Netflix Password Sharing Crackdown Is Already A Mess?

Netflix password sharing is a hot button subject for the company, but it has appeared to get itself in trouble with the new policy change.

By James Brizuela | Published

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Netflix has been having quite a bit of a difficult time when it comes to its business practices. The company had stopped all streaming services in Russia, which led to a huge drop in subscriptions. However, during their meeting, they had also realized that they were in the negative of their proposed earnings, leaving investors furious and drawing up a lawsuit. Now it appears as if the streaming giant is running into another huge issue that has been caused by its attempt to crackdown on Netflix password sharing.

Netflix password sharing has resulted in a new policy change in three Latin countries, which hasn’t gone over well. Those countries are Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica. The initial idea that Netflix had drawn up was to limit password sharing outside of households. The issue with this policy change and how it had been written in those countries is that there was no clear detailing about what a “household” entail. People believed that it meant those who were in immediate families could still share their passwords. However, there were issues as it was meant to mean that those who were living in the same domicile could use the same account. This unclear issue led to the state of consumer agencies telling Netflix this misunderstanding could lead to arbitrary discrimination against consumers.

Netflix is attempting to recoup some of the negative numbers that had been reported on their earnings report, as the company claims the 200,000 fewer subscribers, they didn’t account for had to do with password sharing. However, the policy change in those Latin countries was never made clear enough to dictate what a household was defined as. A customer service rep from the company also stated that they had no idea what to tell customers when they asked about this new policy change. Apparently, the streaming company decided to trial this new Netflix password sharing crackdown without defining its parameters completely. The only thing that had been clearly established is the $2.99 charge that was placed on those who were outside of the “household” but still used the account.

Netflix password sharing has been confusing due to the company’s own policy language, and this is not the way to enact a new policy change. If things can’t be clearly stated and cleaned up in these trial countries, there is a slim to no chance that the bigger markets will see this new password crackdown. One issue that seems to allude to the streaming platform is the price changes. Maybe if Netflix wasn’t constantly upping the price of their subscription, more people would still be around? Just a thought, Netflix. Maybe roll back the price on the subscription just a bit and there could be some more massive gains returning.

Netflix needs to figure out what it is doing because another meeting with investors that sees that a huge drop in numbers could spell huge trouble for the company. Also, if they want to still chase the password crackdown, there needs to be some clear language used in that policy change. We would still like to campaign for lower prices for this service. We know it’s the biggest service but knock a few dollars off that price per month. It will work. Netflix password sharing isn’t the issue here.