Netflix To “Kill” Password Sharing; Pass Codes & Pay Walls Incoming

I mentioned this back in October, but it looks like Netflix will be putting their plan to get paid in to action.

As I had previously stated, my household is a streaming one. We pay for internet and use devices like our Xbox, Switch, Rokus, Streaming Aps, and Smart TVs to consume entertainment, sports, and gaming. Over the years, prices have risen substantially for one specific service; Netflix, and it looks like they want to keep a bigger chunk of that pie.

But just how can Netflix do that?

Originally Netflix had disguised this way of being able to charge more users as a thing called "Profile Transfers." This essentially makes using another person's account a miserable experience for password sharers.

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According to a report from the Wall-Street Journal,

"starting this year Netflix plans to ask people who share accounts with others outside of their household to pay to do so. Netflix has been testing add-on payments for password sharing in some Latin American countries, charging around $3 extra. In these countries, the primary account owner must provide a verification code to anyone outside the household who wants to access the account, with Netflix repeatedly asking for the code until a monthly fee is paid to add non-household subscribers."

Thats the super annoying part. Can you imagine being called every time someone you share with wants to watch a show. Netflix has already hampered password sharing with screen limitations based on price. This is another way to secure even more income from those using it's services.

The bottom line is, Netflix wants those who have a shared password to sign up for their own subscription. They will enforce these password sharing rules through IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity.

This is all because Netflix says they have a high-user base not equivalent to the amount of proceeds they are receiving. A share-holders report from April showed that Netflix believes they have 222 million “paying households,” but estimates the service is shared with over 100 million “additional households.” 30 million are in the US and Canada. That indicates there is a large amount of people who aren’t paying Netflix directly for the ability to stream.