44Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > So it all boils down to money. A company isn’t going to license their works for overseas if they can’t make money out of it. I suppose , in relation to overseas territories, that must be right. The BBC carries ads, for example, when broadcasting in the US. > [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > Well anyone one can listen to BBC radio on iPlayer any where in the world (which is a bloody godsend I can tell you). > > The same is not true of TV. I’ve been told that proxy servers can work, but I’ve never had any luck trying this and am unsure of the legal issues. Thanks. I didn’t know there was a distinction. It seems a little odd as it’s still the same programming (music, drama, etc), you’d think that if copyright applied in one format . . . maybe it’s something else. Anyway, pretty much everyone was blown away by ‘Empire State of Mind’, which was more Bridget Kelly featuring Jay Z than the other way around. That woman owns the toon. Superb performance - also on last nights Jools Holland show: Foo Fighters, Sting, Nora Jones and an inteview with the somewhat dimmed Ginger Baker. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/7 "2009-11-08T10:48:56Z")
I would imagine that the people breaking the law or breaching copyright would be the people operating the proxy server in the UK, not merely those using it. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/8 "2009-11-08T10:57:26Z")
But how about renting commercial space on a hard drive in the UK and viewing whatever via your browser on that server - not that anyone would care or find out but I wonder if that breaches any law as all you’re doing is accessing your hard drive, albeit in another territory? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/9 "2009-11-08T12:54:23Z")
Ah, so the thrust of your question is more “can someone who’s already a licence payer legally watch iPlayer from outside the UK?” I couldn’t answer that without getting even further into WAG territory than I already am. ---
**Author:** ![robwyatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@robwyatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robwyatt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/10 "2009-11-08T18:42:41Z")
use a vpn, it’s technically legal. pm me if you want i recommend one. rob ---
**Author:** ![nicole1912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@nicole1912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicole1912)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/11 "2009-11-08T19:02:21Z")
The BBC’s official stance on this is at [http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/download\_programmes/outsideuk](http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/download_programmes/outsideuk) (Essentially, no, you can’t see TV programmes outside the UK, because of rights agreements, but you can get most radio programmes and podcasts.) Whether you, as a licence payer can use iplayer while abroad is addressed here: [http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/about\_iplayer/licence\_overseas](http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/about_iplayer/licence_overseas) - in brief, the answer is as above: no, because of rights issues. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-non-uk-users-view-content-on-the-iplayer/516712/12 "2009-11-09T05:02:58Z")
> [@nicole1912](#): > > The BBC’s official stance on this is at [http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/download\_programmes/outsideuk](http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/download_programmes/outsideuk) (Essentially, no, you can’t see TV programmes outside the UK, because of rights agreements, but you can get most radio programmes and podcasts.) > > Whether you, as a licence payer can use iplayer while abroad is addressed here: [http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/about\_iplayer/licence\_overseas](http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/about_iplayer/licence_overseas) - in brief, the answer is as above: no, because of rights issues. Of course they’d have an official page on this. :smack: But it mostly seems to agree with what I said. I just forgot they have to get the rights from the everyone involved in making the show. These people have the right to license the right to show their programs to other networks who will likely pay for it. So the BBC has to offer a better deal to pay for it. The other companies will have advertising dollars, while the BBC will not, making it hard for the latter to win, until they create a web analog of BBC America, which, as pointed out above, does have ads. I also notice that the second link would seem to make **PrettyVacant** ’s idea okay, since the actual downloading would take place in the UK, the following would seem to apply: > [@](#): > > Don’t forget, As stated in, if you download a programme to your laptop or a portable hard drive in the UK, you can watch this wherever you are in the world. However, you will only be able to download new programmes once you return to the UK. Of course, I’m assuming that, since you own the network hard drive, you are allowed to copy its files for personal viewing purposes. I don’t know it that would work with a VPN, as the owners of the VPN might not have the rights to let you copy from them. But maybe they could get by by claiming that each user is a oart-owner. I mean, if you have to pay, you could be said to have ownership of your personal account. How well this would work out legally, I have no idea.