Skip to main content

Netflix to Go Tough on Password Sharing

 A lot of Netflix consumers have reported receiving a message from the company on their screens saying they need their own account to continue watching Netflix if they do not live with the account owner. The company was getting information that more than 20% of its consumers were sharing their account passwords with friends to allow them to watch Netflix illegally. Realizing this practice cost Netflix a massive amount of money, Netflix support has decided to go tough on this habit of password sharing by its customers.

A spokesperson of Netflix confirmed sending such messages to customers when talking with the BBC. He added that the basic aim of the company behind sending these messages is to make sure that only authorized customers are using their accounts. The spokesperson also said that this message was not being sent to all the customers and a decision in this regard will be taken soon by the company.

The problem of password sharing stems from the fact that streaming companies allow customers to make multiple profiles within the same account. This is the case not just with Netflix but also Amazon Prime, Disney, and others. The only condition imposed by streaming companies is that the profiles and passwords should be used by members of the family living in the same household.

Greg Peters, a high official in Netflix said in 2019 that there was no way company could deny password sharing among family members. There was always some stuff that parents do not want their kids to watch, and there are instances where spouses make their own profiles to watch their favorite programs. If you ask Netflix tech support, they concede that the company is concerned with this practice of password sharing as it is resulting in loss of revenue for the company. According to a rough estimate, a crackdown on unauthorized users of Netflix could result in increased revenue of nearly 10% of the amount the company is generating right now.

There are more than 74 million domestic subscribers of Netflix and out of them more than a fifth are sharing passwords with people who are not authorized to use these accounts. However, cracking down on consumers sharing passwords with their friends can be a double edged sword for the company, caution analysts. These analysts say that with so many streaming services around, Netflix risks alienating subscribers if it tightens screws around customers who are indulging in this habit of password sharing. What this means is that Netflix may actually lose more venue than it generates by losing out on its subscribers. This is the reason why Netflix does not want to alienate its subscribers by issuing stern warning against the habit of password sharing.

Netflix technical support has worked hard during lockdowns imposed in various countries on account of Covid-19 pandemic and this hard work has paid rich dividends to the company. The company has added nearly 37 million subscribers in the last one year and the total subscriber number has crossed 200 million worldwide.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How Can We Control the Spread of Covid-19?

 Covid-19 is a pandemic that has engulfed the whole world in its grip at present. Simply referred to as Corona virus, it is a deadly respiratory infection that causes several symptoms in the victim that usually appear after 2-14 days of catching the infection. These symptoms are dry cough, fever, shortness of breath, body aches, and fatigue. In many patients, Corona virus remains asymptomatic which means that they do not exhibit any of the symptoms associated with the virus and yet serve as deadly carriers of the virus for the rest of the population. How does Corona virus spread? Corona virus is a highly infectious disease that can be easily spread by an infected individual through coughing or sneezing. The droplets coming out of the mouth and nose of the infected individual can easily infect other people coming in his contact. Also, these droplets containing virus can remain active for hours on various surfaces and infect others who touch them.  Prevention is the only cure ...

Apple’s Iphones Selling in Large Numbers in China Again

 In December 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook was a worried man because of falling sales of iPhones in China, one of the most important markets for the company. In fact, he wrote a letter to the investors to be prepared for lower sales in the holiday quarter because of dropping iPhone sales in the Chinese market. It was the first time since 2002 that Apple CEO had to issue a warning to its stakeholders. Within a year, situation has reversed and sales of iPhones are increasing in China. In fact, 18% more iPhones were sold in China in December 2019 than in December 2018. This tremendous  iPhone support  from Chinese people has investors smiling again. This performance of iPhones is even better than what was predicted by WSJ. In December 2019, Apple shipped half a million iPhones more than in December 2018. This jump in the sales of iPhones in China was reflected in the increasing stock prices of Apple on the stock market. There can be no two opinions about the fact that China is a...

Google Admits to a Security Flaw Affecting 1.5 Billion of Users

 Google has finally admitted to vulnerability that has security repercussions for nearly 1.5 billion of its users. This security flaw was brought to the notice of Google two years ago by researchers at Black Hills Information Security. These researchers had claimed that vulnerability in Google Calendar app was enough for hackers to allow hackers to steal information from he computers of users of Gmail around the country. It is only now that  Gmail support number  is acknowledging the existence of this security flaw. Google did not take any steps to fix this security flaw back in 2017 as it would have resulted in drop in functionality for the users of its Google Calendar app. This was despite the fact that these researchers demonstrated how this vulnerability could be exploited as a weapon by hackers to steal information from the computers of users of Gmail. At that time, Google said that its policy was to prevent spread of malicious content on the services offered by the ...