Netflix to crack down on password sharing by end of first quarter

If you share a Netflix password, the clock is ticking.

>> Read more trending news

In a letter to shareholders sent last week, the streaming company confirmed rumors that it would start cracking down on shared accounts and will start making everyone pay for their own logins, CBS News reported.

A specific date was not provided but the letter said that it would happen in the latter part of the first quarter, which ends in March.

Netflix will start “rolling out paid sharing more broadly” at that time, according to CBS News.

Details including the pricing for paid sharing have not been released, The Hill and Nexstar reported.

But the system has been tested in Latin America and during that time cost about $3 or $4.

Netflix also tested a log-in verification system in 2021.

The company knows the sharing of passwords hurts its bottom line, estimating that more than 100 million households share information, Fox Business reported.

The terms of use already prohibit the sharing of accounts.

Netflix admits that the move to pull the plug on free sharing will hurt its “near term engagement” as some people will walk away from the service when they’re forced to pay, Fox Business reported.

But the company told shareholders that engagement will grow “over time as we continue to deliver a great slate of programming and borrowers sign-up for their own accounts.”

©2022 Cox Media Group