Netflix says new password sharing rules were posted by accident

Netflix may be home to popular shows like Squid Game and Stranger Things, but its attempts to get fans to pay up for their own accounts has not gone down well.

Netflix has said that updated measures to crack down on password sharing were posted by mistake.

Following widespread disappointment on social media, with many threatening to cancel their memberships, the streaming giant claimed some new account rules being trialled in other countries had accidentally been added to its help pages elsewhere.

Among the changes was a feature to let users add subaccounts for up to two people they don’t live with, which essentially aims to monetise how subscribers have been sharing passwords for years.

It’s been testing in parts of South America and costs the equivalent of an extra £2-£3 a month.

To enforce the crackdown, Netflix wants to treat devices which use your account as trusted. In practice, this means using them on your home wi-fi network on a regular basis.

You would need to open the app and watch something on the trusted device at least once every 31 days, or risk a consistent barrage of verification requests to ensure nobody outside your household is using your account.

Despite the backlash, Netflix is still expected to take password sharing more seriously this year.

In December, the Intellectual Property Office clarified that password sharers may indeed be breaking copyright law, however it’s down to the streaming services themselves to enforce it.

But it’s not gone down well with fans, who have been quick to point to a 2017 tweet in which Netflix proudly proclaimed: “Love is sharing a password.”

Category: Technology

Source: Sky Technology