It’s no secret that many people bum a Netflix account off a friend or family member, blissfully watching all the service has to offer without having to pay a cent. Unfortunately for them, Netflix has a plan to change that and force them to pay for their content. For the last year there have been rumors of Netflix cracking down on password sharing. However, last month on Feb. 8 Netflix implemented their new policy on those regions. Netflix users will now only be allowed to share their account with people that live in the same place as the account holder. That means if you are a college student living away from home and your parents are the primary account holder you will no longer be able to use that account unless you pay for an extra account. Netflix will be able to make sure users are in the same household by tracking IP addresses and device IDs so there is no way around the crackdown.
The ability to share passwords for streaming services among friends and family has been a huge help to many college students who may be struggling financially. The added cost of another streaming service that they were originally not paying for because of password sharing would add difficulty to struggling students’ pockets.
Kevin Valencia, a fourth-year Spanish major who watches Netflix for much needed breaks said, “College students depended on Netflix for mental health breaks with this new ban, more stress is added as it becomes another monthly expense. Which can be hard for a college student with no job.” It could also be tough on parents who might be financially supporting their students with essentials and an added Netflix fee would put even more of a burden on them.
Still it seems that not everyone is planning on leaving Netflix. Some die hard fans and those who never intended to share their password will still remain. One such person is Joshua Walker who voiced his thoughts on Netflix’s new policy, “I think it’s fair. It’s not like I also share my debit card with friends.” Netflix has acknowledged that they expect to see a dip in subscribers after the change but users like Joshua are the ones that Netflix is hoping stick around.
Although Netflix plans on combating the expected mass exodus of subscribers once the new policy hits the rest of the world at the end of March by offering different price plans it still may not be enough. Second year nursing student Abby Wilson said, “If I can’t use my friend’s Netflix account anymore I guess I’m only going to pay for my Amazon Prime subscription which has a student discount and gives you access to Amazon video for free.” Competition like Amazon, Disney, HBO, Crunchyroll and Hulu are all after the same viewers and by not allowing password sharing outside of a household Netflix has opened the door for these platforms to swoop in and take their customers.
Perhaps if Netflix is able to outcompete other streaming services in price plans and quality content they could make the policy change irrelevant. By offering a student discount similar to Amazon Prime it could get college students to pay for the service but not break the bank of those who are already struggling. And those who never planned on switching will get to enjoy higher quality content. Still it would have been best if Netflix never changed the policy at all.
