Netflix plans to ban users from sharing passwords free of charge by the top of March this 12 months, in accordance with the corporate’s recent announcement in a letter to shareholders.
In October, the streaming giant said it might start charging subscribers who share their accounts, but gave no specific date or information on when the brand new policy can be enacted.
In its fourth-quarter earnings report released late last week, Netflix revealed that it’ll roll out a platform-wide pay-sharing system within the second half of the primary quarter.
“Today’s widespread account sharing (over 100 million households) undermines our long-term ability to speculate in and improve Netflix and construct our business,” Netflix wrote in a letter to shareholders. “While our terms of use limit the usage of Netflix to households, we recognize that this can be a change for members who share their account more widely.”
“That’s why we have been working hard to create additional recent features that can enhance the Netflix experience, including the flexibility for members to browse the devices their accounts use and transfer their profile to a recent account.”
The company noted that the brand new policy is prone to result in a “negative impact” on “short-term engagement” as some users will stop consuming content on the platform attributable to the lack of a free account.
However, Netflix assured shareholders that despite the brand new changes, the commitment will grow “over time as we proceed to deliver a big selection of programs and borrowers will arrange their very own accounts.”