Sharing is no longer caring

To all the Dunkers still mooching off their parents’, ex’s, or friend’s dad’s colleague’s Netflix account, we’ve got…news.

Netflix began notifying its US and UK customers yesterday that, moving forward, password sharing with anyone outside of your household is a no-no. Meaning now, if you’re the one fronting the bill for any non-roommate moochers, you’ve got two options:

• Say goodbye: You can transfer any user’s profile, including their viewing history, to a standalone membership that they will pay for moving forward ($6.99/mo for ad-supported tier, $9.99/mo+ for ad-free).
• Cover the cost: You can pay a monthly fee of $7.99/mo for any account member outside of the household. A max of one user is allowed per Standard plan ($15.49/mo), or two users per Premium plan ($19.99/mo).

Notably, any subsidized users are subject to a similar set of restrictions as someone on the Basic plan – meaning they can only use one profile, and can’t view/download content on more than one device at a time. Also, both parties must be in the same country, so no overseas sharing allowed.

📸 Big picture: Netflix began its password sharing crackdown in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain earlier this year. After one month, the streamer had lost over 1 million subscribers in Spain alone.

But, according to Netflix, this is to be expected. The company said on last month’s earnings call that it predicts a “cancel reaction,” followed by “increased acquisition and revenue.”