On May 23, Netflix announced that it was expanding its crackdown on password sharing in over 100 countries, including the United States. The company is now banning users from sharing their accounts for free outside of their households. This move comes as Netflix looks for new ways to make money since Pioneer is facing signs of market saturation. One of the company’s initiatives is to implement password-borrowing limits and new ad-supported options.
Netflix emailed its customers in 103 countries to notify them about the new policy. The email stated that customers were only allowed to use their Netflix account within their household. If paid customers wanted to add members outside their home, they could do so for an additional fee of $8/month in the US. Netflix estimated that approximately 100 million households have shared their login credentials with friends and family outside the home.
Despite the new policy, people within the same household are still allowed to share a Netflix account and use it on different devices while traveling. As of the end of March 2021, Netflix had 232.5 million paying customers worldwide.
In conclusion, Netflix’s new policy aims to limit password sharing and generate more revenue through its paid membership option. Customers are now required to only use their Netflix account within their household, and people outside of the household need to pay an additional fee to access the service.