Taranaki broadband provider PrimoWireless has been forced to disable access to Global Mode services after being threatened with legal action from a conglomerate of NZ media companies.
PrimoWireless was one of a number of regional ISPs to receive a letter last week from lawyers representing a conglomerate of old-media companies in New Zealand; Sky Network Television, TVNZ, Lightbox (a Spark company), and MediaWorks.
The letter claims that offering of the GlobalMode service to PrimoWireless' customers, which allows customers to access previously region-blocked content from overseas such as BBC iPlayer, Netflix, etc, is unlawful.
This claim has not been tested in New Zealand courts, however the letter "requires" PrimoWireless to cease offering the GlobalMode service by 15 April 2015 or face further legal proceedings.
PrimoWireless strongly disagrees with the claims that the letter makes and believes that the GlobalMode service reduces the temptation to illegally download content by offering consumers in New Zealand more choice in terms of accessing content from legitimate sources and on their own terms.