Since Netflix’s quick report in April, it has become clear that boosting the streaming service’s subscriber base has become an increasingly difficult task, prompting the administration to consider several steps, as well as introducing ad-packed packages to deal with password sharing. The company estimates the number of households with more than one subscription with password sharing (a subscriber can create four accounts) at around 100 million. However, it will take about another year for the changes to restrict participation.
Business Insider refers to the rest of the world WritesThat Netflix has been testing its solution in three countries since March in Costa Rica, Chile and Peru, with mixed results so far. In the system envisioned so far, subscribers would have to pay an additional $2 to $3 fee to allow anyone outside the home to receive a separate profile under an existing subscription.
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However, many test participants so far find communication about the new rules very confusing. To many, it wasn’t clear what counted as a family: it was usually assumed to apply to family members, but Netflix defines it as actually living in one place of residence. So anyone can share their account with a roommate, for example, but not with a family member who lives in another city, but if you want, you will have to pay extra money in the latter case.
A company spokesperson said that although they have been working on the subscription sharing system for months, it has been interpreted for years that a Netflix account can be shared by those who live together in an apartment. And if your loved one is somewhere else, you can use a code to authenticate yourself to use your account at no additional cost.
According to Rest of World, the streaming service provider has also been warned by local consumer protection authorities in Costa Rica, Peru and Chile to make the concept of family clear to consumers and that additional fees for sharing passwords could lead to arbitrary discrimination. A Netflix spokesperson responded that in addition to the email information previously sent, in-product notifications will be posted in the future to highlight the message.
