Some Australians that have signed up to HBO Now have received the dreaded email informing them that using the service outside of the United States is against HBO policies, and that their account would be banned if they cannot prove they are indeed US based (which, obviously, they cannot). This has led to many users returning to piracy to sate their 'Game of Thrones' and other HBO fix.
But according to one Smart DNS provider, Unblock-Us, there are ways users can protect themselves from being detected as an "foreigner" by HBO.
For the first line of defence, Unblock-Us now proxies all traffic to and from HBO, including web traffic. This means that if HBO were logging your IP address during the sign-up and installation process of the HBO Now app, Unblock-Us now ensures they cannot detect you're outside of the US. Not all smart DNS providers currently proxy web traffic this way, so be careful when using other solutions.
There are also some unconfirmed reports that IP addresses are being tracked when opening emails sent from HBO, so Unblock-Us is asking users to be cautions when opening HBO emails. While this is unlikely to be happening (privacy and technical issues are aplenty), being cautious is key to avoiding the HBO banhammer.
Lastly, Unblock-Us informs Streambly that based on their data, users who signed up to HBO Now via Sling TV (note: you'll need to have an activated and working VPN/smart DNS solution in order to sign up to Sling TV - Australian credit cards are accepted!) have so far avoided being detected, so this could mean an alternative and safer way to get HBO Now for the time being.
Keep reading Streambly for more updates on how to watch HBO Now in Australia without running into problems.
