That’s when the real fun started. Well, fun being a fairly loose term here…

Once activated, the card made the funds I’d already credited available. However, when I went to load it to Hulu (the whole reason I started down that path) it wouldn’t work. Eeek!!

I tried it out on US iTunes also, with no luck. Slightly off topic however, I found the option (which I’d probably just missed perviously) to continue with the iTunes account without a funds source loaded. With that job done, I’ve successfully been downloading free apps from the US store to my AppleTV (Gen4) and iPhone/iPad. There is a little overhead switching between NZ and US stores but thus far it’s meeting a need.

But back to Hulu. Plan B (or maybe that was Plan F+) turned into setting up a US PayPal account. This fortunately worked, and my new card is setup as a funding source to it. I then used the PayPal account as the funding source for Hulu. A very round about way, and not yet confirmed to be functional long-term however next billing date, in theory, Hulu will bill my PayPal account which will in turn use my card to fund it. We’ll of course see how well that works.

So the question as to why it didn’t work. Here, 3 things are worth noting:

1. Details on iTunes suggests that it’s failing there as Apple can actually compare some part of the billing address loaded against the card to details you give. So even if you tell it all the right details, and it’s a US issued card, it can still pick stuff isn’t matching.
2. Hulu doesn’t ask for anything more address wise than an area code. But, I found amongst some forum a note that Payoneer cards are issued from somewhere in Central America. So perhaps it’s looking more specifically for North America issuance. Anyway, as yet I haven’t been able to confirm.
3. I tried a couple of other sites that require US cards and that hadn’t worked with either my NZ Visa Debit or the Entropay card, and they worked. So there are numerous factors at work. As yet I can’t even begin to speculate all the variables and which is impacting where.

What’s next you may ask? Well, in due course I might setup another card and get it sent to a US address that will forward it on as mail, meaning there is a US address loaded against the card. Other than that, I’ll probably test a few more services over time; I’ve specifically been asked about some geo-restricted Amazon media services.

Other than that it’s been both a success and to a smaller extent a failure of an experiment. Well, some things I’d wanted to work didn’t work the way I wanted; you could argue that as a failure, or perhaps since it was all an experiment you could say it was a success that you got a result from said test.

And on that note I shall leave you to ponder experiments for yourself. Feel free to ask questions, I’ll answer any I can! =P

The post Payoneer – An internet payment journey – Part 3 appeared first on Random Insanity.

Basically, as some of you who know me or have read other bits of my blog will know, I subscribe to Hulu (among other services) which is a geo-restricted service locked down to the US.

Geo-restriction is pretty easy to overcome. As I mention in another article, there are a bunch of services out there to assist. I’ve used Unblock-US in the past but currently use MediaHint. It works great and has a browser plugin that helps when on the go (not at home with my permanent setup). However, Hulu requires a little more than looking like you’re accessing it from the US; it requires a US credit card also!

For around a year now I’ve been using Entropay, which gives you a virtual US credit card to run pre-pay. It also worked great for the last year (with the exception that my NZ based bank requires disabling some security to top it up as they deem it a suspicious site), however, the card has now hit its expiry date so I’ve gone to Hulu to update the card info… only to find it no longer accepts it! I’ve recently also had a go at setting up a US iTunes account with the same issue that iTunes wouldn’t accept the Entropay card as US based. I’ve no idea why, or what they use to determine such things, but it just didn’t work!

So, I’ve done some looking around to see what other services are out there. The list has certainly grown since I first looked! This time, I’m having a go at Payoneer. I decided I’d document a little of how it goes to help other people evaluating it also.

Thursday 11 – Morning

So far I’ve signed up on the Payoneer site and handed over a bunch of detail. It expects that you’re not in the US so you don’t have to fudge details for any of that, and apparently, they are now sending me a physical US issued MasterCard! They offer a service to help people receive payments from all over the world, and have a couple of options on how to make use of received funds – and this is one of them.

They ask for some “government issued ID” – I’ve given them a drivers licence. Although they took this detail and rapidly approved my account request, after I topped up the card (basically by requesting a payment from myself for some fictional service) I got another email asking for info on my business (service or product based, refund policy, website etc.) as well as a scanned copy of my licence. If I hadn’t heard enough good stuff about this place I’d be a little dubious already, but I’m confident enough that it’s legit that I’ve provided the necessary detail and am awaiting the deposit of my “received funds” in my US account.

I requested a payment of $20USD as the “seller”, and as the “buyer”, I had the option to either pay the transaction fee myself on top of the $20 or deduct it from the seller’s payment. I chose the former as it doesn’t really matter given I’m both parties, but for reference it was $0.62 fee, which I assume is some percentage calculation of the payment amount.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten so far. Now we wait… Or I wait anyway because you probably don’t care THAT much!

The post Payoneer – An internet payment journey – Part 1 appeared first on Random Insanity.

But… there’s still a lot of stuff that the states are keeping to themselves. Sites like Netflix, Hulu Plus and HBO GO (among others) that offer movie or TV streaming services in the US and UK for example, are not available in NZ. Netflix is one that’s received a lot of attention lately – for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Netflix allows you to stream a large selection of movies on demand for a simple subscription fee, not a pay-per-movie. There’s streaming TV also, the options are vast.

Now, there’s been a lot of people posting details on ways to get around this geographic restriction, and even more speculating why it exits in the first place, but be it political, commercial or whatever other reason, get around it we shall. I decided it’s time to help piece together some of the bits around the net and hopefully give enough info for novice and advanced user alike.

I’m going to show you a few different scenarios to get yourself connected to all that content, but before we start there’s a few things to be aware of:

• Legality: The general consensus is that there’s no laws being broken here. Various Internet providers in NZ and further afield have even setup a service to do this for you. BUT I’m no lawyer. If it’s something you’re REALLY worried about, you should have a look around make your own mind up.
• The content is coming from the US. That’s a fair way away even in internet terms, which imposes some limitations. The main one you’ll notice with Netflix is that you might not get their full HD movies (See here for more info on connection requirements and remember it’s not your plan speed but your speed to their server in the states!). You can still stream those movies, they will just be delivered to you at standard definition which is still usually plenty for most people.
• Streaming movies uses your bandwidth. This is the same no matter where it comes from (as a general rule) but keep an eye on your data usage and take note of your internet plan!
• This works now, and has done so for quite some time. But as it’s not standard usage, providers like Netflix may make changes in the future that stop this from working. They haven’t made any noises about it, but it’s a possibility either directly or indirectly.
• Some will tell you this is what you do to replace Sky. If you’re a Sky subscriber (as I am) you need to have a look and see if just one or the other is the best option, or if you want to keep both for the things you want to watch. You might for example keep the basic Sky package for the channels it offers but biff your Sky Movies in favour of putting those funds towards Netflix. Basically, make your own mind up based on content and budget.

Lets start with probably the easiest scenario. Do you have an Apple TV? Yes? Excellent, you can get up and running pretty fast.

Netflix on Apple TV

Netflix on Apple TV

Difficulty: Low
Time required: 10 to 30 minutes for most users
Costs (at the moment anyway): $4.99/month (USD) for remote DNS, and $7.99/month (USD) for Netflix itself

This setup on the Apple TV will allow you to watch Netflix through it using what’s called a remote DNS, without messing with any of your other devices (e.g. Your desktop computer still won’t be able to access Netflix). This is good for someone who’s not that tech-savvy as there are sometimes unintended consequences of having all your devices use the remote DNS service.

What you should know before you start: Part of this setup requires you to basically tell your Apple TV that you live in the US. This works fine for our purpose but does have a side effect that you can’t use your NZ iTunes account from the Apple TV. Not a big issue for most, but if you watch movies purchased through Apple iTunes you need to decide if Netflix is a suitable replacement.

Still keen? Sweet! First head on over to Unblock us. It’s a service that helps you get access to the right information (it’s the remote DNS service I just mentioned). If you want to know more there’s info on the site, but in my opinion it’s one of the best ways to do it, so just do it. You can register for a free week trial, or $4.99/month (USD). They have instructions for lots of devices, but the version of it for Apple TV is here.

Note that you have to change both DNS and location settings to make it act like it’s in the US. Once that’s setup, you should see and be able to use the Netflix application on your Apple TV to connect.

Assuming you don’t have a Netflix account already (from time overseas or by registering an account at someone else’s place that has this going already), the Apple TV Netflix account should let you set one up. Just follow your nose, it should be self explanatory (I did mine over a computer but I’ll review the app method more if people are getting stuck). If you have to enter a postcode for your *cough* US Address *cough*, just use the good old 90210.

For those who aren’t just satisfied with getting it up and running but want to find out what else might be possible, Apple have a little marketing blurb that gives you an idea of what else might be out there which you can read here!

That’s it for now. Next on the list… well we’ll see. If there’s a particular device you’d like to get up and running or if you’re still having trouble, leave a comment down below and I’ll see what I can do to help.

Ciao!

The post Netflix and other US restricted content in NZ appeared first on Random Insanity.