Photo: Associated Press
On Wednesday, Netflix announced that it will crack down on password-sharing among watchers, and customers are not responding well.
In a statement, Netflix said that it has encouraged account sharing among its 222 million subscribers in the past, with features such as profiles and multiple streams, but that the practices are “impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”
Netflix said that password sharing won’t be banned but that those who do it will have to pay. The new change will be tested in three countries — Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. For 2,380 Chilean pesos, 2.99 US dollars and 7.9 Peruvian sol, respectively, users can add up to two profiles.
“Netflix will lose a lot of customers if they do this password sharing crackdown they plan to do,” said one Twitter user.
“How do you expect families to handle password sharing in the case of divorcees, their children, or college students away from home?” another user said. “We already pay a lot for it, now you’re just milking us for every dollar spent.”
Users who don’t pay will be able to transfer their profiles to their own accounts under the anticipated change. Customizations like My List, viewing history, and recommendations will be retained.
“We recognize that people have many entertainment choices, so we want to ensure any new features are flexible and useful for members, whose subscriptions fund all our great TV and films,” the statement said.
“Mind your business! Respectfully!” said one tweet.
Netflix has previously attempted to get people to pay for their own accounts. In March 2021, it began testing two-step verification in which after logging in, users would have to input a code that would be sent to the phone or email of the account owner.
Reuters reported that Netflix previously raised its US prices in October 2020 and again in January, bringing the price of its standard plans from $13.99 to $15.49.
Opinions expressed by NY Weekly contributors are their own.
