It’s not surprising that Netflix would consider restricting offline downloads to those who pay for the ad-free version of the service. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos stated earlier this year that the ad-supported tier would not include all of the same content as the ad-free tier and that ad-supported tiers are intended to be a gateway tier that gives people a taste at a lower price. There’s also the issue of serving ads on offline content. It’s not an impossible task, but it’s difficult. Besides, Netflix already places other content behind paywalls, which could become standard.
