Netflix to Begin Cracking Down on Password Sharing in Early 2023

[Stromos]

It never ceases to amaze me the number of people that are ok with stealing as long as it is called sharing or if the target is "the corporations man".

Makes me wonder what you all do for a living... would you all be ok with people "sharing" the fruits of your labor just because they think you charge too much?

I don’t understand how people don’t recognize that theft is theft. If I buy a membership at a gym would it be “sharing“ to open a side door and let my non-paying friend in every day? Of course not. It‘s clearly theft of a service which is priced based on paying subscribers.

Netflix is actively incentivising it with their Plans.
If you want 4k, you need to get the one that allows 4 streams.

This makes no sense, especially for someone living alone.

I wonder if Netflix actually understands how many of their subscribers are teetering on the edge of cancelling.

First time I go to use my account on one of my family's devices and I'm blocked, they're done.

How about you guys at least acknowledge that Netflix is being a thug. First of all no if it’s not 4K it’s not an option (welcome to 2022). Second if Netflix is forcing me to pay for four people for my one 4K stream that’s unethical.

I have paid since the early 2010s no questions never cancelled. I maybe watch Netflix the equivalent of a couple weeks each year. Everytime I have considered cancelling I think of my brother who uses my account probably a bit more than me. He wouldn’t be able to afford it on his own so I let it slide and keep paying.

Soon as that stops I have zero guilt quitting.

All of you calling that theft and saying it doesn’t affect you enjoy. Plenty of people like me and when Netflix realizes this was a bad decision they are going to likely finally offer a single 4K stream to try and stay alive. Guess what if I cancel I’m not resubscribing and once that backfires they are going to raise your costs to try to stay alive. So no worries it will ultimately affect you and your wallet.

If before this starts they offer a single 4K stream I’ll keep paying like I have for years and I’ll keep barely using it and they will win. They seem to be in a losing mood through.

Let the unethical thugs die. Let those who support overcharging pay more. I’m gonna switch to the sidelines watching you all defend a company that’s going to milk you for money while you defend them and tell them they can do whatever they want they are above ethics and standards.

Honestly I think it’s more entertaining than any show on Netflix itself.

 

[strongy]

It is not legal to share your cable modem and provide service outside of the household. There may be some situations where signal sharing is legal, but jn residential households for the most part it is not legal and could result in fines and arrest.

just because its not legal where you are does not mean its not legal you are the one that came up with the argument, btw their is no cable providers within 50 miles round here, which is the idea of wisps to provide access where their isn't much.

 

[Realityck]

I think the more fair thing would be to make you lock in IPs, and only allow changes so often, but that would still work poorly cause people could travel

I was thinking they notice fixed location TV vendor MAC address's and does the IP addresses associated vary a lot. For phones, tablets, and computers they simplify enforce number of simultaneous sessions only. A lot is mobile and looking up IP addresses is useless, aside from regional restrictions.

 

[compwiz1202]

Most major streaming hosts have special arrangements with Apple and many other providers. Same for having their own button on remotes. They don’t need to be an another choice inside someone’s else’s App. Amazon prime is another, Disney has even shown up on remotes.

Think ours is NF PV Hulu D+

 

[compwiz1202]

How about you guys at least acknowledge that Netflix is being a thug. First of all no if it’s not 4K it’s not an option (welcome to 2022). Second if Netflix is forcing me to pay for four people for my one 4K stream that’s unethical.

I have paid since the early 2010s no questions never cancelled. I maybe watch Netflix the equivalent of a couple weeks each year. Everytime I have considered cancelling I think of my brother who uses my account probably a bit more than me. He wouldn’t be able to afford it on his own so I let it slide and keep paying.

Soon as that stops I have zero guilt quitting.

All of you calling that theft and saying it doesn’t affect you enjoy. Plenty of people like me and when Netflix realizes this was a bad decision they are going to likely finally offer a single 4K stream to try and stay alive. Guess what if I cancel I’m not resubscribing and once that backfires they are going to raise your costs to try to stay alive. So no worries it will ultimately affect you and your wallet.

If before this starts they offer a single 4K stream I’ll keep paying like I have for years and I’ll keep barely using it and they will win. They seem to be in a losing mood through.

Let the unethical thugs die. Let those who support overcharging pay more. I’m gonna switch to the sidelines watching you all defend a company that’s going to milk you for money while you defend them and tell them they can do whatever they want they are above ethics and standards.

Honestly I think it’s more entertaining than any show on Netflix itself.

Yea zero guilt of being 11 years free. And even though the reason of them splitting subs for dvd and stream doesn't apply much or at all anymore, I wouldn't go back because of other things they've done. I didn't like when they killed off near all the third parties and did their own stuff. And pricing is insane especially since you can't just get less streams for less with 4K

 

[I7guy]

Michael Paull, the president of Disney Streaming Services, stated, “…we do recognize password sharing exists and will continue to exist.” Paull strongly hints that the company is willing to tolerate a certain amount of Disney Plus account sharing.

That the same thing Netflix said. There is then TOS and then there the enforcement of the TOS.

just because its not legal where you are does not mean its not legal, look it up btw their is no cable providers within 50 miles round here, which is the idea of wisps to provide access where their isn't much.

Just because it’s legal where you are doesn’t make it legal all over the US. WISPS do not deliver the last mile, which is the difference. WISPs are public WiFi, like Starbucks, which is perfectly legit. But I believe reselling the signal provided by a public WiFi is not legal, so there is that.

 

[craigiest]

They didn’t come to this decision by wet finger in the air. And you don’t know how many subscribers will leave and then come back.

If such calculations by businesses were always correct, no company would ever go out of business.

 

[Rocko99991]

Good, I can finally kick all my deadbeat relatives off my account with this news.

 

[strongy]

That the same thing Netflix said. There is then TOS and then there the enforcement of the TOS.

Just because it’s legal where you are doesn’t make it legal all over the US. WISPS do not deliver the last mile, which is the difference. WISPs are public WiFi, like Starbucks, which is perfectly legit. But I believe reselling the signal provided by a public WiFi is not legal, so there is that.

im not in the US so that doesn't apply to me the US has different distinctions of WISP obviously here its one house with internet that shares it out via Satalite / WiFi

 

[I7guy]

If such calculations by businesses were always correct, no company would ever go out of business.

I dont believe many companies have proper risk mitigation strategies in place.

 

[I7guy]

im not in the US so that doesn't apply to me the US has different distinctions of WISP

This entire conversation is a moot point then. But I’m pretty sure the tos of Disney is closer to Netflix than further.

 

[Realityck]

Good, I can finally kick all my deadbeat relatives off my account with this news.

It certainly allows a service recipient to boot their ex also.

 

[Choco Taco]

The rest of the industry plows unlimited streams on one account? Prime, Hulu, HBO max, etc? I doubt it.

What area of your nether region did you pull that from? I didn’t say anything about unlimited streams. They all allow password sharing that isn’t based on location. HBO Max, for example, I share with my parents and grandparents. They have a max of 3 simultaneous streams so we can all watch at the same time without conflicts, but they don’t care where the streams are coming from. Same with every other streaming service I’m subscribed to. Netflix is the only one that cares. And they will lose subscribers over it. You should be able to watch however many streams you are paying for regardless of where you are located. Period.

Good, I can finally kick all my deadbeat relatives off my account with this news.

You can literally do that now by changing your password. If you think they’re deadbeats, why did you give them your account information in the first place?

 

[PBG4 Dude]

And that's just those it's aware of. There are plenty of stats they can collect from their server, which you can't block and they still compile about you.

I was replying to the Google portion of your previous post. MacRumors server is going to get your IP, browser ID string, and possibly enough unique machine info to build a fingerprint to track you.

 

[usagora]

Right, I guess I was saying "sustained" for my previous comments. I consider myself to be a law-abiding citizen, and something like this doesn't go against my idea of that. I respect your right to disagree and see it differently.

I never said you weren't a law-abiding citizen. The other guy said you were stealing. I didn't. But it's simply a fact that you're breaking an agreement you made with Netflix. Whether you see that as wrong/immoral/unethical, etc. is up to you.

 

[Realityck]

I was replying to the Google portion of your previous post. MacRumors server is going to get your IP, browser ID string, and possibly enough unique machine info to build a fingerprint to track you.

Using that example, Netflix on a safari browser requires at least one cookie to be active, can’t use private browsing. Where as all other streaming web sites don’t do that so you can enable private browsing window to block data mining via multiple cookies, web data caches.

 

[I7guy]

What area of your nether region did you pull that from? I didn’t say anything about unlimited streams. They all allow password sharing that isn’t based on location. HBO Max, for example, I share with my parents and grandparents. They have a max of 3 simultaneous streams so we can all watch at the same time without conflicts, but they don’t care where the streams are coming from. Same with every other streaming service I’m subscribed to. Netflix is the only one that cares. And they will lose subscribers over it. You should be able to watch however many streams you are paying for regardless of where you are located. Period.



You can literally do that now by changing your password. If you think they’re deadbeats, why did you give them your account information in the first place?

Please follow this conversation. Which service allows password sharing across households in their TOS? While some may ignore it you’d better believe they have their rules in place!in the tos.

 

[wshwe]

Hell no!

 

[alexandr]

I never said you weren't a law-abiding citizen. The other guy said you were stealing. I didn't. But it's simply a fact that you're breaking an agreement you made with Netflix. Whether you see that as wrong/immoral/unethical, etc. is up to you.

I know, I was just explaining my thought process. At the end of the day we all decide what is ethical, right?

 

[Macintosh Quadra 840av]

I was replying to the Google portion of your previous post. MacRumors server is going to get your IP, browser ID string, and possibly enough unique machine info to build a fingerprint to track you.

Yup, tracking is still fairly easily done, even when blocking the traditional tracking sites, browser cookies, and other bits that typical ad blockers attempt to block.

 

[unobtainium]

I literally haven’t watched anything enjoyable on Netflix in months. At this point the only reason I’m not unsubscribing is the reason I share my account with a friend and family member.

I will have zero problems dropping them and just downloading the 1-2 shows worth watching from, uh, my sources.

Exactly this. So many times I’ve thought, I haven’t watched Netflix in months, I should cancel it. Only to realize that my retired parents and sister and nephew all use my account. I pay for the 4 screen 4K plan, but as soon as sharing is banned I’ll finally be able to just cancel.

 

[H2SO4]

This should be fun. I use it at my home and office and will continue to do so. If they try and stop I’ll just continue my pirate ways with them.

This sounds like the kind of answer from the person that has a good thing and ruins it for everybody else. Who gives a crap about Netflix, or the other customers that foot the bill for your theft right?

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Not really. If I pay them every month and share my one of my two consecutive screens with my family, they make money. Once I can’t share, there’s no reason to pay for two screens. Unfortunately, one screen is low res. So instead, I won’t pay them anything. They use less bandwidth but make less money. How that shakes out on a larger scale is still up in the air.

Exactly this. I don't need multiple screens but I want a quality picture. That's not an option, so I quit Netflix.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

This sounds like the kind of answer from the person that has a good thing and ruins it for everybody else. Who gives a crap about Netflix, or the other customers that foot the bill for your theft right?

Netflix is clearly hurting themselves by giving poor subscription choices to their customers. They don't want you to share your 3 screens you're paying for (when you only need one) but won't give the one screen users decent quality picture. They're playing games like cell companies did/do. At some point, Netflix will come to their senses after enough people leave.

 

[dnyal]

They should just call it Family Plan, charge a few bucks more for it, and end the confusion.

What sucks about Apple’s Family Plan is my immediate family is in 3 countries and I cannot add family members outside my registered country. **** and unfair.

You can. Just tell those family members to change the country they use for their App Store. I have a cousin in Argentina on our Apple One account based in the U.S.

I think Netflix already did the math on this and they don’t care. They used some model to determine the number of those who canceled vs people who pay extra.

Like the math they ran in Latin America, where they had to roll back their plans?