At the beginning of the week, there was buzz all over social media. People were talking about Netflix potentially cracking down on password sharing.
Sharing passwords is a pretty common thing, right? Millions of people who use Streaming Apps, especially Netflix, do it.
Back in 2018, research firm Magid did a study. They found that an estimated 35 percent of millennials share passwords for streaming services. It’s a pretty widespread practice.
Recently, a Netflix subscriber’s social media post blew up. It included a screenshot stating the following:
“Start your own Netflix for free today. If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.”
Naturally, this got everyone wondering. Is the streaming giant really going to put an end to password sharing on their service once and for all?
You can check out the tweet that started it all below (from @DOP3Sweet).
https://twitter.com/DOP3Sweet/status/1369395237253222414
There’s also a new thing you might have noticed. It’s an account verification prompt, and it uses either email or text.
If you dig into the Netflix Terms of Use, you’ll find something interesting. It says an account can only be used by people living in the same household.
“The Netflix service and any content viewed through our service are for your personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.”
This makes you think, doesn’t it? Will users have to be on the same IP address to be considered part of the same household? It raises a lot of questions.
Lots of people use a Netflix VPN. This is often to get around those pesky geo-restrictions on content. But this might become a way to sidestep the password-sharing rules in the future. Who knows?
Netflix is probably trying to nudge viewers in a certain direction. They want them to sign up for their own memberships instead of sharing, that’s pretty clear
More subscribers mean more money for streaming services, it’s simple math.
And think about it, there are so many streaming services popping up these days. Disney Plus, Peacock TV, Paramount Plus, HBO Max, Discovery Plus, the list goes on. Getting new subscribers is becoming a real battleground.
It’ll be fascinating to see what Netflix does next. One thing’s for sure: a lot of folks aren’t thrilled about the possibility of password sharing going away.
TROYPOINT TIP: Want other ways to stream movies and TV shows? We’ve got some popular guides you might find helpful.
Best Firestick Apps
Best Movie Streaming Sites
Oh, and don’t forget to take a peek at our IPTV Guide. It’s the place to be if you’re looking for top-notch live TV streaming options.
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