Netflix has been promising to become more strict on password sharing and has begun testing possible methods in different countries, to varying levels of success.
In March, Netflix announced they were going to begin testing features to try and stop password sharing with people outside your household. If sharing occurred, subscribers would be asked to pay extra to add the users to their service package.
While nothing is finalized just yet, Netflix is rolling out tests to see if there could be a possible solution. According to Rest of the World, Netflix has begun testing solutions in Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica by offering add-on prices for people using a subscription, but not living in the same household. Meaning if you're sharing an account, you may be asked to pay a little more.
Subscribers can also call Netflix Customer Service to say that someone is simply using their account in another location, which lets Customer Service hand out a verification code to the user, who can then confirm the code and bypass paying a fee.
According to Rest of World, “Central and South America represent Netflix’s lowest revenue per user, making them particularly vulnerable to changes in pricing.”
Testing these features in countries with fewer subscribers helps Netflix determine what steps to take going forward. So far, consumers have not seen a uniform message from Netflix regarding the testing and account changes, possibly because these are tests and not official policy changes.
Some subscribers have outright canceled their subscription due to the additional fees, while others continue to share their accounts with those outside their households. For some of those still sharing their account, there has been no enforcement. There is also the issue of what “household” means. Some subscribers take it as anyone in your immediate family, but Netflix has always defined it as people who physically live in the same building as you.
These plans will likely be ironed out as testing continues, but for now nothing is official just yet. Netflix increased its prices for a sixth time earlier this year, and that paired with the new charges for account sharing may have led to the streaming giant’s loss of 200k subscribers in April of this year.
Regardless, Netflix remains the home of hit shows like Stranger Things, Squid Game, and Bridgerton.
Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.
Continue reading...
In March, Netflix announced they were going to begin testing features to try and stop password sharing with people outside your household. If sharing occurred, subscribers would be asked to pay extra to add the users to their service package.
While nothing is finalized just yet, Netflix is rolling out tests to see if there could be a possible solution. According to Rest of the World, Netflix has begun testing solutions in Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica by offering add-on prices for people using a subscription, but not living in the same household. Meaning if you're sharing an account, you may be asked to pay a little more.
Subscribers can also call Netflix Customer Service to say that someone is simply using their account in another location, which lets Customer Service hand out a verification code to the user, who can then confirm the code and bypass paying a fee.
According to Rest of World, “Central and South America represent Netflix’s lowest revenue per user, making them particularly vulnerable to changes in pricing.”
Testing these features in countries with fewer subscribers helps Netflix determine what steps to take going forward. So far, consumers have not seen a uniform message from Netflix regarding the testing and account changes, possibly because these are tests and not official policy changes.
Some subscribers have outright canceled their subscription due to the additional fees, while others continue to share their accounts with those outside their households. For some of those still sharing their account, there has been no enforcement. There is also the issue of what “household” means. Some subscribers take it as anyone in your immediate family, but Netflix has always defined it as people who physically live in the same building as you.
These plans will likely be ironed out as testing continues, but for now nothing is official just yet. Netflix increased its prices for a sixth time earlier this year, and that paired with the new charges for account sharing may have led to the streaming giant’s loss of 200k subscribers in April of this year.
Regardless, Netflix remains the home of hit shows like Stranger Things, Squid Game, and Bridgerton.
Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.
Continue reading...