BBC faced another problem with iPlayer after the debate about the license fee raise.

According to GlobalWebIndex, there are around 65 million people abroad have access to this service for free by using VPNs.

It requires license fee to use iPlayer, however, anyone can watch its non-live content without having one in the UK. This loophole came to an end.

Over half of those people watching iPlayer for free are from China, it accounts to 38.5 million.

An online research revealed that 75% of 45,000 internet users across 34 countries have paid for Netflix or Hulu. It means that there are potential clients for BBC to explore. It may be a good news to BBC as those people could turn into subscribers. Even though a small proportion of the users would like to buy the service, it could also make additional revenue for the BBC.

A BBC spokesperson said: “the subscribers can watch and download the content from BBC iPlayer. But there could not control their personal usage.”

He added: “the company do not comment on individual cases regarding the loophole of BBC iPlayer’s terms of use. They would take measures to protect the intellectual property for right holders.”

European Commission made a new proposal”digital single market” to help to loosen restrictions when someone visiting home surf.

A global subscription-based iPlayer providing for Europeans, Australians and Canadians ended last month.