Netflix watchers who share their parents’ or friends’ accounts will soon have to get their own as the streaming service begins its long-awaited crackdown on password sharing in the U.S.
Starting this week, Netflix is limiting the number of screens per account to only users within the same household. However, those with premium accounts, starting at $15 a month, can add another screen outside their household for an additional $8 a month.
The move has been a long time coming. Netflix first announced it would be getting tough on password sharing all the way back in 2021. The next year, it implemented the policy in New Zealand, Canada, Portugal and Spain.
The company originally said the rule would be coming to the U.S. in June, but it seems to have started early.
The move is widely unpopular and, once the announcement was made, thousands canceled their subscriptions. Netflix is going ahead with its move anyway.
Netflix executives have a reason for taking the hit of losing password-sharing customers. According to some estimates, at least 100 million viewers do not pay for their subscriptions and share someone else’s account. This has apparently translated to a loss of $6 billion for the company.
In response to the public backlash, Netflix introduced a more affordable $ 7-a-month plan with advertisements on Nov. 1. The streaming service has since gained around 9 million subscribers worldwide, though it isn’t clear how many of those new subscribers purchased the $7 plan.
