The long-touted Netflix password sharing rules landed in the United States streaming market this week. Months of delays and newly-reported scrambling behind the scenes suggest this rollout could be a bumpy ride for Netflix and its millions of subscribers.
Netflix password sharing changes
On Tuesday, Netflix officially announced its plan to reduce unauthorized password sharing in the United States among customers who share logins with friends and family outside their household. Netflix announced on its corporate blog that “Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with your household.”
The company plans to crack down on customers who share their accounts with people outside a single geographic household, introducing an $8 monthly charge in a long-threatened bid to retain customers and stanch a slowdown in subscription growth. Netflix will use location tracking to ensure subscribed users are logged in at a single home subscriber base, which is sure to test users already sensitive to growing threats to their online privacy.
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Current customers can buy an extra membership to their main subscription for an additional $7.99 per month. They will be also able to transfer a profile to a new membership starting as low as $6.99 for the ad-supported tier.
Netflix will start blocking devices that attempt to access a Netflix account without paying the proper fees, with a full rollout expected by the end of June 2023, according to TechRadar. Subscribers can keep using the service on the road, like on laptops or hotel TVs, without paying additional fees.
Netflix warns ISP partners of backlash
Meanwhile, Netflix has reportedly been discreetly warning broadband companies it partners with to prepare for customer backlash. The Financial Times reported that Netflix has already alerted internet provider partners in the UK that they should expect angry calls and support questions about the sharing price hike and location tracking features.
Despite Netflix's best efforts, a large number of subscribers won't realize the change is happening until Netflix starts asking them to decide which location should count as their "home" address' – and then demand an extra $8 for sharing the account outside that location.
Time to shop around?
Netflix customers have a few options at hand for dealing with this new account sharing reality. They can pay the extra member fee for $7.99 or get a new account for as little as $6.99.
Or they can shop around to see what streaming competitors are offering. We've broken down the latest deals below:
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