It was recently revealed that from 2023, Netflix will begin to lift the siege of sharing passwords on its platform between people who do not live in the same house, a practice that violates the terms of use of streaming. But will password sharing really end?
According to VarietyWhile Netflix’s plan to end sharing hasn’t been fully disclosed, the company is unlikely to be able to curb the practice entirely. In principle, Netflix will not close someone’s account even if the password is shared, nor will there be additional fees imposed by the platform without the user’s consent.
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Netflix revealed in October that it plans to develop “a thoughtful approach to account sharing monetization” beyond the markets where it has already tested the approach in Latin America: Chile, Costa Rica and Peru. The idea is to encourage people who share passwords to create “sub-accounts” and pay people to their faces.
Despite the initial impression of the measure that password sharing will be hunted down and exterminated from the platform, including punitive measures, Netflix will add a password sharing monetization scheme, but nothing should be enforced on users.
Netflix has not yet disclosed the values of a sub-account, called Extra Member, in the United States and in other markets, such as Brazil. In Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, where the measure was tested, the sub-account fee was between 23% and 29% of a Standard platform account. In Brazil, this value is between R$ 9.17 and R$ 11.57.
In these test markets, Netflix notified members who appeared to be sharing their accounts outside of their homes, with insights made from IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity on devices connected to your Netflix account . This approach was done by introducing new payment options and requiring credential verification by sending a verification code to the primary account user.
What if the customer doesn’t pay to borrow passwords? All signs indicate that the most aggressive Netflix intends to achieve in its first attempt to curb password sharing is to continue sending email reminders and notifications to violators of the platform’s terms of use.
The company’s help page on sharing passwords currently says, “Netflix won’t automatically bill you if you share your account with someone who doesn’t live with you.” This is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
If Netflix were to automatically charge new fees for account sharing, as well as angering customers – who have engaged in password sharing for years with Netflix’s approval and nod – it would invite scrutiny from the authorities regulation on possible consumer countermeasure charging practices. protection.
“We would never release anything that looks like ‘twisting the screws,'” for people sharing passwords, Netflix co-CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings said in an interview on the company’s first quarter 2021 earnings. “It has to make sense to consumers, that they understand.”
The fact that Netflix’s password sharing monetization strategy is opt-in highlights the uncertainty about how much more money it will reap from the so-called “crackdown.” The company is keen to develop new revenue streams as core subscriber growth has slowed.
In addition to monetizing paid sharing, Netflix was quick to roll out a new, cheaper, ad-supported plan this year in November, which appears to be relatively slow.
Netflix has estimated that passwords are being shared in violation of its rules with over 100 million defaulting households worldwide, but it obviously won’t be able to convert all of this activity into revenue.
Will Netflix Password Sharing Really End? first appeared on Look Digital.
Source: Olhar Digital
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
