SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the maybe-they-could-sell-blue-checkmarks-instead dept.
The plan is to try to force Netflix customers to pay an extra $2-$3 every month for service for any users using your credentials outside of the home. An accidentally leaked Netflix help guide last week indicated that users who don't log into their Netflix account in a 31 day period would face the new surcharges, something that didn't go over well with either users or celebrities that travel a lot.
The company was then forced to backtrack, stating the guides were posted in error, and intended for customers in countries like Chile and Peru where the crackdown had already launched. Those efforts, as we'd mentioned previously, were also reportedly a confusing mess for subscribers in those countries, who say it was never really clear how the inconsistently-enforced system actually worked.
Netflix is embracing the move because the company's growth has hit a wall internationally, forcing it to begin nickel-and-diming existing subscribers if Wall Street is to get its improved quarterly returns.
[...] The question then is: is that modest bump in revenue worth alienating and annoying your existing customers in a competitive streaming market? We're apparently going to find out.
To be clear, I still think Netflix has value at its current monthly rate, and many people who complain about the new rate hikes are lazy and likely won't cancel. On the flip side, this move remains the latest signal from the company that it's done with being innovative and disruptive and has, as publicly traded companies usually do, shifted toward nickel-and-diming and turf protection as it attempts to fend off competitors.
Previously:
Netflix Fights Password-Sharing With Test of $3 "Extra Member" Fee
Netflix to Start Testing Warnings for People Borrowing Login Info
(Score: 1) by stripes on Friday February 10, @05:09PM (1 child)
Well I have a two screen account, which my wife and I both use. Mostly we use it to watch something together in the living room on the TV. Back when I use to leave th house to go to the office I use to also sometimes watch it on the bus. I would like Netflix to find a "no password share scheme" that doesn't make that kind of use harder than it needs to be. In theory if I used my iPad at home to download a show I was planning on watching on the bus Netflix would notice it was at the same address as the billing address and not kick up a fuss for a month, so if I that was my use case it would work out ok. However if I decided "hey I have all this unused 5G data, I can just watch the movie straight over air" (or more likely: I forgot to download ahead of time) then I would get hassled by Netflix.
I don't really need to come up with method which they could use to minimize false positives for "sharing" passwords and also catch enough of that "sharing" to positively impact their bottom line. I don't need to do that because I'm not a Netflix employee. It is their problem, not mine. Plus since I rarely end up riding a bus or otherwise out in public with a ton of idle time anymore I rarely actually feel like watching Netflix anywhere other than home. So really I should just downgrade my account from two streams to one.
In other words yeah, I understand their goals. I understand their cost structure. I don't think the goal of "well we would like to sell our service to people who use it as opposed to a subset of people who use it" is wrong. I just think it negatively impacts people who are legit customers of theirs and they need to figure out how to minimize that otherwise people will start cutting back, which would be counter to Netflix's real goals.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday February 10, @09:46PM
Security vs convenience. When are they going to grant access based on retinal scans or DNA testing of a finger prick blood sample? I would never use such a service, but... I actually had my insurance agent suggest I install a tracking device in all four of our cars for "more affordable rates..."
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end