# ...content not available in your country. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 5, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/content-not-available-in-your-country/598709 "2011-10-05T18:28:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/content-not-available-in-your-country/598709/21 "2011-10-07T20:26:14Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Yeah, but we’re _Americans_, dammit! That currency is also devaluing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![palacheck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@palacheck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palacheck)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/content-not-available-in-your-country/598709/22 "2011-10-08T16:31:11Z")
I’ve gotten this message from time to time when trying to access European web content. Thankfully America manages to produce a staggering amount of crap to shove in my brain–so the need to watch content from the outside world rarely becomes a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/content-not-available-in-your-country/598709/23 "2011-10-19T06:44:01Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > When people link to segments of the Daily Show or Colbert Report, Canadians get a nice friendly message saying that the content is available on the Comedy Network, complete with link. What drives me crazy, though, is that the link _doesn’t go to the same content_ but rather the Comedy Network homepage. Not helpful. :: nods :: I reported this behaviour as a bug months ago. The link was off the Huffington Post _Canada_ site as well. You’d think they at least would know better, but nooooo… ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/content-not-available-in-your-country/598709/24 "2011-10-19T08:27:01Z")
> [@Way Too Happy](#): > > I am so fucking angry. I don’t know how many individuals contributed to the conclusion that I didn’t need to see it, but it would give me great pleasure to watch them all diaf. Goddam. Dude. There’s more to life. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/content-not-available-in-your-country/598709/25 "2011-10-19T15:09:52Z")
Way Too Happy writes: \> “Not available” in my country? What the fuck - did the DEA discover it had \> recreational potential? First, let’s get one thing straight. When a video on YouTube or a similar website isn’t available in the U.S., it has nothing to do with the U.S. government banning it from being seen within the U.S. I assume that the same is true in other countries. The right to show a video is held by the company (nearly always a big company) who owns the copyright to it. When a video on YouTube or whatever displays the statement, “This video is not available within your country”, it means that the big company that owns the video has sent a cease-and-desist letter to YouTube saying, “We own the copyright to such-and-such video within the following countries (followed by a list of those countries). You will fix your software so that people within those countries can’t see the video. If you fail to do so, we will sue you.” ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/content-not-available-in-your-country/598709/26 "2011-10-20T06:32:13Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > When a video on YouTube or whatever displays the statement, “This video is not available within your country”, it means that the big company that owns the video has sent a cease-and-desist letter to YouTube saying, "We own the copyright to such-and-such video within the following countries … Are you sure? My impression is that when Youtube takes down a video for copyright infringement, it takes it down completely(\*), not selectively by country. I’ve sent desist notices to Google (though not Youtube) for infringements against my own copyrighted material; the form does not ask for any list of countries. I think the message in question comes from the copyrighter’s own site. I get it when my sister sends me links to Saturday Night Live skits. (Sometimes I can see the same skit on Youtube if NBC hasn’t notified Youtube of infringement yet. 🆒 ) Thai government may forbid certain sites, but very very few AFAICT. These days I get _You don’t have permission to access “[http://www.rollingstone.com/](http://www.rollingstone.com/)” on this server._ I’ve noticed this only for Rolling Stone (which I can still get to via proxy server); I’ve no idea if the Thai government has censored Rolling Stone or what. ( \* - ETA: IIRC, there may also be some password-protection option on Youtube, but it has no direct relation to the issue of copyright infringement.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/content-not-available-in-your-country/598709.md?page=1)