Netflix password sharing crackdown may begin in late March
Your joyful days of free Netflix streaming using your friend's account might finally come to an end, as the streaming giant is likely to start its password sharing crackdown in late March this year.
Executives of the subscription-based streaming service revealed this during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call today, Jan. 20, and was reported by entertainment website IGN.
On the call, executives said that the company is aiming to implement its plan to convert "borrowers" into subscribers by the end of the first quarter.
This echoes the company's statement in its October letter to shareholders that it will start charging for password sharing in early 2023.
It means that in the latter weeks of March, Netflix might begin charging extra to users that don't belong to the same household but share the same passwords. The company has already rolled out a test, with $3 (P163) as an add-on, in some countries in August of last year.
Newly-appointed co-CEO Greg Peters said that the company is confident about the crackdown, with its solidified set of features. However, he said that the changes "won't be a universally popular move."
He explained that the company is expecting a decrease in subscriber numbers by the time the plan has been rolled out. He added, though, that similar to the behavior of its users whenever the platform increases its prices, subscribers will come back in time for the release of shows they would want to stream.
