Netflix, which has historically looked the other way on password sharing, is reportedly testing a new feature that suggests they will no longer do so.
This new piracy crackdown feature is getting a limited rollout at this time with a Netflix spokesperson saying: “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so.”
As a result, some viewers attempting to use somebody else’s Netflix account are now being stopped by a screen that says: “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.”
To continue watching, the viewer is given the option of either verifying their identity (with a texted or emailed code to the account’s owner), or opting to “verify later” which gives the viewer an unspecified additional amount of time to continue watching and later confirm they are a valid account user.
How many users are affected varies from country to country. Netflix says the feature will help protect subscribers from security concerns that can arise from unauthorized use of their account. A Reuters poll indicates more than one-fifth of young adults say they borrow passwords from people who do not live with them.
With platforms spending billions of dollars annually on both original content and rights to old shows, with the technology now easily able to detect how many streams are coming from the same account, and with a need to become profitable rising – the ‘look the other way’ stance may no longer cut it.
Source: The Live Feed
