Android News
Hulu has the power to block Android users whenever it wants
May 24, 2010 | by Andrew Kameka
Android News
One of the first questions asked by members of the press at Google I/O concerned whether Google TV would support Hulu. Google VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra said that the new product would include full-featured Flash that will support any Flash-based video player, as long as the video source didn’t actively block it.
Well, Hulu will probably actively block Google TV from accessing its content, and the video website will probably do the same to the trick used by Nexus One owners with Froyo. At the moment, Nexus owners are able to access Hulu by tricking the website into thinking they are on a desktop. Here’s how, courtesy of RyeBrye:
1) Type “about:debug” in the address bar and press the arrow button.
2) Go to settings and choose “UAString”
3) Select the “Desktop” option and Hulu should begin working.
Note: Dolphin HD users can simply go to Settings > User Agent > Desktop
It’s great to think you can access Hulu on your mobile phones but it’s also unlikely that you’ll be able to do it much longer. This trick may already be toast by the time you read this article. Hulu is able to block certain devices from accessing the website, including by operating system and proxies, so any workaround that people discover is usually stopped within a few days. Desktop apps, websites, and mobile apps like Skyfire have discovered temporary fixes, only to be thwarted a short time later.
So we can expect Hulu to work in Froyo and Google TV, but you can also anticipate Hulu putting a stop to that. Watching Hulu is something plenty of people want, but there may not be a steady solution until Hulu releases an official app for Android.
WTF… Why is Hulu blocking people to access them? That's totally silly, they do not want to have fans? Blocking non-us users might have a legal reason, even if that's kind of silly too, but blocking Mobile users would be a shame !
Hulu likely has a premium membership system in the pipeline. they block users from accessing anything other than the official website to ensure that they get money and don't cannibalize the money they get from iTunes or advertising online. Hulu's profit margins are small, so they're very protective of their current model.
In my mind, this is another reason why we need the FCC to step up on net nutrality.
This has absolutely nothing to do with Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality is on the ISP level, not on the website level.
They can't exactly block devices that arbitrarily. That is to say, they only know as much as the device tells them. What is told is sent in HTTP headers, simple strings sent when opening the connection, no black magic, no NSA supercomputer tracking you. It is completely possible to send a header with the exact same information a windows desktop would send, and in doing so that is exactly what hulu would think you to be. Could they block entire providers, suck as AT&T, T-Mobile… sure, but that might be cutting off users they want to allow.
From another article I read, they do not own distribution/broadcast rights for mobile content. Which means, it is illegal for them to allow access to mobile devices. This is why they are actively stifling people that are trying to get access from their mobile device. If they allow it for too long, they will get sued. Also, one of the previous post mentioned they have very low profit margins. That rights. Ever notice how many non-profit organizations advertise on there? Thats because not many other companies are advertising on Hulu.
agree with gadgetmerc. Until we see more net nutrality, this is just another reason why people find work-arounds and hacks to get what they want. Hulu themselves are a bit of a joke, anyways. So I don't see why people want it so much. Posting clips and adding more and more commercials, it's no wonder pirating is still so rampant.
Welcome to the club. Hulu has been blocking PS3 browsers and Boxee devices for a while now. I've been using a proxy scraper called "playon" to serve hulu content on the ps3. I imagine android may eventually need the same unless an official hulu method is provided.
@Brian Klippel The site knows plenty more about its users than you like to admit. I would wager that not only does the site know about and see conflicts between TCP/IP ISNs and browser headers, but they can also tell you how many Hulu tabs are open in which computers on any IP. The problem is in the way the underlying operating system handles connections. Based on things like TTL values, round trip times, and initial sequence numbers, not only can your device be named with around 99.9% accuracy, but they can also tell you wether or not your droid is rooted, which kernel/build your running and how long the system has been on… All without even looking at the client headers. Then you have the client headers. You can change your user agent string all day long, but it will conflict with the engine. You can even change your engine string, but it will conflict with timing. Of course you could change the engine timing if Google TV makers decided to allow it. But at that point the engine wouldn’t be able to decode the video anyways. Sometimes, I like to think that I watch TV. These next generation TVs will be watching me. If you really want some insight, google p0f.
The browser trick is already no longer working. But there is an app called "Hulu Bookmark" in the market that seems to work great!
Hulu blocked this. However I found that someone made a hulu app called "hulu bookmark" in the market and it actually works great.
To be perfectly honest, if Hulu does not want my business they simply won't have it. They have no original content , I can easily go to any one of the sources they are using. I can also use a site called clicker, they are very similar in pulling in content feeds from the different sources. Competition is fierce, if one company does not want you, another does. As a side note since they get paid for advertising, people finding hacks to go to their site, actually is paying them to be jerks…don't do it.
I’m not sure I understand why Hulu would want to block mobile users while allowing desktop users free and unhindered access. How does Hulu benefit from forcing users to access their content on a desktop rather than their mobile device? And if it’s true that they don’t have a license to distribute mobile media, why is there so much talk about Hulu Plus for the Android market?
they blocked android saying that they don't have the rights to distribute on mobile devices. well if this is true then how can they do it with an app. ive waited years for mobile flash and it finally comes and they block it the day it released