In this digital age, it seems like streaming services have taken over our entertainment experience. But between Hulu, Disney Plus, HBO Max and many others, one platform is all the talk recently – Netflix. Although, it’s not the new shows or movies that people are talking about. Netflix is finally cracking down on password sharing.
With over 200 million subscribers annually, Netflix is one of the largest streaming services to date, but accounting for password sharing, the number of users is likely much higher. Since its creation in 2009, Netflix has grown to a worth of over $161 billion dollars. The platform has contracts with various production studios to stream content and creates its own original content, some of which are critically acclaimed. Some of its projects include “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story”, which both received a nomination for Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards.
In Canada, Portugal, New Zealand and Spain, the company announced its plan for limiting shared accounts and put it into effect Wednesday. They are offering additional profiles for an extra cost at standard and premium price points, starting at $6.99.
But for college students, many rely on sharing accounts with friends or family because they can’t afford the subscription fees on their own.
“That’s not a good idea, because people who have kids in college, they’re only there for 9 months out of the year, not the whole entire year, so it seems really unfair”, UNC student Chloe Eisenbard said.
When the plan for limiting password sharing was leaked, the reaction on social media was overwhelmingly negative, with some users reposting a tweet Netflix account from 2017 that reads “Love is sharing a password,” which seemingly encourages password sharing.
“If you’re paying for the account, why does it matter if you’re sharing it, you know? What if I want to watch Netflix at a friend’s house?” UNC Student Katie Nord said.
As of this week, the company has not announced its plan for limiting password sharing in the United States, but when Netflix enacts its new policies, users might be turning to other streaming services that they are able to share with their friends and families. Only time will tell if these plans will increase its profits as intended or become more trouble than it’s worth.
