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Television Entertainment

Netflix Expands Password-Sharing Crackdown To Every Market (techcrunch.com) 52

Posted by msmash from the no-mercy dept.
Netflix is bringing password-sharing crackdown to consumers in India and every other market starting today, the global streaming giant said after a limited rollout of the restriction helped the firm sign up nearly 6 million subscribers in the quarter ending June. From a report: The streaming giant said it will start to address account sharing between households in almost all of its remaining countries starting Thursday. Netflix, which once supported the practice of account password-sharing, now finds it posing complex challenges to its business prospects.

It began testing the restriction last year, much to many subscribers' chagrin, and expanded it to a number of other countries including Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain and the U.S. in 2023. In some aforementioned markets, Netflix allowed those sharing the password to pay extra to accommodate their friends.
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Netflix Expands Password-Sharing Crackdown To Every Market More

Netflix Expands Password-Sharing Crackdown To Every Market

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  • I feel like we could probably correlate this with an overall increase in BitTorrent usage.

  • Someone explain to me why this is outrageons (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Thursday July 20, 2023 @11:50AM (#63702070)

    Everybody and their dog seems to get their pants in a knot over Netflix basically enforcing the simple rule that subscribers should pay for watching their shit. I struggle to see what's wrong with what Netflix is doing.

    Genuine question from someone who never subscribed to Netflix: am I missing some crucial piece of information that would explain why people are mad at them?

    • Mainly that they allowed it until now, so at this point itâ(TM)s a feature of their product, like it or not. So if you take that away, even if it was only ignored and not officially a part of it, then people see it as a loss in value.

      Iâ(TM)m paying $7.99 so my parents donâ(TM)t have to manage or worry about their Netflix subscription; if we happened to be co-located there would be no charge, because Iâ(TM)d have max 2 simultaneous streams, which is less than many households use, and wo

    • Re:Someone explain to me why this is outrageons (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Striek ( 1811980 ) on Thursday July 20, 2023 @11:59AM (#63702100)

      Everybody and their dog seems to get their pants in a knot over Netflix basically enforcing the simple rule that subscribers should pay for watching their shit. I struggle to see what's wrong with what Netflix is doing.

      Genuine question from someone who never subscribed to Netflix: am I missing some crucial piece of information that would explain why people are mad at them?

      Indeed you are.

      Netflix actively encouraged [twitter.com] password sharing for years. They are now reversing that policy. They have altered the deal and we must pray they do not alter it further.

      I very, very specifically signed up for Netflix with the understanding that sharing the account with my mother in law was well within the agreement. At the time, it was, and I have that on record from Netflix. Now it is not. That constitutes a unilateral alteration of the deal - an alteration which I did not agree to.

      • Re:Someone explain to me why this is outrageons (Score:5, Insightful)

        by DRJlaw ( 946416 ) on Thursday July 20, 2023 @12:30PM (#63702208)

        That constitutes a unilateral alteration of the deal - an alteration which I did not agree to.

        It's a month-to-month deal that you're free to decline if you dislike it. Once you've renewed under the altered terms, it's not so unilateral anymore.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Striek ( 1811980 )

          Actually, you have a point. I didn't look at it that way.

          I suppose it can be argued that every month is a new agreement. If it was an annual contract my argument would be much stronger.

        • You are also free to dislike, get upset, state its unfair and express whatever opinion like about it too.

          • and Netflix will give you the middle finger and give you some corporate double speak.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by DRJlaw ( 946416 )

            Yes, but that still doesn't make it unilateral. You've either agreed to it, or you've stopped renewing How you whinge about your choice is a separate issue.

      • So basically this is another kind of price increase, which is entirely in keeping with Netflix's business model for years.

      • Netflix actively encouraged [twitter.com] password sharing for years. They are now reversing that policy. They have altered the deal and we must pray they do not alter it further.

        It's their service to do with as they please. What next, you demand that every day is a Black Friday sale because you've seen them do it once?

        That constitutes a unilateral alteration of the deal

        In legal terms that entitles you to ... cancel your contract, something that Netflix offer you the ability to do anyway.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by vux984 ( 928602 )

      Basically because Netflix said it was ok; literally:

      https://twitter.com/netflix/st... [twitter.com]

      Read that tweet.

      Now, remember these people ARE paying customers already, often paying for a higher tier package which includes the right to watch on multiple screens at once. So if you are paying for the service, and you are allowed to watch it on two screens, and that is exactly what you are doing, and for 5+ years, it was ok, and even encouraged.

      So right off the bat, this feels like a bit of a rug pull on the terms of ser

    • Very simple:
      My plan says I get 2 streams, what difference does it make where those 2 streams are?

      I can not not have 3 streams, Netflix will let me know someone else is watching: They already enforce that 2 streams limit, now they are adding a new limit that those 2 streams have to be in the same place, this is new, and was never part of the original deal.
      We are already paying, just this is a new factor in what you are paying for.

    • Everybody and their dog seems to get their pants in a knot over Netflix basically enforcing the simple rule that subscribers should pay for watching their shit....

      You're "technically correct" here...which is great, until you account for the fact that you're dealing with "people", who are less concerned with whether or not you are "technically correct".

      ...am I missing some crucial piece of information that would explain why people are mad at them?

      Yes...that in isolation, this wouldn't be a problem...but it's very much not in isolation.

      Netflix used to be $8/month to watch basically-everything one would want to watch. It was super easy for them to get streaming rights from Disney and NBC and CBS and MGM and Universal to have a metric ton of content to watch. If you were in the mood for something new, they had new stuff. If you were in the mood to watch Friends or The Office, you could do that too. Netflix generally didn't care how many devices watched stuff, so it was a fantastic deal.

      Then, the prices went up a bit. $2/month isn't an impossible amount of money, still less than a DVD a month...but they did it again and again to the point where the price of Netflix considerably outpaces inflation.

      Then, the content library started getting a bit vacant. The studios saw Netflix's success and wanted their own piece of the action, realizing that it's far less expensive for them to spin up a streaming service than it would be for Netflix to spin up a content library, so the $12/month no longer included Disney movies, and with Disney having bought up Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm and Fox, it meant those things were gone, too.

      Netflix also started limiting the number of concurrent streams. Not unreasonable to limit to 5 concurrent HD streams at a time...but then it became 4, and then 2, then you had to get a higher tier for 4K...and again, the amount of third party content continued to dwindle and Netflix started turning into HBO on-the-internet, since nearly everything on Netflix was a first party title.

      Then, there was the content itself. Netflix did well early on with having a few good shows to watch. House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black were breakout successes, with a few surprise hits over the years like Stranger Things and Squid Games. The rest of the library, however, is disproportionately comprised of reality competitions and stand-up comedy specials, in no small part because these things are easy to produce, and inexpensively so. The price, however, crept up again by way of 'tiers'...you didn't *technically* have to pay more, you just had to pay more to get what you used to get.

      All of this was still worth it to at least some people by way of password sharing. "I'll pay $20/month for Netflix, you pay $10/month for Disney+ and HBO Max, we'll share the three passwords and we're both getting a benefit". That was how lots of people handled the pay bumps - "streaming roommates". Now, Netflix gave those roommates an eviction notice.

      So, it's not simply that Netflix is requiring that different households now need to subscribe separately - that's just the straw that broke the camels' back. You don't start with "$8/month, share with your friends, watch Disney content as well as our own high quality shows" and end up with "$20/month and you need other streaming services to get the content library we used to have and you can't distribute the cost with your friends" without some people being upset in the process.

    • Everybody and their dog seems to get their pants in a knot over Netflix basically enforcing the simple rule that subscribers should pay for watching their shit. I struggle to see what's wrong with what Netflix is doing.

      Genuine question from someone who never subscribed to Netflix: am I missing some crucial piece of information that would explain why people are mad at them?

      I am paying for premium with four simultaneous streams. This is a streaming service and my family members and I should be able to stream it on whatever device and in whatever location we are in, as long as it is limited to the four streams I'm paying for. This includes my kids who are temporarily away at college or traveling.

      So my objection is to this new definition of "household", e.g. "A Netflix Household is a collection of the devices connected to the internet at the main place you watch Netflix". http [netflix.com]

      • No, that's you defining what you "wish" you were paying for. It's not what's on offer. If you continue to pay, you have accepted the terms. Neither you nor they are under an extended contract. You have a very temporary agreement, and you can choose not to renew it.

        I have yet to hear of anybody getting messed over simply for streaming while travelling. Netflix is erring on the side of caution when flagging violators. Chances are you have to see extended activity from two fixed point - "households" if you wil

        • No, that's you defining what you "wish" you were paying for. It's not what's on offer. If you continue to pay, you have accepted the terms. Neither you nor they are under an extended contract. You have a very temporary agreement, and you can choose not to renew it.

          I have yet to hear of anybody getting messed over simply for streaming while travelling. Netflix is erring on the side of caution when flagging violators. Chances are you have to see extended activity from two fixed point - "households" if you will.

          No, that IS what I'm paying for. Premium with 4 simultaneous streams. https://help.netflix.com/en/no... [netflix.com]

          Premium

          * Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games
          * Watch on 4 supported devices at a time
          * Watch in Ultra HD
          * Download on 6 supported devices at a time
          * Option to add up to 2 extra members who don't live with you
          * Netflix spatial audio

      • and I should be able to stream it on whatever device and in whatever location we are in, as long as it is limited to the four streams I'm paying for.

        Actually what you should be able to do is use the service exactly as laid out in your service agreement. That is the entire extent of what you're paying for.

    • Sure - their product is not worth 18 euros to a lot of people, so people started sharing their account to make the costs correspond more to it's value. Netflix even encouraged this with their famous "sharing is caring" tweet. Either way, they also said they would crack down on password-sharing in my country but haven't enforced it yet. I'll terminate my account when they really donthat, not when they say they will.
      • Really, I got Netflix because I wanted to be honest and contribute to the movie and TV industry in which I've done quite some work. I only use it for the occasional movie, maybe 1-2 TV-series a year and a few children shows. I use it regulary but not very often. Buying a series I don't watch through seems like a waste to me. So I probably don't even use it for the 6 Euros worth I pay after considering that I share my account with two others. If Netflix stops that, it's back to piracy which is less convenien

      • Saw that quote for the first time today. I don't know that anyone can hold a whole company to one tweet made by somebody with access to the twitter account 6 years ago. People act like that was from the desk of the CEO himself. I think I'd need to see something a little more formal and definitive from Netflix' actual literature But even after that, a company's perspective may evolve. Economics become real.

        I'm in the same position as you. Two active users in two homes 15 miles apart. Ban on sharing dropped in January, haven't heard a single thing from Netflix. Service continues as usual. If they come knocking, I'll discontinue, but so far it's a non-issue.

    • Yes. You pay for a number of available streams. Just like any sort of corporate con job, now those streams are only available to whatever IP netflix says is alliowed.
      They say they are different from cable, but in reality they are all the exact same.

    • Everybody and their dog seems to get their pants in a knot over Netflix basically enforcing the simple rule that subscribers should pay for watching their shit. I struggle to see what's wrong with what Netflix is doing.

      Genuine question from someone who never subscribed to Netflix: am I missing some crucial piece of information that would explain why people are mad at them?

      I can think of three reasons:

      1. Their policy says it's for members of my household, yet they want to exclude household members who might be studying/working away from home for a few months.
      2. I'm paying for a certain number (+quality) of simultaneous streams, so why does location matter?
      3. They openly encouraged password sharing

    • Netflix is free to charge whatever they want, and I'm free to cancel my service the moment they start trying to enforce this on me. So far they haven't had the guts to do so. I share my password and they havne't blocked me or the people I share it with. The day they do I'll go elsewhere for my entertainment. I've been eyeing an HiDive account since I saw the trailer for Ya Boy Kongming but keep forgetting to sign up.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by icejai ( 214906 )

      I cancelled my Netflix subscription, but only because my gf and I often found ourselves doom-scrolling through countless movies and shows with never a strong desire to watch any of them. I can't speak to other peoples' reasons for being upset, but I can think of a few reasons.

      1. Password-sharing was once encouraged by Netflix. I can understand how this about-face policy "feels" like a bait-and-switch.
      2. Imposing higher prices for little (or no) marginal value is, by its very nature, inflationary. These pr

    • As someone who has never shared my Netflix password and has the most basic package where I can't even stream on 2 devices at once I don't think you're missing anything at all. I never knew anyone who asked to borrow my password. Most of the people I know can afford it themselves.

      If I understand correctly, I'm grandfathered into my current price without ads, but if I have to pay more to get rid of ads I'm going to have to seriously reconsider my subscription and I've been using Netflix for about 20 years.

  • At least here in America it is. No one in my family has gotten the prompt yet even though I share the password across state lines. We don't make heavy use of Netflix though and I had a standing plan to cancel at the moment they started forcing it, still do.

    What they're doing is identifying heavy users who are likely to be unwilling to cancel and targeting them. It's a smart solution since it avoids the bad press from the large-scale cancellations they would have otherwise seen. It remains to be seen if

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by techvet ( 918701 )
      This is something I have noticed as well. If I try to watch Netflix on the Roku, it wants me to pick a primary network, but I haven't done that yet and others in the family who live out of state can still watch it on their smartphones or laptops. Once they force a primary network to picked across all devices, then we will drop Netflix. They have been very, very clever in media relations to publicize all the new sign-ups, but they haven't dropped the other shoe yet that might cause cancellations. They a

      • What is a "primary network"? I watch Netflix on my Roku almost exclusively and haven't seen that.

        I usually only watch it on one of 3 TVs (each with its own Roku). I only get one stream at a time and they've enforced that for a while. If I pause something on one TV and go into a different room I can't watch it there until the Netflix Roku app on the first TV. It's not a big deal for me. Other people's mileage obviously varies.

    • “Without company disclosure around the number of ‘Extra Members’ being added to accounts as part of the password-sharing crackdown, the number of users that crackdown has even targeted so far or any insight into the number of subscribers on the Standard with Ads tier, the drivers underpinning Netflix’s revenue growth are more unclear than ever, giving us less confidence in our ability to accurately model this company,”

      It is because it is all a ruse to artificially pump up their stock.

      They only release numbers that make it seem successful and hide all the bad numbers that show it is a flaming dumpster failure.

    • Selectively enforced or imperfectly detected? Don't confuse the two. Networking is not simple.

  • The Reddit Know-It-Alls Were Wrong - Again! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by beforewisdom ( 729725 ) on Thursday July 20, 2023 @01:18PM (#63702356)
    The Reddit Know-It-Alls Were Wrong - Again!

    I remember when this issue first came up in /r/News on Reddit the know-it-alls almost chanted in unison that doing this would be the death for Netflix.

    It actually made Netflix money and solved some of their financial problems.

    • The Reddit Know-It-Alls Were Wrong - Again!

      “Without company disclosure around the number of ‘Extra Members’ being added to accounts as part of the password-sharing crackdown, the number of users that crackdown has even targeted so far or any insight into the number of subscribers on the Standard with Ads tier, the drivers underpinning Netflix’s revenue growth are more unclear than ever, giving us less confidence in our ability to accurately model this company,”

      It's all a ruse. You idiots believe it.

      The CEO says some very fine people say it's hugely successful and refuses to give out the numbers.

      I'm glad I'm not a rube.

  • Canceled my Netflix account when they started this in the states. Because of that I signed up for Apple tv+, and I feel like instead of Netflix's quantity approach, they really do have a higher quality output for a much more affordable price point. Loving the Foundation and not missing Netflix at all.

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