No longer fearing user backlash, Netflix has elected to move forward with their crackdown on password sharing.
Having considered password sharing a revenue drain for years now, Netflix initially rolled out a cheaper subscription plan that included ads in an attempt to make back what they considered a loss. A recent memo to shareholders claimed “today’s widespread account sharing (100M+ households) undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve Netflix, as well as build our business.”
Netflix will begin tracking IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity from devices signed into the potentially shared account “to determine which devices are in the same household. The memo also states “People who do not live in your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix,” but that “Netflix will not automatically charge you if you share your account with someone who doesn’t live with you.” Instead, they will force a log out from your account, requiring every device on the network to manually log back in via a verification code.
If Netflix comes to the conclusion that you don’t live there, by March you’ll be blocked from signing into the account, unless you or the account holder pay a small fee.
Between the constant cancellation of their most popular shows (Sense8, The Midnight Club, First Kill, and many others) and now the IP tracking of accounts, Netflix shouldn’t be too surprised to see a mass exodus from their platform to others with better, ongoing original content.