Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing expands to the US

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Netflix's crackdown on password sharing arrives in the US.
Photo: Netflix

Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing has arrived in the US. Going forward, your friends or family members will have to pay extra to stream content from Netflix if they were leeching from your account.

Netflix’s new account-sharing rules require all members to reside in the same household.

All Netflix members must be a part of the same household

If you were leeching off your friend’s Netflix profile all this while, the time for you to pay has arrived. The streaming service now requires all users of an account to live in the same household. If not, you can add an extra member by paying an additional $7.99/month. This will allow the member not living with you to continue using the service.

Netflix started cracking down on password sharing in New Zealand, Portugal, Canada, and Spain earlier this year. Following a positive response, the company has now expanded the account-sharing rules to the US.

Under the new rules, you must set a home location for your Netflix account using a TV. All other devices on the same network using Netflix will then be considered a part of the same household. Your devices must connect to the home Wi-Fi network every 31 days and stream content from Netflix.

In case you are away from the home location for over a month, you can request a temporary access code to continue your streaming session. The new rules will make sharing your account with friends and family who don’t live in the same household difficult.

Time to pay for your Netflix account

There are two options if the account-sharing changes affect you, though both require you to shell out money. You can transfer your Netflix profile to a new account and pay for it. Or, add an extra seat to the Netflix account you are currently using by paying $7.99/month. However, adding an extra member is only supported on the Standard and Premium plans.

For comparison, the Netflix Standard plan with ads costs $6.99 per month, which might make more sense in most cases. But it is limited to Full HD streaming, and you will be shown ads occasionally.

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