Netflix sees massive subscriber jump after password-sharing crackdown

[Watzupken]

At the end of the day, if you are not happy with a company, then just stop using their service. I know there are people who are unhappy, but the fact is that they can decide on their own. If they think its not worth it, but still paying for it, I don't think it is Netflix's fault. They are "supporting" Netflix through their action. I stopped paying Netflix for almost 2 years now. I only plan to pay for a month when I think there is something I want to watch, rather than paying a monthly rolling subscription. It is not like they have quality content to watch every month.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Yes, Netflix is greedy because they let people basically steal their service for years and finally said it's enough. Give people something for free and if you ever try to take it away they will immediately cry foul and act all entitled to the freebie. Name one other service (any type) where you pay for it and you can freely share it with others and the company just lets you do it.

If I pay for four streams it doesnt matter what house they are in. I've paid for them. Thats not stealing.

Stop defending megacorporations that make more money in a minute then you will in a lifetime.

 

[emmzo]

So cancel your subscription and go somewhere else. Why cry about it? There are plenty of other options out there. You're part of the group I was talking about in my post. You got something for free for so long now you don't want to give it up, so you make up excuses. Oh it was only worth it when you could share it with other people? Boo-hoo, go somewhere else and see if they let you share for free.

I cry about it because I`m a customer. Who are you to tell me not to? Someone who just takes it up the ... whenever a company tells you to? And you keep insisting I got something free. I paid for four devices, I do what I want with it. Give me a price for one device? No? Then I`ll share.

Your reasoning here makes no sense. They needed more people so they let the existing customers share their password? How does that bring in more people? It actually cuts into their profits. Yes, they intentionally let it go and that was their major mistake. In the beginning they were growing exponentially and it was probably too much hassle to chase down people who shared passwords or adjust their systems. Did you really think the free ride was going to last forever? Give me a break.

You don`t seem to follow. They needed more accounts, more money, not just more people. But sharing made their pricey accounts more attractive. So, they enticed sharing to sell more. Now, that they got people hooked, they changed policy, but still won`t offer more options for every pocket.

This is anecdotal. You assume less people would have joined, but you have no basis to back up that claim. If what you're saying was true then tons and tons of people would be canceling their service, but that is not happening, despite them "pulling this sh1t move" as you put it. Seems to me like most people are still happy with the service without being able to cheat and give away their passwords for free.

I don`t really know what to say here. What do you want? Statistical scientific claims for selling cheap will get you more? People cheat for sharing an account? Really? Is it not paid? If I buy a dvd I can`t lend it to someone else? Ok. People are still happy? We`ll see.

I'm not siding with any company. I'm siding with common sense and reason. Tell me another service where you can get something extra without paying anything for it? What other service can you share with your friends without having to pay extra for it?

What other service? All. That`s right: HBO, Disney, Prime, Showtime. I`m sure your witty response here is to tell me to go there. I have them all and I left Netflix, don`t worry. If it`s reasonable for you then pay. Next year they will tell you, you need to pay more or have commercials. It would be completely reasonable for them, because if they see people like you agree with and embrace their policies, why not? And if you won`t like it, there will be another guy to tell you that you whine and cheat just by paying 16 bucks for such a great service.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I have 2 streams - One for my family and one for my niece who lives 350Km away - They introduced this is NZ in Feb - she watches via her phone/cast ( ha have her on my plan - unlimited data )
They haven't dropped her yet - if they do -I will drop Netflix completely as we don't watch enough
She said her phone logs her all over NZ - weird as she mostly in one place
Netflix may have a question mark on my account - but probably they are letting it go as only 2 accounts on a 4 share account - plus maybe phone hard to work out

 

[Gastec]

What a joke! You pay a monthly subscription and in return you get to OBEY their corporate orders, or ELSE!, and to watch woke TV shows. Maybe that's why that "surge" in Netflix subscriptions, because people are burning up with desire to watch "Queen Cleopatra" and the rest of the abominations they are spawning these dark days.
Have they heard of .torrent? Me neither.

 

[3volv3d]

I don't get the problem. Well I do.
Before Netflix there were ways to watch stuff. I don't pay for it, the Mrs does now. All the films I want to see, Ive seen before netflix get it, and I don't rewatch. It is rare as rocking horse poop, I find a film to watch, and the TV shows, are trash like people have stated. Woke cabbage!
I am watching taskmaster on it, but I am sure I can get that from a legit stream other than Netflops.
Netflix like other companies have gone for a monthly sub. And they usually go low until they have the audience needed then up prices, change terms etc. This is not new. And it's also being made a bigger deal than it is.
I am sure there are people in here who don't know theres only two genders ffs.
Amazon if you have prime has stuff, but they have pushed a lot of stuff into money grabbing channels.
Get Debrid ?

 

[Dr Roboto]

Personally, I canceled it last week when this happened. This was the last straw for me. In the new age of digital streaming, my opinion is that I should pay for a set number of streams at any given moment in time. Why does it matter where they come from? Forcing you to only be at one location is no better than cable!

This was purely a grab for money and increased subscribes for Netflix to stay relevant in the eyes of the stockholders. It was clear last year when their subscription numbers went down for the first time ever that they were in trouble with a saturated market.

I have enjoyed shows on Netflix, don't get me wrong, and in the "early days" it was a great alternative to cable. I just don't see that anymore. Sure, there are tons and tons of content, but I only see something really enjoyable maybe once a month or two. On top of less content that I find enjoyable, the price just keeps going up, and now this. Tons of crap at an increasingly higher price is no better than cable.

 

[PEnnn]

I believe Netflix has blocked accounts using vpns. This was done a few years back. From my understanding they know if you are using one or not.

Sometimes they can and quite often they don't know or can tell if one is using a VPN or not.

Someone (say in Alaska but his VPN shows he is in NY and Netflix is not allowing a log in) can switch locations in the VPN (say to New Mexico) and logs in within seconds after being rejected... Netflix for some reason doesn't know at all!

Not sure why, maybe one day they'll really perfect their system to block VPNs. I hope not....

 

[wiyosaya]

Netflix's TOS has never allowed password sharing - for anyone who actually read it. And now those who were sharing, against the Netflix TOS, are P&M'ing because Netflix is enforcing those terms? Pity party time.

And this really lets the air out of the "Go Woke, Go Broke" crowd's balloon.

 

[Rocky4040]

Yea I had Netflix and when they hit Canada with this crap, I cancelled my account the same day they started it. Funny thing is after I cancelled it about a week later, I got a welcome back email from Netflix. I went and looked, and sure enough Netflix had reenabled my account and not only that I all of a sudden was paying for the top premium account. I got a hold of them, and they said oh I may have enabled my account by accident and that I would have to cancel my account again and make sure not to enable it if I don't want the service anymore.

I told them nope I sure as hell did not re-enable my account and I would like my money back. They declined to give my money back saying that was not possible. I said we will see about that and I called my credit card company and after a bit of talking got the transaction cancelled and my 29.99+Tax was returned to my card.

I removed that card from the account and put a prepaid on it which I was surprised worked. I then cancelled the prepaid at the bank. I then got a new prepaid so I could keep using a prepaid to do internet transactions...lol The prepaid I did cancel was about to expire anyway.

 

[Kashim]

Trying to explain how the world works to the people crying about losing their ability to share Netflix is like talking to a brick wall. They got so used to getting something for free that somehow they lost their common sense along the way.

I know no one reads TOS, but it says right in there that accounts are PER household and password sharing is not allowed, regardless of how many streams you're paying for. Why is this so hard to understand? This argument some keep using "Oh I'm paying for 4 steams and I should be able to give the extra ones to anyone I want" is complete nonsense.

You can argue about this until you turn blue in the face, but this is the new reality. Deal with it.

 

[Kashim]

Netflix's TOS has never allowed password sharing - for anyone who actually read it. And now those who were sharing, against the Netflix TOS, are P&M'ing because Netflix is enforcing those terms? Pity party time.

Good luck explaining that to all the people crying about it. They got something for free for a while and now they feel they're entitled to it forever and it should be the norm. Not only that, they don't even see it as getting something for free. Their argument is that the service is soooo expensive, it only makes sense to split it among 3 or 4 different households to make it worth it. You know, because TV watching is the most important thing in the world.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I've watched 1 movie off Netflix in the past 3 months. My wife and son use it a few times a month. Would it not be for them using it mostly, I would have dumped Netflix a year or two ago. I never feel like I'm missing out on anything they put out.

 

[Dr Roboto]

Good luck explaining that to all the people crying about it. They got something for free for a while and now they feel they're entitled to it forever and it should be the norm. Not only that, they don't even see it as getting something for free. Their argument is that the service is soooo expensive, it only makes sense to split it among 3 or 4 different households to make it worth it. You know, because TV watching is the most important thing in the world.

I don't understand why people think it should work like cable. Why should it be tied to your home? It is a new age. There is no longer a central location we watch shows. We should be paying for # of streams. Why does it matter where the streams are located? I pay for 4 streams. I should be able to stream 4 different devices at 4 different locations. IMO, thinking it can only be done at a single home is the outdated thinking.

 

[someOtherGuy]

Good luck explaining that to all the people crying about it. They got something for free for a while and now they feel they're entitled to it forever and it should be the norm. Not only that, they don't even see it as getting something for free. Their argument is that the service is soooo expensive, it only makes sense to split it among 3 or 4 different households to make it worth it. You know, because TV watching is the most important thing in the world.

Why you keep saying that it's "free"? The deal has always been: you pay X amount, you get to watch Y simultaneous streams (screens) at certain picture quality. They had like 3 tiers, that's it. It was NEVER a FREE kind of transaction. The "deal" then was: ok, I'll buy the top tier, which would let me watch 4 streams, but I really use 1 at most (but I really REALLY want that 4k, so I do need the top tier), so I'll "share" with up to other 3 people that only want 1 screen each and everyone happy (and you get to lower the cost of Netflix 4k). All of the sudden, Netflix realized that limiting the amount of streams wasn't enough, they had to limit the locations (which only creates demand for a "netflix sharing" device, of course). Like other commenters have said, MAYBE they'll get more "paying single customers" if they were to have more tiers, at better price points, like: 1x 4k stream without ads, which is probably what a LOT of people actually use; next is probably 1x FullHD (1080) stream without ads. None of those exist, afaik; you even get the dirt cheap one aimed at "phone people" (HD, aka 720) or you start "adding" streams (stuff that you actually don't use and that you can't share anymore).

 

[someOtherGuy]

They didn`t upgrade anything, they didn`t do sh1t, they just want more money. Exponential growth won`t come with predatory practices. If people are so stupid to indulge that, soon enough they will pay one device per person full of commercials and like it.

Ohhh, but you're so wrong: I'm pretty sure there were a lot of "thinkers" that were paid to come up with this idea, and project managers to "manage" this project, and developer time, including QA, solving all those issues with accurately identifying client IPs, new "features" for EACH app on every platform that they support (they do support a lot). This should have been pretty expensive for them, this is an investment, and they're hoping the amount of "new subscriptions" will pay that back and then more, or that's what I get from all this.

 

[texasrattler]

Sometimes they can and quite often they don't know or can tell if one is using a VPN or not.

Someone (say in Alaska but his VPN shows he is in NY and Netflix is not allowing a log in) can switch locations in the VPN (say to New Mexico) and logs in within seconds after being rejected... Netflix for some reason doesn't know at all!

Not sure why, maybe one day they'll really perfect their system to block VPNs. I hope not....

I said that because I recall Netflix saying they can see who is using a VPN. It came about when ppl were circumventing ways around to watch shows in other countries. As far as I know and if I'm remembering correctly, they can block vpns.
No clue if they changed course on that as this was a few year back before the pandemic. I believe they were blocking vpns back then.

I don't remember where I read that at the time, could have been TS since I typically use the site frequently over the years.

 

[kiwigraeme]

This is always going to be a hot potato
Some people use the 4 streams legitimately
Kid at Uni
Kids at other parents place
One for grandparents
One on the road as truck driver while resting up etc

Think Family plan with other providers .
Then you had others who just threw then out to every and anyone - just hoping the 8 people who have it only 4 want to stream anyone time -Even better if in another time zone - Some of those free loaders probably had another backup
When I was in Hawaii with family 2018 - one place a previous guests account was still valid - they forgot to remove it - or left it as a freebie

 

[b3rdm4n]

It screwed me around recently on Holiday and keeps bugging me now I'm home, they keep pushing this bs when I'm not even password sharing, making my consumption of the service harder and more frustrating, they can suck it. I pay for 4 streams at once ffs, and never use all 4 at the same time, hec it's rare to use two, I got the top teir for 4k, and now I get grief for logging in on a hotel room TV...

 

[James Ryan]

Give it a few weeks and all the other platforms will be doing the same......
No more password sharing...

 

[Padge007]

Sorry but this is absolute bs

 

[GoldenGoat]

This isn't an enforcement of terms, but rather a change of terms. Netflix did their research though. They knew customers wouldn't like this, but they also knew it would increase their revenue and decided to do it anyway. The only people who like this change are ones with a lot of Netflix stock also wanting to line their pockets.

 

[KaitouX]

One thing this ignores is that many would likely let their current subscription expire, and/or cancel it as they experience the change themselves, so I would guess the real effects of this change will only be seen in the next few months.

 

[YHWACH]

So cancel your subscription and go somewhere else. Why cry about it? There are plenty of other options out there. You're part of the group I was talking about in my post. You got something for free for so long now you don't want to give it up, so you make up excuses. Oh it was only worth it when you could share it with other people? Boo-hoo, go somewhere else and see if they let you share for free.


Your reasoning here makes no sense. They needed more people so they let the existing customers share their password? How does that bring in more people? It actually cuts into their profits. Yes, they intentionally let it go and that was their major mistake. In the beginning they were growing exponentially and it was probably too much hassle to chase down people who shared passwords or adjust their systems. Did you really think the free ride was going to last forever? Give me a break.


This is anecdotal. You assume less people would have joined, but you have no basis to back up that claim. If what you're saying was true then tons and tons of people would be canceling their service, but that is not happening, despite them "pulling this sh1t move" as you put it. Seems to me like most people are still happy with the service without being able to cheat and give away their passwords for free.


I'm not siding with any company. I'm siding with common sense and reason. Tell me another service where you can get something extra without paying anything for it? What other service can you share with your friends without having to pay extra for it?

Well, sorry to disappoint you, but all I pay for is an internet connection, everything else I watch for free, I have zero guilt pirating sh1t

 

[p51d007]

Getting almost to the point of uncutting your cord...
Netflix use to be pretty good, but then the movie studios started their own streaming services, pulled a lot of movies not to mention "new releases" and put them on their own streaming platform.
Now, if you really want to watch all of the movies, you will need MULTIPLE subscriptions.