Netflix Begins Crackdown on Password Sharing in US and UK

[jlc1978]

From Forbes: Startups are young companies founded to develop a unique product or service, bring it to market and make it irresistible and irreplaceable for customers.

I don't consider a 20 year old company to be a "young company". We will have to agree to disagree on this one.

Fair enough, maybe startup was the wrong term.

I called them a startup since they has not yet hit the growth needed to drive serious investment and stock appreciation and btween internet penetration and device capabilities for a good part of their early years streaming was not really a big thing.

Describing it as the end of the early adopter phase may have been a better term; since I agree 16 years is normally well beyond startup.

My point was they used it to drive growth, it worked to some extent and now is time to make money off teh eyeballs taht were previously not paying extra.

 

[Analog Kid]

I guess Netflix wants to go out of business. If your core customers are telling you it's bad, you should listen.

If your core customers aren’t paying for your service, maybe you shouldn’t…

 

[Dylan33x]

Fair enough, I forgot about that.

So they changed their mind. Simple.

And now people are changing theirs, and using their voice to share that. Simple as well

 

[MacWiz_007]

Fair enough, maybe startup was the wrong term.

I called them a startup since they has not yet hit the growth needed to drive serious investment and stock appreciation and btween internet penetration and device capabilities for a good part of their early years streaming was not really a big thing.

Describing it as the end of the early adopter phase may have been a better term; since I agree 16 years is normally well beyond startup.

My point was they used it to drive growth, it worked to some extent and now is time to make money off teh eyeballs taht were previously not paying extra.

I agree with what you are saying in terms of what they did and why. I just think it's a little messed up to champion password sharing for years and then one day say "no password sharing for you!".

 

[Stromos]

Perhaps and at that time people will need to determine if they want the service for the advertised price and duration, simple as that.

No matter what some people feel, you are not entitled to content, if you feel it is of value to you at the advertised price and terms then subscribe. If you don't, then don't subscribe, but one shouldn't justify theft because they don't find value.

No point have I mentioned or supported piracy my point is so many people are in here claiming that oh you just subscribe for a month and its so cheap. That's exactly what they want everyone saying. Justify the cost then lock everyone in with 1 year commitments. This is becoming cable 2.0.

With all the streaming services going up in price (which is effectively what this is), the solution is easy: subscribe to one service at a time.

If you sign up for all of them, the price is stupid and you mostly don't use most of them. Instead, sign up for one, use it till you've watched everything you want to watch, cancel and move on to the next, rinse cycle repeat.

What the services are all really doing, by increasing prices, is just ending the era where people stay signed up for everything.

With the above strategy, you max out at $20/month. Very price reasonable and entirely legal.

Yep, this is where I'm going. Some of the ad supported tiers are quite cheap, too. And once you join and leave, some channels like Hulu will lure you back later with super cheap deals for 3 months or so.

As I have said this "loophole" will soon be corrected with contracts. You can keep paying monthly but you will commit to a year with termination fees.

 

[imola.zhp]

Got the email yesterday. I don't recall ever being told this before although I admittedly, like most people, do not read the fine print in agreements.

I'll probably just cancel it.

 

[Dylan33x]

We live in a world of increasing cost with decreasing quality. To many companies are content feeding us increasingly worse products and consumers have yet to stop spending.

Most definitely. I think cushion and excessive convenience have neutered most people’s ability to vote with their wallet. So it takes pushing a price or lowering quality to a pretty far threshold before the consumer even begins to consider the possibility of getting rid of it.

Hopefully one of the few upsides to the hyper inflation of things is that the newer generations (myself included) become more value driven. If you have to consider every dollar then you begin to seperate wants and needs more thoroughly.

That’s why it’s so annoying to see the folks in here trying to shame or clown people for being upset about this. I know the medias exploitation of recreational outrage to generate clicks has given most of us a kind of subconscious knee jerk reaction or indifference toward the supposed issues people are complaining about. But always blaming people and defending the policy maker definitely isn’t the answer.

 

[icanhazmac]

You’ve been told this before, but you seem to be having trouble. Your college-age child using the family account while at school is not stealing.

Keep working on it, it will click one day. Or just continue to be intentionally inflammatory and defamatory. It’s your choice.

I am not sure who you are talking to but I challenge you to post where I claimed otherwise or where "I have been told things before", I’ll wait. I was very clearly responding to another member who was talking about pirating. Or just read post #37. You might want to actually read my posts first before taking that kind of tone.

 

[Biga173rd]

If your core customers aren’t paying for your service, maybe you shouldn’t…

So family members should be penalized if they want to share their pw with their kids or wife in the same house hold? This is what the main complaint is with their core customers. I'm talking about paying customers.

 

[dwaite]

Oh wow, I didnt know that? Can't you use family sharing ?

Yep, it restricts sharing in that you have to use an Apple account, which has a lot more consequence in sharing than just watching a few tv shows.

 

[canadianpj]

And now people are changing theirs, and using their voice to share that. Simple as well

I'm not sure that it's all that concerning that freeloaders and such are upset about this. Simple I agree. There no loss to Netflix as they didn't pay anyway but took up resources.

 

[Stromos]

So family members should be penalized if they want to share their pw with their kids or wife in the same house hold? This is what the main complaint is with their core customers. I'm talking about paying customers.

This. Piracy and shady things aside it affects paying customers. Netflix is sending the message if you have a kid in College or you're in a divorce you're not the customers we care about. People aren't going to pay extra for their kids to have Netflix when they are with the other parent. Even if both parents pay they aren't going to want to manage signing in tablets when the kids move around.

As far as I'm concerned they have also said if you're single not our target either. Not paying for a family plan.

 

[vatter69]

Netflix in Germany for 4k is 18 Euros which is roughly 19,5 Dollars / month. If it was like Disney which 8 Euros/month for all incl 4k, i wouldn't even bother sharing with my brother (who lives in a different city).

Since i own Prime videos anyways plus Disney (and Sky because of soccer) i guess Netflix will canceled and maybe subbed if good stuff like Stranger Things season 5 rolls out. But then its 1 month and cancel again.

 

[sw1tcher]

Apple and Spotify charge extra for their family plans; just as Netflix is now doing. Spotify charges extra and limits it to one roof:

Family members living under one roof can enjoy up to 6 Premium accounts. Try 1 month free, only $15.99/month after.

If Grandma lives above a detached garage she would not be eligible as it is a seperaet roof.

By your argument, Netflix' plan is just common sense.

If grandma lives above a detached garage that shares the same address as the primary account holder's or your child is temporarily away at college but their address of residence as shown on their government issued ID (e.g. driver's license) is the same as the primary account holder's, then they can use the Spotify Family Plan per their ToS. All they have to do is verify that their home address is the same as the primary account holder's.

Paid Subscription Terms - Spotify

A. In order to be eligible for the Premium Family Subscription, the primary account holder and the subsidiary account holders must be family members residing at the same address.

B. Upon activation of a subsidiary Premium Family account (excluding Spotify Kids account(s)), you will be asked to verify your home address.

C. We may from time to time ask for re-verification of your home address in order to confirm that you are still meeting the eligibility criteria.


Netflix doesn't allow this.

What's that, Spotify charges extra for their family plans? So does Netflix. Netflix charges extra for their Standard (up to 2 streams) and Premium (up to 4 streams) plans vs the Basic (1 stream) plan. What do you think the Standard and Premium plans are if not family plans when they allow for more than 1 stream at a time?

 

[Stromos]

Apple and Spotify charge extra for their family plans; just as Netflix is now doing. Spotify charges extra and limits it to one roof:

Family members living under one roof can enjoy up to 6 Premium accounts. Try 1 month free, only $15.99/month after.

If Grandma lives above a detached garage she would not be eligible as it is a seperaet roof.

By your argument, Netflix' plan is just common sense.

Correction Apple and Spotify have options for someone living by themselves. Netflix offers a family plan for a single person. This is why I'm not a customer and won't be until they offer single stream 4K.

 

[BillyBurke]

Netflix has lost their minds!

I can't believe the mindset of you guys that think "sharing" your logon docs is ok. It is stealing, plain and simple, and you have been getting away with it to the point you expect it.

 

[Analog Kid]

they want to share their pw with their kids or wife in the same house hold? This is what the main complaint is with their core customers.

Then maybe Netflix needs to provide more programming that develops reading comprehension skills among their core customers.

viewers who shared their account password to people outside their household would be affected

 

[jlc1978]

I agree with what you are saying in terms of what they did and why. I just think it's a little messed up to champion password sharing for years and then one day say "no password sharing for you!".

Yea, I agree it was not the best move from a customer focused standpoint. Maybe they should have messed with the pricing and rolled out same sort of friends and family plans similar to Apple and Spotify, and let family members residing at different households share a maximum of 1 stream per account at each location at the regular pric. That way, students, parents, children etc. could still get Netflix but if they want multiple streams they'd need an add-on or their own account.

People are now experiencing what a behavioral economist would call "loss aversion."

 

[twistedpixel8]

Unsubbed and back to the seven seas for me. Enjoy having £0 from me now Netflix.

 

[BillyBurke]

That is unfortunate news. The thing that may change it though is if other streaming companies see this work in the U.S. they may try the same thing, so one company doing this may work. I don't know what will happen if all of the streaming services did the same thing since a $7 change (or similar) change across those mean a much higher monthly streaming bill.

I simply do not see what's wrong with Netflix, HBO, etc., trying to keep people from stealing their service. If your friend or family member gives you their Logon info, YOU are stealing.

 

[sw1tcher]

I can't believe the mindset of you guys that think "sharing" your logon docs is ok. It is stealing, plain and simple, and you have been getting away with it to the point you expect it.

I simply do not see what's wrong with Netflix, HBO, etc., trying to keep people from stealing their service. If your friend or family member gives you their Logon info, YOU are stealing.

TIL that stealing is when you pay for something and let family members use it. 🤣

 

[Randel.D]

Spotify and Apple have family plans for their streaming music services that allow up to 6 users each.

Netflix used to operate in the same manner where your child who's away at college could use the family account with no problem. Not anymore.

Spotify and Apple are being fair and understanding, and are operating using common sense. Netflix? Not so much.

I should have specified, family sharing aside. A few people have replied to me with that, and you’re right. Not sure how Netflix can enforce ‘family’ other than in the same household. You never hear of someone using their cousin’s friend’s sister’s Spotify or Apple Music, but with Netflix for some reason people feel like that should be allowed. Like sure, people who are spouses shouldn’t need two accounts, people with dependents, etc. But I think those scenarios are a tiny tiny percentage of the people upset by the crackdown.

 

[Obioban]

So you’re choosing to be a common thief?

If anything was learned from the Napster/iTunes store era, it's that convenience trumps morality.

The new "Max" app is bad enough that I'm probably going to start using Plex to view their content, even though I have free "Max" through my AT&T phone plan. When the experience gets annoying enough that clicking a magnet link on PB is easier, I know which way I choose to go-- I feel no moral compunction to reward these mega conglomerates with money. In fact, to the contrary-- I would NEVER give money to Disney at this point. If they somehow managed to make something that wasn't complete garbage (unlikely, but we're talking in hypotheticals here) I would only be willing to watch it in a way that didn't give them any money.

 

[KaiFiMacFan]

TIL that stealing is when you pay for something and let other family members use it. 🤣

Either that or all the comments about “sharing with ten friends” are reminding them of things they don’t have. 🤔

I don’t think we have a “right to Netflix” or whatever, but it’s funny that so many are coming here just to comment with their after-school-special moralizing browbeating, and I have to wonder what they’re getting out of it…

Reminds me of Betty White on PBS on The Simpsons: “If you watch even one minute of PBS and don’t contribute, you’re a thief! A common thief!”

 

[GizmoDVD]

Unsubbed and back to the seven seas for me. Enjoy having £0 from me now Netflix.

Oh no! I’m sure they will miss you and your freeloaders (or not because they will sign up for their own plan).