Shaheer Ahmed
On Tuesday, Netflix Inc. warned members in the United States and more than 100 other countries that they won’t be continuing their password-sharing policy with anybody outside of their immediate home for free.
As the pioneer in online video streaming faces symptoms of market saturation, the company has been exploring new methods to earn money. These attempts include putting limitations on the borrowing of passwords and introducing a new alternative that is sponsored by advertisements.
On Tuesday, Netflix said that it will be sending emails on account sharing to customers in 103 countries and territories, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Mexico, and Brazil. Among the countries and territories included in this announcement were also Mexico and Brazil.
According to the emails, a Netflix subscription should not be shared across multiple households. Customers who are already paying for the service have the option of paying an extra cost to add a member who lives outside of their house. The cost is eight dollars each month in the United States.
Members have the ability to transfer another user’s profile, which allows the user to maintain their watching history as well as the recommendations they have received.
Netflix said a year ago that it planned to restrict accounts for password sharing and was experimenting with a number of different techniques in select areas.
More than 100 million homeowners, according to the firm’s estimates, have shared their passwords with others beyond their immediate circles. There were 232.5 million paying subscribers to Netflix as of the end of March.
Netflix said its new rules will allow members of the same household to continue using a single account on several devices at the same time.
