The streaming media landscape is continually changing as various streaming services evolve their business models. Prices are changing all the time. Disney+ recently added advertising. Netflix, the company that basically started this whole thing has made no secret of its desire to crack down on password sharing, and now it has taken a big move in Canada that is designed to get people who aren’t paying for accounts to start doing so, but instead, it seems to be causing a rash of people canceling their Netflix subscriptions.
Netflix users in Canada are being informed via both email and messages on their screens when they open their Netflix app, that changes are being made to their accounts. Users are now expected to set a primary location for their account, and logins from other locations have the possibility of being shut down. Users are not happy and several TikToks are going viral of people canceling their Netflix subscriptions in protest.
@dan_of_innsmouth ♬ The End - The Doors
Password sharing is one of those things that we know the streaming services don’t like but a lot of people do. Parents share their accounts with children away at college. Adult children give access to their parents who may not have the income to afford such things. Netflix has implemented password-sharing restrictions in other places. A recent indication that these sorts of rules were coming to the U.S. was walked back by Netflix, but it is all definitely happening in Canada.
@beautiful.stormxo ♬ original sound - Spooky.babiixo
The goal of all this, of course, is to get people who aren’t paying for Netflix currently to start doing so. Netflix, which has seen its membership and revue consistently grow has seen that growth stumble for the first time recently. The belief is that those who can no longer use an existing account will start to pay for their own in order to keep access to the content. That may ultimately prove successful, but those new accounts will also be covering the revenue of the ones that are lost as frustrated people cancel their accounts.
@elainatheprogressive ♬ Elevator Music - Bohoman
Exactly how all these new rules will work remains to be seen, but one user actually called Netflix to try and get clarification. It seems that devices that are not your primary location and that are not used for a period of time will be locked out of the account. The issue for some is that many of those devices might still be perfectly acceptable under the current rules, making the Netflix account potentially a headache to use.
@shellswatso ♬ original sound - Shelley Watson
While Netflix has yet to implement significant new rules regarding password sharing in the U.S., it seems like only a matter of time before that happens. The only way it doesn’t is if the revolt against the new rules in places like Canada actually turns out to be significant enough that it harms the bottom line for Netflix. We’ll certainly have to wait and see. On the plus side, as a couple of the TikToks point out, canceling your Netflix subscription is apparently quite easy.
