As growth slows, Netflix investors demand the company crack down on password sharing

Netflix may soon be cracking down on users who share their passwords with non-household members.

Investors are demanding that the company take action against free-loading Netflix users after disappointing Q3 earnings.  While the company initially forecast paid net adds would increase year after year, pricing changes and increased competition caused growth to stall.  Global net adds totalled to 7.6 million for the fourth quarter, compared to 8.8 million the same quarter last year.

Upon creation of a Netflix account, users, of course, agree to the following in the Terms of Service:

The Netflix service and any content viewed through the service are for your personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.

Most users are not however very concerned with the T&Cs but cracking down on users may stand to damage the user-friendly image of the company.

When Greg Peters, Netflix’s chief product officer, was asked how Netflix plans to address the issue without “alienating a certain portion of [its] user base”, he said this in response:

We continue to monitor it so we’re looking at the situation.

We’ll see those consumer-friendly ways to push on the edges of that.

That’s, however, a big ask and the company currently has no “big plans” to impose any sanctions.

If you’re that friend that is using someone else’s Netflix account, it may be time to start looking into purchasing your own subscription.

Source: Independent