"We are Sorry This Video Is Not Available in Your Country": An Ethical Analysis of Geo-blocking Audio-Visual Online Content

Zahrádka P, Schmücker R

Abstract

This article provides an ethical analysis of the moral conflict over access topremium audio-visual online content, which is currently regulated by geoblockingin the domain of digital film distribution. We first identify thestakeholders of this conflict, which are the rights holders on the onehand - that is, creators, producers and distributors of audio-visual content -and the consumers of audio-visual content on the other. We also identifytheir interests, moral rights and moral intuitions based on interviews withrepresentatives of the interested parties and by conducting an analysis oftheir position papers on the Digital Single Market strategy initiatives presentedby the European Commission in the years 2015 to 2018. The moralrights and legitimate interests of stakeholders are then balanced and specified.We propose four ethical principles that set out the conditions underwhich the geo-blocking of audio-visual content is either ethically justified orunjustified.