We were all dreading this, but it looks like Netflix is now looking at a broad rollout of its password-sharing clampdown in a few more markets. The company first introduced these measures in countries like Portugal, New Zealand, Canada and Spain and if reports are to be believed, the upper management at Netflix seems to be happy about how the launch of the service has turned out.
Netflix is looking at deploying its new sharing plans in the US and other markets around the world sometime in the second quarter of 2023. As mentioned above, the streaming giant has already rolled out a ‘buy an extra member’ feature in 4 countries but is now looking at expanding that feature on a global scale.
So, how does all this really work? Let’s break it down. Say you pay for one Netflix account and have shared said account with 4 other people in your family circle. Netflix says that all 4 individuals should be in the ‘same household’ in order to access the service. What this means is that Netflix is tired of losing money on garbage TV shows and is looking at new sleazy ways of ripping off its subscriber base.
Part of what made Netflix the juggernaut it now is was the ability to share your account with friends and family (legally, of course). But, in a move straight out of Scrooge McDuck’s playbook, the company is looking at wringing every drop of blood out of its customers that it possibly can. Netflix’s co-CEO Greg Peters stated that the company is looking at ‘protecting its revenue and ensuring fair usage of its service”. Well, one step towards saving revenue would be to stop producing garbage!
How this pans out for the streaming giant is yet to be seen, and on a personal note, I have family on my account who do not live in the country. So, it’ll be interesting to see exactly how this turns out in a country like India. The streaming service is already the most expensive in the country and it’ll be difficult for someone to justify an extra bit of cash for a dying service with absolutely pathetic programming.