Netflix and Chill! days when you enjoy Netflix shows without paying from your pocket because you have your friend’s account password right. Well, the time has come to say goodbye to those good old days.  Netflix’s Long-schedule plan to end password sharing is now set to move forward. It came up with the decision after freeloaders are enjoying the service without paying for it now the platform has now taken anti-password-sharing measures in more countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain. 

The New Household Rule

The streaming platform stated that customers in these four regions from  9th February 2023 are asked to set a ‘primary location’. This is to ensure that those in the same household can only use the specific account. The platform is already charging users who are sharing accounts with friends in North America, and some other regions. It is also reportedly planning to do the same in the UK by the end of March.  Earlier this week, the platform’s US Help Center detailed new protocols to prevent people from using someone else’s account to access Netflix. According to the requirement, subscribers are to verify their home devices every month and devices outside of the home would be blocked. As expected, this was not well received. Many people took to social media to express their frustrations.

“Over the last year, we’ve been exploring different approaches to address this issue in Latin America, and we’re now ready to roll them out more broadly in the coming months, starting today in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. Our focus has been on giving members greater control over who can access their account,” Netflix stated in a blog post. Chengyi Long, Director of Product Innovation in the company believes that over 100 million users are sharing accounts, impacting their ability to invest in new TV shows or films.

The Growth and Loss of Consumer

While Netflix received backlash over its plans to curb password sharing, the streaming platform later scrapped it, saying that the sharing rules were posted in error. In Netflix’s 2022 Q1 financials, Netflix announced that it lost over 200,000 subscribers due to fierce competition and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It would later go on to suspend services in Russia, losing a total of 700,000 subscribers. Its Q2 financials were even worse, with the company losing nearly 1 million subscribers in the period – the report led to a 26 per cent drop in Netflix’s stock prices – wiping out around $ 40 billion in value.

Being an Extra is not always that Bad!

Since 2022, Netflix has been testing the option to buy an extra membership and transfer a profile in case someone buys a new account. Now, these two options — “Buy an extra member” and “Transfer profile” to these four regions starting today.

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People subscribed to the Standard and Premium plans can now add members to their accounts for extra money over what they are paying for their subscription. If you are subscribed to the Standard plan, you have access to one different member; if you have premium, you will get two additional members.