As many people have admitted, we tend to share our Netflix password with family and friends, so that everyone can enjoy their original TV shows and popular movies. But, as of 2023, a Netflix password crack down started, and it could change how we use Netflix altogether. Or will it be too much, and lead subscribers to cancel their membership because of this password situation?
What is the Netflix password crack down?
For years Netflix had pretty much not cared about password sharing. They even tweeted back in 2017 that “love is sharing a password.” You would think that with that statement, they are more lenient about it all. But, as of this year, Netflix figured out that they were losing money with the amount of password sharing happening. They tried to support a cheaper subscription plan so people could pay for a membership and not share as much, but it still didn’t change much.
The Netflix password crack down states that if there are other members on your account, it will cost $7.50 more a month in most countries. These rules vary depending on where you live and so far, it has been active in places like Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, where it was tested in 2022. If you remember, they accidentally released the sharing password charge article last year, and everyone in the U.S. when berserk over it. This was when they were doing the testing, and they didn’t clarify that they were doing it in those three countries.
As of late May, the plan is officially launching in the United States, which is making many people angry. We can officially confirm that in America, extra profiles will cost $7.99 more per month.
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What we know so far
In the second week of February, Netflix launched a fee for account sharing in the first wave of countries. The counties it is currently in are Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain. It seems crazy for this to happen because, in one household, plenty of people use one account. Why should there be a fee for extra members? Between parents and siblings, passwords get shared within one family, and apparently, Netflix will not allow two different households to use the same account information.
This means that if you aren’t living under the same roof, you could have to pay more each month on top of your subscription unless the other people signed in get their membership. Since this was confirmed in late May, we’re still waiting for details as to how they will track password sharing. However, we do know that they will be looking at IP addresses, devices, and account activity, which is pretty much guaranteed to give away any password sharing on its own.
The United States isn’t the only new country affected by Netflix’s password crack down. More than 100 countries were added to this second roll out. Hoda Kotb joked on the Today Show recently that with the “pay to share” policy rolling out, she’s going to “Netflix jail.” While she’s making a joke, I think many Americans already feel this way. There are definitely going to be tons of attempts to get around these new rules and people are not responding in a positive way so far.
Now that we know it is hitting the U.S., I can’t help but wonder if it will be the downfall for Netflix? If other streaming platforms don’t do this, Netflix will probably lose tons of subscribers.
As great as Netflix is, it could be doing better to keep a consistent audience. If this password crack down sticks around, I suspect they will start seeing memberships drop instead of more people signing up. They used to love sharing a password once upon a time, but now, they’ve come back to bite themselves and their own words. I understand that these companies need to make enough money to stay in business, but this could lead other streaming sites to crack down and crumble streaming services right in front of us.
Will I be secretly hoping the Netflix password crack down fails? If I’m being honest, yes. However, this is a bummer for everyone who loves streaming because Netflix has had a strong presence in the industry with excellent TV shows and original movies for years. Only time will tell how this Netflix password crack down goes in the U.S.