CINCINNATI — If you have a Netflix account that you share with other family members, or maybe a close friend, watch out: Netflix may soon shut them down.
After years of allowing endless password sharing, Netflix is about to drop the hammer, according to reports in Yahoo Finance and other news outlets.
A new company FAQ pagesays you will only be able to use your Netflix account from "a single household", stating that "people who do not live in your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix."
That means you will be able to access Netflix only from one WiFi router in most cases, at what it calls a "primary location."
If you are traveling, Netflix said you will be able to get a temporary code to use it elsewhere.
But it looks like college students away from home may be out of luck, as well as snowbirds who split time between their Florida and northern homes (of course if you can afford two homes, you can probably afford another $16 a month).
CBNC, however says Netflix is allowing families in other countries to add a sub-account for just $3 more per month, which would be good news for college students or grandparents.
Backlash already growing
But from the "doesn't that stink" file, the backlash is growing because of what the company said in the past: Netflix has always been about sharing, with the company even tweeting back in 2017 that "Love is sharing a password."
Some subscribers are wondering whether Netflix simply does not love its customers anymore.
But analysts like Northern Kentucky University Economics Professor Janet Harrah said Netflix has been unable to grow in recent years due to millions of (free) shared passwords.
"When you share your password they view that as you are preventing them from gaining a new subscriber," Harrah said.
Roku, meantime, is taking advantage of the change, tweeting that "you, your family, neighbors, and second cousins can stream the Roku channel for free."
These changes will not happen overnight: Netflix is rolling them out in South America and other countries right now, with reports saying it plans to crack down in the U.S. sometime in March or April.
As always don't waste your money.
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