Netflix fans have slammed the company’s decision to crack down on account and password sharing, with many threatening to cancel their subscription and resort to illegal downloads. The streaming giant announced its plans to crackdown on account sharing last month, confirming that users will only be able to share an account if they stream within a single household.
Netflix has now revealed it will enforce the changes by tracking devices which are sharing an account based on their location and require users to verify each device. Anyone using an account outside of the account holder’s household on an unverified device will now have to set up and pay for their own Netflix account.
This means sharing an account between family members that no longer live together will no longer be permitted and could end up costing you. Netflix is making the changes as a way to increase its revenue amid a fall in subscriber numbers and competition from rival platforms like Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney+.
READ MORE: Netflix shares details of how it plans to stop people sharing your account and password
Since the move was announced, many frustrated fans have hit back, arguing that the loss of Netflix users is in fact based on the platform’s “dwindling selection” and the cancellation of several popular shows – many of which were dropped after just one season. In November, the fantasy-drama Warrior Nun was dropped, prompting a backlash from its fans.
This was followed by further outrage in January when several more shows were dropped, including the multi-lingual sci-fi 1899, which was cancelled after its season one finale ended on a cliffhanger. Social media has been flooded with comments from fuming Netflix users since the announcement, with many threatening to leave the platform and return to downloading pirated content.
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On Twitter, @hasanthehun said: “The only reason I don’t pirate every show like I used to is the convenience of using a shared family Netflix account, even this kind of slight inconvenience is enough for me to just use free streaming services.”
@honk435049411 echoed: “They’re about to lose even more money when they see that people would rather not watch Netflix and watch the shows they like somewhere else than pay for their own subscription.”
@officialbobbyd said: “Been on the same #netflix account since 2012 — this lost me. I’m not going to jump through hoops to use the service where I want when I want. If I want to watch at the office, vacation home or in the back seat of the car. That’s what I’m (over)paying for.
“The funniest thing about this whole Netflix debacle is that they think password sharing is what’s losing them money,” @ClTYOFMON added. “In fact, it’s the dwindling selection and cancelling popular shows after one season. Look at HBO, they don’t pump out like 75 originals a month but all of them are super high quality.”
Even Netflix stars have begun to hit back at the move. American Actor Justice Smith, star of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and Netflix musical-drama The Get Down, said: “If I were to get another job with Netflix and I had to go away to shoot for 2-4 months, I wouldn’t be able to use my Netflix account even though I would be working for them.”
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