We’re Busted? Netflix Figures Out How to Stop Password Sharing

No matter how you cut it, sharing your Netflix password is stealing. It is. Have I done it? Yes.  Have you?  The impact of this theft has been felt most dramatically this year. Netflix is reporting huge losses in revenue and subscribers.

The message just posted on the Netflix website is the equivalent of "we're mad as hell and we're not gonna take it anymore". They've got some ideas to how to stop this theft. The entertainment company has announced an "add a home" feature.  Users will be prompted to pay an additional fee if their account is being used outside their household for over two weeks.

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It's a digital service, so they can tell.

Netflix says users will have "one primary home" where they can use their account anywhere from home or on the go.  Then you will have to pay extra to add additional houses to use the service under their account. Each subscription tier will limit how many additional homes a user can add. Basic plan members will only be able to add one extra home.  If you're on premium, you can add up to three.

Netflix is also testing a feature that allows users to track where their account is being used and restrict access. I'm just glad they can't hijack your television.  What?  They could.  Oh yes.  The technology exists.

Netflix had to do something.  They lost more than 200-thousand subscribers just this year.  Netflix stock has lost 54 billion dollars in value in the first quarter of this year.  It is now the worst stock performer on the market this year.  They're trying to put a positive spin on their crackdown.

According to their website:

“It’s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly. But today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve our service…

We value our members, and recognize that they have many entertainment choices. So we’re working hard to make great TV shows and films, and to be as thoughtful as possible about how we charge for use across multiple homes.”

Do you think they've got us this time?  We've heard it all before.  I would hate to see Netflix's quality programming disappear, because all the cheaters mean they can no longer afford to produce quality programming.