No More Sharing: Netflix To Discontinue Password Sharing

What’s the coolest part about Netflix? The awesome content? The AI-powered “Because you watched” section? All that is great but the best part is that it allows users to share their IDs and passwords with their dear ones (even outside their families). However, now you might need to bid adieu to 'sharing' your Netflix. #NoMoreSharing

On 25^th January 2023, Netflix announced its plan to halt free password sharing. This means, in the coming months (that is before April), Netflix is set to block subscribers from sharing their account passwords with people outside their households. Netflix has quoted in its letter, "From our experience in Latin America, we expect some cancel reaction in each market when we roll out paid sharing, which impacts near-term member growth." It further continued, "But as borrower households begin to activate their standalone accounts and extra member accounts are added, we expect to see improved overall revenue."

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A Wall Street Journal report revealed that Netflix researchers accredited password sharing as the biggest cause for drop in subscriptions. Ever since, the streaming giant has been looking for ways to curtail that.  

Talking about the execution of this plan, Insider reporter Sarah Saril explained that the brand is likely to a person's geographic location, as determined by the IP address of any internet-connected device, to figure out which people count as "household" members who live together. "If you're watching on a TV, it'll provide exactly where you are," Saril said. "They only want people in your household, at your address, watching."

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For a legal purposes, Netflix is within its rights to do so. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), a government agency, stated that sharing passwords goes against the copyright law. “Piracy is a major issue for the entertainment and creative industries. Pasting internet images into your social media without permission, or accessing films, TV series or live sports events through Kodi boxes, hacked Fire Sticks or apps without paying a subscription is an infringement of copyright and you may be committing a crime,” IPO said.

Do you think Netflix new move would work in the brands favor? Will they really be able to come up with the technological innovation to control password sharing? Let us know in the comments.