LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The streaming service, Netflix, is likely changing user rules which would require users to link their account to a single location, and aims to require users to pay extra if they use the account outside of the primary location. 

During the company’s fourth quarter 2022 earnings report, newly elected co-CEO Greg Peters admitted the company would be tightening down on password sharing. 

MORE NEWS: Illegal Alien Sentenced to 30-100 Years in Prison for Girlfriend’s Murder

“We’ve got folks that are watching Netflix who aren’t paying us as part of basically borrowing somebody else’s credentials,” Peters said. “And our goal is over this year to basically work through that situation and convert many of those folks to be paid accounts or to have the account owner pay for them to get enough subscription. But either way, we’re seeking to sort of monetize the viewing value that we’re delivering.”

“[Some password sharers] could pay, but they don’t need to, and so they’re borrowing somebody’s account,” he added, “And so our job is to give them a little bit of a nudge and to create features that make transitioning to their own account easy and simple.”

Netflix is aware that some users are sharing their accounts because they cannot afford their own account, the company wants to try and meet them halfway according to The Streamable. 

“I think there’s a range of motivations for different borrowers,” Peters said. “So some of it is economically driven and so a part of what we’re trying to do is that we are being responsive to that and finding the right price points, whether in terms of an individual account or an extra member affordance.” 

At the moment, certain countries in Central and South America had updated sharing fees which included charging the primary account owner an extra $2.99 to set up a sub-account for every user outside of the home.  Netflix hopes that by putting the paying user on the hook for the non-paying user, it will convince members to stop giving out their passwords in the first place according to The Streamable.  

MORE NEWS: A New Day: Michigan House Republicans Select New Leader

The company estimates that more than 100 million additional households share an account with the 222 million paying households including the U.S. and Canada.  While the Standard and Premium plans in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru “can share Netflix with someone who doesn’t live with them for less than the price of our Basic plan,” are not yet applicable to the U.S. Netflix users, the company does intend on launching paid sharing “more broadly” by the end of March. 

Currently, some other major streaming companies including Hulu, HBO, and Amazon Video also have varying limitations on password sharing.  Apple TV+ has a Family Sharing feature which allows account holders the ability to share video access with up to six other users for free.