The Council of the EU has approved a new regulation allowing subscribers to paid online services to access the content when travelling to other countries. This means online video, music and game services should be available from any country in the EU and no longer be geo-blocked or restricted due to national rights agreements.
The regulation applies to paid online services, while free-to-air services, such as those provided by public broadcasters, may also participate. All service providers will be allowed to verify the customer's country of residence before they can access the service abroad.
The means of verification must be reasonable and consist of no more than two criteria from a list of verification means. These may include an identity card, a bank account or credit card, the address of installation of the device for the supply of services, the payment by the subscriber of a licence fee for other services, an official billing or postal address, etc. Copyright holders can also authorise the use of their content without the obligation to verify the subscriber's residence.
First proposed by the European Commission at the end of 2015 and passed by Parliament last month, the regulation on cross-border portability of online content services will take effect in nine months, from the first quarter of 2018.
