Netflix to Begin Cracking Down on Password Sharing

comfortably_numb

Dogs have owners, cats have staff
Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 30, 2011
17,859
26,178
Kansas City / Las Vegas
Every year we hear the same story, but the same problems also remain: what about the people who pay for the $19.99 plan that allows "4 members of the same household to watch simultaneously?" One person is watching on a cellular iPad, one is on a home network, one is watching on a friend's phone, but they're all in the same household. So, requiring everyone to be on the same IP doesn't work.

I suspect, as I've mentioned before, enforcement will only apply to people on the lowest subscription tier, who aren't supposed to be sharing at all.
 

Bruce

Bender and Chloe, the real Members of the Year
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
Nov 29, 2003
14,778
18,947
Every year we hear the same story, but the same problems also remain: what about the people who pay for the $19.99 plan that allows "4 members of the same household to watch simultaneously?" One person is watching on a cellular iPad, one is on a home network, one is watching on a friend's phone, but they're all in the same household. So, requiring everyone to be on the same IP doesn't work.

I suspect, as I've mentioned before, enforcement will only apply to people on the lowest subscription tier, who aren't supposed to be sharing at all.
I don’t believe Mobile Devices are that big of a concern, it is the Roku types , when they see 3 Rokus at one place( IP Address) and they see 1 or more at others.
 

comfortably_numb

Dogs have owners, cats have staff
Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 30, 2011
17,859
26,178
Kansas City / Las Vegas
I don’t believe Mobile Devices are that big of a concern, it is the Roku types , when they see 3 Rokus at one place( IP Address) and they see 1 or more at others.

How are they going to differentiate? I take my Roku on the road when I stay in hotels. Am I not allowed to watch Netflix because I'm not in my house?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jimbo and FTA4PA

Bruce

Bender and Chloe, the real Members of the Year
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
Nov 29, 2003
14,778
18,947
Kid at college, Dad on a work trip traveling with his Roku stick...plenty of reasons there would be multiple IPs.
Traveling is one thing, kid at College no, what is so different then a kid at college or my son in his own home.

Or when I was in College, should I have been able to have free Comcast since my mom had it in her house if I was able to?

Just because someone is able to do something does not make it right.

We need Netflix to make new programming, if more and more steal the service, then they cannot afford to.
 
  • Like
Reactions: (((Garyd)))

Radioguy41

SatelliteGuys Pro
Pub Member / Supporter
Aug 7, 2008
2,806
2,804
Lehighton, PA
The only way I see this possibly working is if the agreement says you can have 4 connections and Netflix notices 5 or 6 logons using the same password they could back bill the account holder for the extra logons. They could theoretically even reduce the number of allowed connections to maybe just 2. However they decide to implement the enforcement it won't be pretty and some folks are not going to be happy about it.
 

arlo

SatelliteGuys Pro
Dec 4, 2016
1,239
850
North Eastern
take the red pill. better with a shot of wireguard to wash it down. ba-da-bow, ba-da-bing.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2022-12-23 at 15-44-34 ASUS Wireless Router RT-AC68P - VPN Server.png
    Screenshot 2022-12-23 at 15-44-34 ASUS Wireless Router RT-AC68P - VPN Server.png
    31.9 KB · Views: 124

dishdude

SatelliteGuys God
Supporting Founder
Sep 7, 2003
25,442
46,383
Phoenix, AZ
Traveling is one thing, kid at College no, what is so different then a kid at college or my son in his own home.

Or when I was in College, should I have been able to have free Comcast since my mom had it in her house if I was able to?

Just because someone is able to do something does not make it right.

We need Netflix to make new programming, if more and more steal the service, then they cannot afford to.

With mobile and cloud based services things have changed, you see the cell phone companies pushing for family plans with multiple line discounts.
 

dishdude

SatelliteGuys God
Supporting Founder
Sep 7, 2003
25,442
46,383
Phoenix, AZ
The only way I see this possibly working is if the agreement says you can have 4 connections and Netflix notices 5 or 6 logons using the same password they could back bill the account holder for the extra logons. They could theoretically even reduce the number of allowed connections to maybe just 2. However they decide to implement the enforcement it won't be pretty and some folks are not going to be happy about it.

And that's the problem, there's a lot of competition with these streaming services and cracking down on a family sharing an account will likely not result in a net increase in subscribers.
 

Bruce

Bender and Chloe, the real Members of the Year
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
Nov 29, 2003
14,778
18,947
Your reasoning still makes no sense. How do they know I'm only traveling? How do they know my daughter in college isn't traveling? They don't.
I wrote that I agree with Traveling should be ok, I do not agree with the kid at College should use it for free, maybe pay a extra $3 for out of Home option per Roku Type device.

I have a friend ( went to College with) that used to work for Netflix, would give me all the inside info, but she left to work for Disney, so the only things I know is what I read.
 

Bruce

Bender and Chloe, the real Members of the Year
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
Nov 29, 2003
14,778
18,947
Darth Walt?
Yep, also she cannot tell me anything, they are really big on info not getting out, had to sign a bunch of non-disclosure forms when she started there and if info had gotten out, they will track it down who did it, then as punishment, stuck wearing a costume at one of the parks.
 

MikeD-C05

Pub Member / Supporter
Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 25, 2003
33,206
31,566
Nederland , Texas
And that's the problem, there's a lot of competition with these streaming services and cracking down on a family sharing an account will likely not result in a net increase in subscribers.
It's more likely to lose them subs. My wife and I and our son are on our Netflix account. I have my parents and my aunt and sister on my account and they use it all the time. The first bill I get and they say I have extra payments will result in me cancelling Netflix. I have had Netflix since it first came out. But I don't watch it that often myself.
 

Bruce

Bender and Chloe, the real Members of the Year
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
Nov 29, 2003
14,778
18,947
It's more likely to lose them subs. My wife and I and our son are on our Netflix account. I have my parents and my aunt and sister on my account and they use it all the time. The first bill I get and they say I have extra payments will result in me cancelling Netflix. I have had Netflix since it first came out. But I don't watch it that often myself.
Read what you have written, you are trying to justify someone else using it in a different location, in a home(s) that could probably afford it themselves.

How would you have felt if people did that with Dish or DirecTV, it is the same thing, piracy .

But if I remember correctly, you wrote that you use to pay for Dish in your Parents‘ homes, why is that different then paying for Netflix in their homes instead of sharing a password?

If more and more did as you wrote, then Netflix ( or whoever ) cannot afford to put out as much programming, then that affects people’s jobs.