I just had a frustrating experience chatting with them and they basically confirmed for the weeks my kids are with their mom, I will be nagged for reauth codes for their iPads every week they are with their mom. It would be one thing if it was a periodic thing, but I was told in not so many words that as soon as a wireless device checks in from an IP that is not yours, it asks for a code. I'm probably just going to cancel now rather than deal with the headache of syncing time every week for reauthing everything.
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Netflix to Expand Crackdown on Password Sharing in Q1 2023
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I think we agree that the TOS as written is one household (not locations. But, and INAL, I would venture that there is a case to be made that Netflix invalidated their own TOS by not just tweeting slogans like “Love is password sharing” but also public comments by their CEO supporting the practice and through the “pay once use anywhere” and “password sharing” ad campaigns over the years.
I have no problem with them trying to rein in the practice but it would be hard based on their actions and many years of allowed / accepted / promoted practice.
If they would get their pricing to something logical they would likely not get the push back. They are the only ones to charge by number of screens and by resolution. That is dumb. Make it something like $10 for 4k and some number of profiles, then a few dollars for each additional profile would net the same.
They are insane if they think that many people paying $20+ per month and sharing between multiple household (parents, siblings, etc.) will magically turn into $60+ or $80+. Most likely the parents and siblings will not get their own (or maybe the lowest tier with ads) and the main subscriber drops since the price is too high for a single person and single stream. So, instead of $60 or $80 they get maybe $6 or $12.
Edit: clarified TOS at household, not location.
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Thinking about this the last few days, I can understand why Netflix wants to rein in password sharers if it is getting abused. It's just I keep going back to the whole "Account Activity" portion of their statement and wonder what that means. I bet there are a lot of families like me who do follow the rules, but circumstances have made it so they now don't follow the rules (Like members of the family moving out, or joining the military, or something like that). For me, I've shared Netflix with my parents (Who are the main account holders) since the DVD days. They decided to move to another location and I moved south 20 minutes from my old house. Our account activity makes it seem like we have just kept the password between us, and the use of profiles have also showed this.
I'm just wondering how they are going to enforce this. There is no sense having profiles anymore considering the only time you share is if you live in the same household (And then one day you move and then become criminals according to some in this forum). If they are going to do this, fix the pricing to entice people to sign up. Have a Password Sharing promotion, or admit you said Sharing is caring in 2017 and explain why you are backtracking now. I bet maybe 95% of the users do things the "right way", yet this comes across as penalizing those same users because streaming is not profitable anymore.
I'm just wondering how they are going to enforce this. There is no sense having profiles anymore considering the only time you share is if you live in the same household (And then one day you move and then become criminals according to some in this forum). If they are going to do this, fix the pricing to entice people to sign up. Have a Password Sharing promotion, or admit you said Sharing is caring in 2017 and explain why you are backtracking now. I bet maybe 95% of the users do things the "right way", yet this comes across as penalizing those same users because streaming is not profitable anymore.
Then those 2 people are not part of the original household anymore, in general.
Personally, I think we are too busy arguing amongst ourselves about what constitutes abuse or not, which was never the point.
Rather, it seems that Netflix has hit a wall in terms of subscriber growth, and is now turning inwards to grow revenue in the form of ads, higher prices and getting non-paying users to pay up. A trend I expect to continue as competition in the video streaming space continues to heat up and Netflix faces increasing churn from its users.
I think the point we’re all getting at is: tons of people subscribe to Netflix as the subscription tv “default”. If they start getting nasty emails about password sharing, true or not , it’ll be a really easy unsubscribe vs argument that you travel for work etc…
Exactly. If I start seeing too many ads and they make it difficult and annoying to watch content on my iPad when I’m away from home, i’ll just cancel the subscription entirely. Anything worth watching can always be downloaded for free these days.
While we can’t know what Netflix mgmt. is thinking, I would think they they are not stupid and know that non-paying users probably won’t sign up after this “new system” goes into place.
What I think is a pain point are the downloads. Without downloads 100 people who have the password can only watch up to the number of concurrent streams. With content downloaded those same 100 people can watch Netflix content concurrently, and in fact download up to the maximum number.
According to an article in the WSJ, Netflix password crackdown will start in early 2023. The article states that technically kids away at college need their own subscription and Netflix would use device ids, ip addresses and account activity to enforce the crackdown. The additional fee will be $6.99.
Those who want to get a head start on the cancellation can cancel their accounts before the crackdown even starts can use this link: https://www.netflix.com/cancelplan
The article goes on to say other stream services may be watching to see how Netflix does before implementing their own version of a password crackdown.
Those who want to get a head start on the cancellation can cancel their accounts before the crackdown even starts can use this link: https://www.netflix.com/cancelplan
The article goes on to say other stream services may be watching to see how Netflix does before implementing their own version of a password crackdown.
I guess we'll have to wait and see how good their algorithms will be. I have the standard plan, which includes two simultaneous HD streams. And we do use them. My wife watches it on her iPad, and my daughters use one of their iPhones to cast via a Chromecast device onto a TV set in their room. We still live together in the same household. Marvellous.
But we also have a small holiday house in the mountains, where we spend a lot of time - winter holidays, Easter, school breaks, you name it, plus many week-ends. Over there we watch it on a smart TV (which has its own Netflix app and is itself logged in to my account) in addition to the iPads.
If their IP tracking algorithm somehow flags me as a thief and they start pestering me, I will immediately cancel my subscription. I pay for two streams, and I expect to use them whenever I want, wherever I want, and I won't have it any other way. If they have a problem with that, they can stuff it for all I care. But maybe this won't be the case. Maybe they will actually devise a smart algorithm that will indeed detect those who share their passwords indiscriminately. We'll see... I will withhold judgement until I see how they actually implement it.
But we also have a small holiday house in the mountains, where we spend a lot of time - winter holidays, Easter, school breaks, you name it, plus many week-ends. Over there we watch it on a smart TV (which has its own Netflix app and is itself logged in to my account) in addition to the iPads.
If their IP tracking algorithm somehow flags me as a thief and they start pestering me, I will immediately cancel my subscription. I pay for two streams, and I expect to use them whenever I want, wherever I want, and I won't have it any other way. If they have a problem with that, they can stuff it for all I care. But maybe this won't be the case. Maybe they will actually devise a smart algorithm that will indeed detect those who share their passwords indiscriminately. We'll see... I will withhold judgement until I see how they actually implement it.
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Netflix has some content not available elsewhere. If push comes to shove I'm going to put up with some short term nuisances in my account and hoping Netflix straightens themselves out.
We have our answer: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/netf...-of-password-sharing-crackdown-151445394.html
Netflix reveals first details of password sharing crackdown
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Good info there! In my case, with my kids between my house and their Mom's, they should be all set. The same with me watching it while traveling.
I wish they would address the issue of only one user, needing only one stream at a time, but wanting HD quality. $20 is too much imho and why it creates password sharing in the first place. Oh well. Cancel it is then.
I don’t see the point of doing this. Let’s say you get the biggest plan, its not like 5 (or 4, didn’t really remember) family members would watch netflix all on their own separate devices, in the same home, my house is not even that big. I’m curently sharing my account with my dad, cousin and aunt, all living in different houses. If we all lived under the same roof, why couldn’t we just gather in one place and watch a movie together? Why should we pay for extra devices? The only 2 reasons why people was getting that plan was for the better quality, and number of sinultaneously devices online at the same time
So, the smart TV at my holiday house in the mountains will be blocked because it won't use the same wi-fi as I use at home?
Well, in that case, Netflix can f*uck off for all I care. I will not pay one hundredth of a cent extra for that. Netflix is already the most expensive streaming service I'm subscribed to, by quite a fair margin. And to be honest, it's the one I enjoy least of them. So as soon as they ask me to pay extra for the "privilege" of using the streams I've already paid for at another location, I will bid them fairwell.
Using the numbers reported earlier - 231m subscribers and 222m sharing passwords (or something close to that). For this I will assume a subscriber sharing their password is a household.
I don't know that Netflix has hit a wall regarding subscriber growth. Those numbers are global subscriber base. Using numbers from Wiki "List of countries by number of households", there are 7.45b people and 2.15b households. Even taking that down to only 1/2 the countries (not accounting for country populations) that still leaves 3.73b people and 1.08b households. Removing the current subscriber base leaves 3.5b people and 858m households as potential subscribers.
Is the issue not more Netflix has run out of compelling reasons for any of the potential millions or households to sign up? Netflix's business model is their primary hinderance
- Setting up pricing plans based on streams and them promoting the practice of sharing the streams helped get them to this point.
- Their content catalog has dwindled due to competition from the owners of said content
- Their original programming seems to be run by a whoop of chimpanzees throwing feces at the wall
A top plan with a set number "authorized users" regardless of "household" would probably be accepted by many who are most vocal about both sides of the argument ("theft of service" vs "I paid for the streams"). Whether the fair price for such a service is the current $20 or maybe a little higher is for Netflix to determine. But Id venture to say that there will be less pushback to a slight increase on the top end and potentially an increase in lower-tier subscriptions if they officially condoned sharing on at least the top plans.
What exactly do you mean?
You mean for instance if one has Apple TV+, a Netflix account and Apple Family Sharing you would be ok sharing with out of household family members? If so, that's cool.
Netflix says strict new password sharing rules were posted in error | AppleInsider
New Netflix rules that would have enforced a limitation on users' sharing passwords are reportedly a mistake and don't apply in the US — for now.
appleinsider.com
they are backtracking, wonder how many subscribers they lost already
those rules have been removed from Netflix's help pages. According to The Streamable, Netflix says it was all a mistake.
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It’s certainly not an issue with my Apple TV+ as after 3 years I cancelled it as it was on the whole poor and lacking much decent content.
Probably nobody unless you were directly inconvenienced. As many here pointed out some viable reasons for family members being away from the house, whoever thought they could just implement some hard rules needs to go back to school and writes rules that allow the variety of families lifestyles.
The Costa Rica web site still has these poorly written FAQ, and you can easily see why Netflix got a backlash when it was discovered.
Sharing your Netflix account
A Netflix account is meant to be shared in one household – people who live in the same location with the account owner.
help.netflix.com
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