Netflix’s campaign against password sharing is heating up. After a successful trial in South America, the business is expanding paid account sharing to Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain. If you live in one of these countries, you must designate a primary location in order to enjoy unrestricted access at home. If you wish to share your account with friends or family, you must subscribe to either the Standard or Premium tier and pay a charge ($8 in Canada and New Zealand, €4 in Portugal, and €6 in Spain) for up to two additional users outside of your household.
You can still watch on your phone or login in to the service on another device, such as a smart TV at a hotel. You may also convert an existing profile into a new account on Netflix. The business says it will adjust paid sharing depending on feedback and will continue to roll it out in the “coming months.”
The streaming pioneer isn’t hesitant about explaining why. As it has stated in the past, Netflix argues account sharing is affecting its bottom line. According to product director Chengyi Long, the 100 million-plus families sharing accounts are “impacting [Netflix’s] ability” to invest in new content. Paid sharing, in principle, increases the company’s income without requiring impacted consumers to pay full price for a fully separate account.
It is unclear how new regions will respond to the policy. Several competing services have no account sharing limits, and some sharers may be unwilling to pay anything to utilise someone else’s access. While we don’t expect consumers to switch services in droves, some may choose to forsake Netflix entirely in order to avoid paying a charge.
