Ethical Analysis of Geoblocking Online Access to Audiovisual Content

Pavel Zahrádka

The aim of this research report is to provide an ethical analysis of the moral conflict that arises in connection with the geoblocking of online access to audiovisual content based on the geographical location of internet users, where the conflicting interests of rights holders and consumers of audiovisual works collide. The central question the report seeks to answer is: Is geoblocking access to online audiovisual content ethically legitimate? The goal is not to examine the legality or illegality of geoblocking, but rather the conditions under which geoblocking is ethically justified or, conversely, ethically unjustified. The outcome of the ethical analysis will be a set of ethical principles that also define a basic framework which, in accordance with the principle of limited legal strictness, should be respected by relevant legal norms.

The structure of the report is as follows: 1) The report begins by explaining the basic mechanism of the audiovisual industry, namely the principle of territoriality, which is grounded both in copyright territoriality and in the territorial fragmentation of audiovisual business models. 2) This is followed by an explanation of the European Union legal framework relevant for the provision of audiovisual online services, alongside a description of recent European Commission efforts to reform the legislative framework and remove barriers to the Digital Single Market, with geoblocking identified as a primary concern. 3) The third section presents the methodology of the ethical analysis. 4) The next section identifies the moral conflict between stakeholder groups resulting from restricted access to audiovisual online services; the individual parties to the conflict are identified, and their interests, moral beliefs, and industrial or consumer practices are reconstructed based on data. 5) These interests, moral beliefs, and practices are subjected to ethical analysis. 6) The result of this analysis is a set of ethical principles determining whether and under what conditions geoblocking of online access to audiovisual content is ethically justified or unjustified. 7) The final section presents possible approaches and hypothetical model scenarios for applying these ethical principles in the functioning and regulation of the audiovisual industry.

The research report was produced within the project Research on the Impact of Existing Legislation and the European Commission’s Digital Single Market (DSM) Strategy on the Czech Audiovisual Industry: Evaluation of the (Copyright) Legal System and the Preparation of Cultural Policy within the DSM, supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (Project No. TL01000306).

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