Globalization and Geoblocking: Sustaining Nationally Bound Economic and Political Practices of Media Distribution and Access on the Internet
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Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CGU Theses & Dissertations CGU Student Scholarship Spring 2021 Globalization and Geoblocking: Sustaining Nationally Bound Economic and Political Practices of Media Distribution and Access on the Internet Elaine Venter Claremont Graduate University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd Recommended Citation Venter, Elaine. (2021). Globalization and Geoblocking: Sustaining Nationally Bound Economic and Political Practices of Media Distribution and Access on the Internet. CGU Theses & Dissertations, 230. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/230. doi: 10.5642/cguetd/230 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in CGU Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Globalization and Geoblocking: Sustaining Nationally Bound Economic and Political Practices of Media Distribution and Access on the Internet By Elaine Venter Claremont Graduate University 2021 © Copyright Elaine Venter, 2021 All rights reserved Approval of the Dissertation Committee This dissertation has been duly read, reviewed, and critiqued by the Committee listed below, which hereby approves the manuscript of Elaine Venter as fulfilling the scope and quality requirements for meriting the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Studies with a concentration in Media Studies. Dr. Eve Oishi, Chair Claremont Graduate University Associate Professor of Cultural Studies Dr. David Luis-Brown Claremont Graduate University Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and English Dr. Joshua Goode Claremont Graduate University Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and History Abstract Globalization and Geoblocking: Sustaining Nationally Bound Economic and Political Practices of Media Distribution and Access on the Internet By Elaine Venter Claremont Graduate University: 2021 Where we access the internet dictates what we see or, more importantly, do not see online. Access to online media content and information on the internet is controlled worldwide by a process called geoblocking. The term geoblocking refers to the process whereby a website blocks a user’s access to digital media content or other information based on their geographic location. While it is possible that openness can exist on the internet, this dissertation asserts that the internet is not a completely free and open space as it continues to be shaped and bordered by media corporations, governments, and audiences. This dissertation further argues that geoblocking media content is an economic, political, and social reaction against the perceived danger of digital permeability of national borders through the internet. This dissertation examines how traditional, older models of media distribution and exhibition based on national borders, persist when the internet allows for global media access. Because of globalization, media corporations, governments, and the audience are in a connected loop where each are negotiating the real and virtual positive and negative effects of economic, political, cultural, and technological globalization. This dissertation finds that media corporations, governments, and the audience are responsible for using geoblocking to serve their varying motivations for maintaining control over accessibility of content and information. Examining geoblocking from the perspectives of media corporations and governments and the audience gives us further insight into the larger whole of the digital and real infrastructure of the internet – where it is located, who has power over it, and who has access or not and why. By analyzing the relationships between media corporations, and motivations this study shows an uneven power distribution exists with media corporations and governments maintaining most of the control with the ability to dictate audience behaviors online to match their expectations and offline model. It is determined that what is at stake when geoblocking borders off the world by censoring content on the internet is: balance or power, access, and freedom. Dedication For my parents and sister. Acknowledgements Thank you to my dissertation committee for the support and guidance in completing this doctorate. Thank you to my chair, Dr. Eve Oishi, who pushed me to think critically in ways I never thought I was capable of before I started at Claremont Graduate University. I am especially grateful for Eve’s immense patience and remarkable ability to help me work through a myriad of different thoughts to better focus my dissertation during revisions. I am so thankful for Dr. David Luis-Brown’s probing questions in revision that helped guide me to better answer my own research questions. David has been a positive force since the first day I met him in class in 2012, which has been a great source of motivation toward completing my degree. Special thanks and gratitude to Dr. Joshua Goode who generously agreed to join my committee very late into the process. Josh’s expertise added another level of acute scrutiny that pushed me to consider the through-lines and analysis more critically in the dissertation. This has helped elevate me as a scholar and the dissertation. Special thanks to my department head, Dr. Barry Laga, for support and guidance. To my colleague and dear friend, Dr. Tiffany Kinney-Ison, thank you for taking the time even during school breaks for in-person and virtual writing sessions and mental support! To my friend and fellow Mass Communication colleague, Dr. James Perez, thank you for your constant motivation and positive attitude. To fellow CGU colleagues and alumni and friends, Drs. Hillary Kirkham and Julianna Kirchner, my time at CGU was enriched with you both as comrades-in-arms in coursework and during my time working on my dissertation. Thank you both for your continued cheers and support. Hillary, thank you for letting me text you at all odd hours rambling about this and that as I made my way through. Thank you to Dr. Cate Fugazzola for being a friend not only since our MA days, but a virtual accountability writing buddy during my PhD. To my fellow vi media geek and friend and colleague, Dr. Amber L. Hutchins who offered me opportunities to expand my work and nerded out with me over Doctor Who and more, thank you. Also, thank you to my students, some of whom have gone their entire college career hearing me talk about my dissertation – it is done now! Thank you to friends Web, Ella, Tara, and Ryann for years of support. To my Duo of Doom, Rachel and Mo, thank you and maybe you’ll get me to a soccer game now. To my dear friends Alex, Monica, and Cha, thank you for always opening the group chat to dissertation talk and being the ultimate cheerleaders. Special thank you to my friend, Race, who was an unwavering banner of support and constant reminder to FIFI! To Courtney and Amanda, I cannot thank you both enough for how you have not only been there for me, but my entire family. I know we are all blessed to have you in our lives. Of course, I am ever so thankful to my two best friends, Jen “Pluto” Bleasdale” and Christine Joy Muchado. Your constant love and lifting me up to believe in myself on especially hard days is dearly appreciated. Finally, how does one put into words the immense gratitude you have for family who support you no matter what. I find it truly difficult because there is nothing that I say that can do justice to the endearing and unwavering support my mother, father, and sister – Drs. Catharina, Henry, and Sonja Venter – gave to me over the last eight and a half years of my PhD. They have given so much of themselves in helping me achieve my own goals. To my family, we have been to the brink more than once but through it all, we have stuck together. Thank you for sticking with me when things became extremely difficult. To my mom and dad, thank you for your patience, letting me take over your home over breaks, making sure I was awake early to write, and talk your ears off about my work. To my sister, thank you for all the memes and pictures of cute things and BTS to motivate me. I love you all and this was as much for you as it was for me. vii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction…….……………………………………………………………………...1 What Is Geoblocking?……………………………………………….………………..….10 Historical Roots of Geoblocking…………………………………………….......13 Geoblocking and Globalization………………………………………………………….16 What Is at Stake? ………………………………………………………………………. 23 Balance of Power………………………………………………………..……….25 Access……………………………………………………………………………28 Internet Freedom…………………………………………………………………33 Methodology……………………………………………………………………………..34 Chapter Outlines………………………………………………………………………....40 Geoblocking and the Media Corporations……………………………………….41 Geoblocking and Government…………………………………………………...42 Geoblocking and the Audience…………………………………………………..43 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….45 Chapter 2: Geoblocking and the Media Corporations…………………………………………...47 Geoblocking Origins and Evolution: Political……………………………………..……53 Yahoo! vs. LICRA……………………………………………………………….54 Geoblocking Origins and Evolution: Copyright…………………………………………60 Geoblocking Origins and Evolution: Region Blocking of DVDs……………………….63 The Netflix Revolution………………………………………………………………..…68 Global Expansion: Netflix vs. Legacy Media ….…….………………………………….74 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….....79 Chapter 3: Geoblocking and Governments…………………………………………………....…82