Netflix continues to ask users to pay if they share their accounts without permission. The streaming service will soon be testing a new method to stop this in five countries. But consumers who do not let friends or family members watch hits like "Stranger Things", "Squid Game" or "Bridgerton" with their account will also have to pay additional fees in certain cases.
According to the terms of use, sharing login data outside of your own household is actually prohibited. While it's "great" that customers loved the content so much that they wanted to share it with others, Chengyi Long, director of growth and innovation at Netflix, recently said. However, it "undermines" the ability to "invest in and improve our service" in the longer term.
Since March, users in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru have been able to add "extra members" to their accounts for an additional fee. A test is now starting in Argentina, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic in which users can set up "homes", i.e. more homes.
Regardless of the subscription chosen, every user will have a "Home" there in the future. In this, users can access the streaming offer on all their devices. "Basic" users can set up an additional home, "Standard" users can add up to two extra "Homes" and "Premium" customers up to three. Similarly, as explained on a Honduras support page, starting August 22, consumers will be prompted to add additional "Homes" when they sign in on a TV in a different location.
Consumers can move their homes, but only three times in six months. According to Netflix, it uses IP addresses that can be used to assign a user's location, the IDs of individual devices and account activity to check the whole thing. In Argentina, an additional home costs 219 pesos per month, in the other four countries it is $2.99 per month.
There is also the option of registering on a TV set away from home free of charge, but this is only permitted if the user has not yet used the account at that location. A free registration is possible at any location once a year for up to two weeks - for example when the user is on vacation somewhere.
A user who, for example, repeatedly spends time at a second home, frequently visits his parents or visits the same vacation spot several times a year, has to set up an additional home in order to be able to watch Netflix on a TV there permanently? This is correct, confirms a spokeswoman for the streaming service when asked by the news agency spot on news. Due to the change restriction, it is not possible to move the home there again and again, for example for the weekend. The consumer then has to settle for streaming Netflix content on-site on their smartphone, tablet or laptop if they don't want to pay the additional fee.
The streaming service cannot share any information about a possible exception for such users at this time. As a detour, however, it is probably still possible to watch content free of charge on other televisions outside the home using additional streaming solutions. Because streaming players such as Roku are not affected by the regulation.
If the tests for the home or the "extra member" method are successful, the streaming provider should certainly not want to forego introducing corresponding additional fees in Germany. So far, however, there is no official information about such a possible step. When asked whether a corresponding regulation with "Homes" is also planned for Germany, Netflix currently has no further information that can be shared.
