Netflix has made the controversial decision on cracking down accounts that are still enjoying the password sharing feature that is no longer allowed. The company has seen declining profits as of late and is doing everything in its power to attempt an increase in its profitability.
It is understandable why they are attempting to make more profits as the costs of their shows are astronomical. Most of Netflix’s productions can cost as much as a big budget Hollywood production. Their production quality has also drastically increased over the years.
According to MacRumors, this crackdown is currently affecting New Zealand, Canada, Spain and Portugal. Individuals who share an account with someone not residing with them will have to incur an additional charge for an “extra member.” The pricing is based on a per-person basis and allows for up to two more individuals to be added to an existing Standard or Premium plan.
The extra cost will grant each member a separate profile, personalised recommendations, and their own login credentials. As an alternative, those who share a Netflix account with someone outside of their household can choose to transfer a profile to a separate, paid Netflix account.
Reaction to Netflix removing password sharing
do they mean to say that we cant share passwords with our friends, only family members?
— Muffler (@just_muffler3) February 3, 2023
Netizens are stating that password sharing is what helped Netflix grow rapidly. They were even proud that users shared their passwords among family and friends. There is even a photo quote of them stating that “love means sharing a password.”
https://twitter.com/hellooociara/status/1621546184774139905?s=20&t=yOi83nWfybtiAPucCUGpKg
Unfortunately, times have changed. Another user claimed that with this change, his mother may not be able to watch said platform anymore as the current set up he has is allowing her access to his profile. If he were to regrant his mother’s access again, it will cost him about £15.99 a month. For many that is a steep price to pay especially for a feature that was free of charge before. Another Twitter user added that he should move on to HBO Go.
They didn’t think this through , imagine those that have multiple residencies
— Truth (@Truth90017200) February 3, 2023
Others are claiming that the streaming service is not thinking this through well as this person travels a lot for work, thus their locations will differ a lot. Considerations of using a different streaming service is brought up. Another netizen stated that Netflix did not think this through properly as there are people who own multiple properties and this will cause massive problems to them.
It appears that the people have spoken. If Netflix insists on bringing this new paywall to subscribers, it would mean that their profits may decline further as talks of moving to HBO Go, Disney+, Hulu, AppleTV+ and even Amazon Prime are popular opinions.