Netflix will begin charging customers more to share accounts with people outside their homes in a new attempt to stop password sharing.
The streaming giant notified subscribers in a blog post on Wednesday it would no longer turn a blind eye to illicit password exchanges, announcing a limited test that prompts users to pay extra for the previous convenience.
According to Netflix’s terms of service, a customer’s account “may not be shared with individuals beyond your household”.
Subscribers in three markets — Chile, Costa Rica and Peru — will host the platform’s first test against unauthorised password sharing in the next few weeks.
It is not known if Netflix will expand testing to other markets in the future.
“We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account, with features like separate profiles and multiple streams in our standard and premium plans,” Netflix product innovation director Chengyi Long said in a statement on Wednesday (US time).
“While these have been hugely popular, they have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared.”
Mr Long said sharing passwords outside of households was “impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members”.
“For the last year we’ve been working on ways to enable members who share outside their household to do so easily and securely, while also paying a bit more,” he said.
The streaming giant said two features will be introduced — the ability to add an extra member and to transfer profiles to new accounts.
Adding another member will allow customers with standard and premium plans to purchase “sub-accounts for up to two people they don’t live with”, each with their own profile, personalised recommendations, login and password at a lower price than a new account.
Transferring a profile will allow basic, standard, and premium members to switch profile information to new accounts or to an extra member sub-account.
Netflix said transferring a profile would allow users to keep viewing histories, lists, and recommendations.
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