Strengthening Crackdown on Overseas Circumvention Sign-ups
YouTube has strengthened crackdowns after users resisted the 42.6% increase in subscription fees from 10,450 KRW to 14,900 KRW per month by signing up through overseas VPNs.
On the 24th, YouTube announced that if users do not access the service from the country where they registered their location at the time of purchasing the paid subscription service 'YouTube Premium Membership' for six months, their membership may be suspended. Users will receive a notification of suspension if they do not log in from the country where they purchased the membership for more than five months. If the period of no login from that country exceeds six months, the membership may be suspended.
This is interpreted as a measure to prevent users from subscribing from other countries using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to take advantage of cheaper YouTube Premium Membership subscription fees.
The subscription fees for YouTube Premium Membership vary significantly by country. Users who sign up through countries such as India, T?rkiye (Turkey), Argentina, Ukraine, and Egypt can use the service for around 2,000 KRW, or at most 4,000 KRW, even considering exchange rates. As a result, many users are bypassing payments by finding countries with lower subscription fees. There are even proxy services that change nationality to countries with cheaper subscription fees than South Korea.
Although YouTube has taken strict measures to block such loopholes, user reactions remain indifferent. They say it is enough to log in with the IP address of the subscription country every six months using a VPN.
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