One of the many OTTs taking a huge financial hit due to account sharing is Netflix – where the company last year reported losing subscribers for the first time in a decade!
Well, to address this, Netflix said it’ll crack down on password-sharing practices and even introduce a formal account-sharing plan to suffice its losses. In this pursuit, here’s how the Netflix crackdown on password sharing works;
Announced last year, Netflix said it’ll make moves to stop the long-standing practice of password sharing of its accounts – that’s been denting its cash flow.
While it’s expected to start anytime this quarter, Eurogamer explained how this move works. According to it, Netflix will ask its subscribers to define a primary location for their accounts, so the devices accessing out of this scope (and not from IP addresses associated with this region) will be blocked.
Subscribers need to use Netflix on these devices at least once a month to keep them active. Well, there should also be a way for users ability to access their account if out of the specified region – where Netflix may share a temporary four-digit code to let you access.
These codes would expire in a week – so as to force your friends to keep bugging you for new codes every week. Netflix is hoping that you’d be vexed to share accounts in such a manner and dump the parasites. Also, the company is testing a formal way to share accounts – by creating sub-accounts to a parent one for a slightly higher price.
This practice has been live in Costa Rica and Peru since last year and is yet to come to the US. But until then, if you’re relying on a friend’s account for Netflix content, you better start moving out. For that migration, Netflix even made a Profile Transfer tool to export your unwatched shows, movies, and content recommendations.
