Back in January 2016 when Netflix announced its availability in Mauritius I was thrilled. There was a hope among many internet users that we could watch the best of the TV shows and movies legally through the streaming service. Deep inside we did however cast a doubt over the Netflix library; whether how much of it will be available to us.

I subscribed with a premium plan which would allow streaming on four screens at the same time. On the sign-up page Netflix mentions “Unlimited movies and TV shows”. There is no clear indication of regional locking.

If one would care to read the Netflix Terms-of-Use, then section 4.3 says the following:

You may view the Netflix content primarily within the country in which you have established your account and only in geographic locations where we offer our service and have licensed such content. The content that may be available to watch will vary by geographic location and will change from time to time. The number of devices on which you may simultaneously watch depends on your chosen subscription plan and is specified on the “Your Account” page.

That’s it. Even though you’d pay the same amount as someone in the United States or Europe, being a subscriber from Mauritius you don’t benefit from the same media library.

I continued using Netflix for a good couple of months while enjoying TV Shows such as Stranger Things, Sense8, Marco Polo, The Tudors, among others.

The movies list however was meagre and there seemed no plans to expand the same in the near future. It started to be ridiculous to pay the same amount as everyone else and yet to feel like a third class netizen. I cancelled my subscription.

Two days ago TECHINASIA wrote that despite Netflix and Amazon Prime, most of the world still watches pirated content. The article based its arguments on a recent study that was conducted by digital security firm Irdeto.

A reader by the name Khalil Maouni made the following comment on TECHINASIA’s artilce:

I have to subscribe to no less than 4 different services, plus a VPN to just get probably a third of the interesting content (no live ones). So, I am paying around 80USD per month for video content and still cannot get to watch all my favorite shows. [..]

In January 2016, Yash Maudhoo wrote on his blog that « only 7% of the contents available in the US is accessible to the Mauritian Audience ».

While blogging about the availability of Netflix in Mauritius, Shelly wrote the following:

You can be quite disappointed with the TV shows and Movies available in Mauritius because the library available is limited compared to Europe.