It's not just Canada: Netflix expands password-sharing crackdown in the US
In February, Canadians lamented over Netflix’s move to limit the number of profiles sharing one account. Now, Netflix has announced that those changes have also been implemented in the US.
On Tuesday, May 23, Netflix announced that it’s emailing US subscribers who share their accounts outside their households.
“A Netflix account is for use by one household,” states the release. “Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are — at home, on the go, on holiday — and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices.”
In the email, users are asked to take control of their account by checking which devices are signed in and considering changing their password. Account holders can still share their account with someone outside the household, but it will cost them an extra US$7.99/month to add another member. They can also transfer a profile to a new membership that the user pays for.
Read the email below:
Netflix’s email to US subscribers
According to BBC, Netflix subscribers in the UK have received the same notification.
Similar to when it was announced in Canada, viewers took to Twitter to express their frustration about the changes.
netflix making
divorced families, elderly grandparents, college kids who live far away from home etc. pay extra for “password sharing” when they refuse to pay their writers fair royalties is absolutely ridiculous. where do you get off thinking people will be cool with this!— shannon (eras tour 5/20 and 5/27! ✨) (@holygroundsound) May 23, 2023
Netflix was like, “oh youll pay for password sharing but we’re dedicated to giving you more great content!” The content – pic.twitter.com/fD1RoucHKz
— shboogies 🍸 (@shboogies) May 23, 2023
I just cancelled my Netflix subscription, I am not letting them charging me just for sharing my password with my parents, like seriously
— the realm’s nightmare (@TheWindsOfWolvs) May 24, 2023
According to CNN Business, despite rolling out these changes early in the year in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain, Netflix still saw a net increase of 1.75 million global subscribers in the first quarter, up by 5% compared to the previous year. However, analysts say that there were three million fewer subscribers than expected.
Variety reports that Netflix warned shareholders of slower second-quarter growth due to a “cancel reaction” in countries where it launched the paid sharing feature. Yet, despite early rollouts in Canada, membership has increased in the first quarter compared to the US.
American viewers also have other streaming services to choose from, such as Paramount+, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, and HBO Max, so whether or not Netflix will see the same growth for its US market post-crackdown as it did in Canada remains to be seen.
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