Netflix to Expand Crackdown on Password Sharing in Q1 2023

[strongy]

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

if you think no one unsubscribed before they backtracked you are sorely mistaken

 

[Abazigal]

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

The rules make me feel like I am some sort of criminal. I am paying for the service, and I still have to jump through all these hoops and go out of my way to meet Netflix's criteria like a circus animal performing for treats.

 

[Canyda]

The crackdown just hit Canada.

An Update on Sharing - About Netflix

We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account with features like profiles and multiple streams.

about.netflix.com

 

[baronessjan]

Netflix today said that it plans to roll out paid sharing "more broadly" in the first quarter of 2023, expanding a crackdown on Netflix accounts that are shared between multiple households.

In a Q4 shareholder letter explaining the changes [PDF], Netflix says that widespread account sharing undermines its ability to invest in and improve the service.
Based on testing in Latin America, Netflix says that it is anticipating "some cancel reaction" in each market where paid sharing is introduced, but an overall improvement in revenue is expected as "borrower households" activate standalone accounts and as extra member accounts are added. According to Netflix, an estimated 222 million paying households share passwords with an additional 100 million households that could be monetized.

Netflix will require people who share accounts with others outside of their household to pay to do so. Add-on payments have already rolled out in some Latin American countries, with Netflix charging around $3 extra for an additional non-household user. A report from The Wall Street Journal in December suggested Netflix could charge just under $6.99 for account sharing in the United States.

Netflix plans to enforce password sharing rules through IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity.

The terms of service for Netflix have never allowed for multi-household sharing, but Netflix has allowed the practice for so long that implementing fees for offering account access to friends and family could upset some subscribers.

Pricing on Netflix plans includes watching on multiple supported devices in addition to affecting streaming quality, but Netflix does not want multiple viewers using the same account unless they live together. Netflix's premium plan, for example, allows for Ultra HD 4K streaming and support for watching on four supported devices like iPhones, iPads, and Macs at one time, but in the future, access will be limited to people in the same home.

Article Link: Netflix to Expand Crackdown on Password Sharing in Q1 2023

This is very troublesome to me. I'm one of those who net into netflix with my friends password. The friend can afford it but I can't. I'm also afraid that Hulu and other apps might stary doing this and then where would we be? I don't watch netflix all the time, I have a few shows I watch and would like to continue doing so but the prices they are implementing with adds is a little ridiculous. I'm a young senior citizen but I do have a mortgage and sometimes finances are tight and I used to use Netlflix years ago when I'd get movie discs from them and return them and that worked out fine but i'm afraid that what Netflix is planning to do may do me in for netlix altogether. I pay for no commercials on paramount plus and the rest of my watching in through other's sign in so I hope the 'others' don't start doing this as well, that's all I'm saying and why does the one option have to be $20 for the top netflix choice? I'm sure netflix is making a lot of money but maybe they just want to make more.

 

[Vlad Soare]

I'm one of those who net into netflix with my friends password. The friend can afford it but I can't.

Well, I'm sorry to be this blunt, but you're exactly the sort of user that Netflix, quite rightly, wants to get rid of, and that has caused this issue in the first place. The fact that you can't afford the subscription is irrelevant to them - they're a business, not a charity.
People who have legitimate reasons to use their streams at multiple locations will now have to put up with a lot of inconvenience because of the likes of you, who abused the system. As usual, it's a minority of selfish offenders who ruin the lives of everybody else.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's the truth.

 

[I7guy]

Well, I'm sorry to be this blunt, but you're exactly the sort of user that Netflix, quite rightly, wants to get rid of, and that has caused this issue in the first place. The fact that you can't afford the subscription is irrelevant to them - they're a business, not a charity.
People who have legitimate reasons to use their streams at multiple locations will now have to put up with a lot of inconvenience because of the likes of you, who abused the system. As usual, it's a minority of selfish offenders who ruin the lives of everybody else.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's the truth.

If it were a minority of users, imo there wouldn’t be an issue. Obviously we don’t know the numbers but it could be substantial.

 

[Abazigal]

Well, I'm sorry to be this blunt, but you're exactly the sort of user that Netflix, quite rightly, wants to get rid of, and that has caused this issue in the first place. The fact that you can't afford the subscription is irrelevant to them - they're a business, not a charity.
People who have legitimate reasons to use their streams at multiple locations will now have to put up with a lot of inconvenience because of the likes of you, who abused the system. As usual, it's a minority of selfish offenders who ruin the lives of everybody else.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's the truth.

Let's not forget that Netflix encouraged this sort of behaviour in the first place.

It's not about whether what they did was right or wrong. Netflix was content to turn a blind eye to such behaviour for as long as it suited their needs, and are now attempting to demonise this same group of users now that they need to raise more money to appease shareholders, in the hope that people will focus their unhappiness on them instead of at Netflix.

It just is, and people are simply going to have to decide whether they will continue supporting Netflix financially moving forward.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I've been looking to drop one of the streaming services--between Disney Plus, Hulu, Paramount, Peacock, AppleTV, it's enough. I'll just resubscribe for specific things for a month here-and-there. Which I guess was their goal?

 

[tranceking26]

I just paid for the 4K HDR plan for a month. I notice the choices have changed slightly:

No more Basic plan, just these three options. Is that the same for others? I'm in the UK.

 

[I7guy]

I've been looking to drop one of the streaming services--between Disney Plus, Hulu, Paramount, Peacock, AppleTV, it's enough. I'll just resubscribe for specific things for a month here-and-there. Which I guess was their goal?

If you were going to drop Netflix anyway, they are still getting revenue from you.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Well, I'm sorry to be this blunt, but you're exactly the sort of user that Netflix, quite rightly, wants to get rid of, and that has caused this issue in the first place. The fact that you can't afford the subscription is irrelevant to them - they're a business, not a charity.
People who have legitimate reasons to use their streams at multiple locations will now have to put up with a lot of inconvenience because of the likes of you, who abused the system. As usual, it's a minority of selfish offenders who ruin the lives of everybody else.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's the truth.

No need to be blunt with them as Netflix actively encouraged us to share our passwords up until recently. Nothing selfish in what that person was doing whatsoever.

 

[compwiz1202]

I just paid for the 4K HDR plan for a month. I notice the choices have changed slightly:

View attachment 2159896

No more Basic plan, just these three options. Is that the same for others? I'm in the UK.

US. If I remember, I'll check again. A few days ago four were there.

 

[Vlad Soare]

No need to be blunt with them as Netflix actively encouraged us to share our passwords up until recently.

Within reason. Sharing it with your immediate family, even if they may not live under the same roof, is one thing. Sharing it with random friends or acquaintences who should normally have their own subscription, is another.
As always, common sense must be applied. I guess Netflix assumed at that time that people would have common sense, but apparently too many of them didn't.

 

[compwiz1202]

Within reason. Sharing it with your immediate family, even if they may not live under the same roof, is one thing. Sharing it with random friends who should normally have their own subscription, is another.
As always, common sense must be applied. I guess Netflix assumed at that time that people would have common sense, but apparently too many of them didn't.

Even sharing it with enough to use the screens seems reasonable. Even beyond any TOS, why would you give it to so many people and get locked out when they use all the screens.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

If you were going to drop Netflix anyway, they are still getting revenue from you.

I don’t know what this means.

 

[I7guy]

Even sharing it with enough to use the screens seems reasonable. Even beyond any TOS, why would you give it to so many people and get locked out when they use all the screens.

Person one downloads content then gives the password to person 2 who downloads content then gives the password to person 3 etc, etc

 

[Vlad Soare]

Person one downloads content then gives the password to person 2 who downloads content then gives the password to person 3 etc, etc

I'm sure plenty of people would be very happy to go through the trouble of pre-downloading everything they might want to watch in the future, just for the sake of allowing as many strangers as possible to watch Netflix for free.

"Hmmm... I think I'll watch The Blacklist tonight. I guess I should download the next episode now, just in case one of the 200 people I'm sharing my password with might want to watch something at that time, too. But what if I won't feel like watching The Blacklist? What if I'll be in the mood for Braking Bad? Better download an episode of that as well... Oh, sh1it, someone is already connected. I can't download anything right now. I'll try again later"...
Then, several hours later:
"Honey, what say we watch The Crown?"
"Sorry, darling. I didn't download it".
"So we'll just stream it, like normal people do".
"No can do. Two of my 200 friends are currently streaming. We can't connect."
"Oh, honey, it's so kind of you to pay a monthly fee just so random strangers can watch Netflix for free and we can't. I'm so proud of you"!

Seriously, do you really believe this to be the case?

 

[I7guy]

[..]

Seriously, do you really believe this to be the case?

Yes, I seriously do. People whose time is worth less than their money.

 

[Vlad Soare]

Yes, I seriously do. People whose time is worth less than their money.

Nah. They'd have to pay themselves for a service they won't be able to use (not comfortably, anyway), in order to allow other people to save money. Extremely unlikely.
Even if we assume that such good Samaritans might theoretically exist, they must be extremely few and far between. Certainly few enough not to cause Netflix much trouble. And they'd perhaps do it for a brother, or a lover, or a very, very good friend, but certainly not for hundreds of strangers or quasi-strangers.

I believe most, if not all, people who share their passwords do so only as long as their own experience is unaffected. As soon as they can't watch something (or have to jump through hoops to watch it) because someone else is connected they will stop sharing.

 

[I7guy]

Nah. They'd have to pay themselves for a service they won't be able to use, in order to allow other people to save money. Extremely unlikely.
Even if we assume that such good Samaritans might theoretically exist, they must be extremely few and far between. Certainly few enough not to cause Netflix much trouble. And they'd perhaps do it for a brother, or a lover, or a very, very good friend, but certainly not for hundreds of strangers or quasi-strangers.

I believe most, if not all, people who share their passwords do so only as long as their own Netflix experience is unaffected. As soon as they can't watch something (or have to jump through hoops to watch it) because someone else is connected they will stop sharing.

There is some reason Netflix is cracking down. And we don’t know the numbers or reasons but it could be from egregious abusers to casual sharers.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Within reason. Sharing it with your immediate family, even if they may not live under the same roof, is one thing. Sharing it with random friends or acquaintences who should normally have their own subscription, is another.
As always, common sense must be applied. I guess Netflix assumed at that time that people would have common sense, but apparently too many of them didn't.

I’ve only shared mine with immediate family. I know my in-laws would never think to subscribe to Netflix and only watch things we recommend to them. If they didn’t have access to our account then they’d never bother.

I don’t think Netflix are going to see a huge spike in subscribers by cracking down on password sharing. They’ll just see a decline in the popularity of their shows in regards to them being followed and discussed. I’m of the opinion that Netflix is only £6 a month and if people are password borrowing now, they are unlikely to pay if that’s the only option.