On Wednesday, Netflix announced that it is testing measures to charge users who share their passwords outside of their household.
According to Business Insider SA, in another test last year, Netflix asked customers with accounts outside their households to verify the account via text or email code or to start their own free 30-day trial. Netflix’s terms and conditions forbid password-sharing, however, they haven’t done much to enforce the rule on the users.
Netflix will let users who share their accounts outside their homes in three countries (Chile, Costa Rica, Peru) do so in a safe way, but they will have to pay extras fees.
“We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account, with features like separate profiles and multiple streams in our Standard and Premium plans. While these have been hugely popular, they have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households – impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members,” Netflix said in a blog post on Wednesday.
Netflix has a Standard and Premium plan for people who wish to share an account with family members and friends through multiple-streaming. In these types of plans, there are separate profiles that are paid for on the plan by a host. Netflix feels, however, that users are confusing their plans with password-sharing, which they are trying to fight against.
Netflix will add a new feature that allows up to two sub-accounts that will pay an amount less than that of the original price of the plans.
Users will also be able to transfer profile information either to a new account or an Extra Member sub-account so that the viewing history, My List, and personalised recommendations, stay the same for that particular profile.
“We recognize that people have many entertainment choices, so we want to ensure any new features are flexible and useful for members, whose subscriptions fund all our great TV and films. We’ll be working to understand the utility of these two features for members in these three countries before making changes anywhere else in the world,” Netflix said.
