r/technology • u/chrisdh79 • Feb 03 '23

Netflix says strict new password sharing rules were posted in error Business

https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/02/03/netflix-says-strict-new-password-sharing-rules-were-posted-in-error
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u/mikeyeli Feb 03 '23 edited Feb 03 '23

This was already implemented in a part of Latin America, the backlash was humongous and they lost tons of subscribers so they back peddled on sharing fees but kept the password sharing restrictions. I'm going to guess it's going to go about the same way for these next countries, I wonder if Netflix has ever heard what the definition of Insanity is.

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u/bdone2012 Feb 03 '23

Im fairly sure what was happening in Argentina was actually better than what they were trying to just pull. It would have allowed you between 2-4 home networks. That’s actually fairly reasonable. The bullshit they tried to pull yesterday was not reasonable

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u/Devium92 Feb 04 '23 edited Feb 04 '23

Allowing a couple home networks makes sense to me. It still restricts you from sharing your password with your entire extended family and having 20 different families mooching off one account, but it still allows people who have had an account for many years and who's family has grown and changed in that time, to maintain the same situation if there is a teen who has just gone off to college, or recently moved out to their first apartment and mom and dad are paying for Netflix as a way to "help" with some of those small little comfort things that can add up over time financially. Or hell, someone who has a summer cottage or a semi-permanent RV, or "Snowbirds" who spend some part of the year in one location, and then the winter down in like Florida or something.

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u/Timmyty Feb 04 '23

If you're a techie, you might need more than 2 networks for just you and your partner. Add in trying to share with parents that travel... Yeah, this won't go well for them.

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u/coolcool23 Feb 05 '23

It's an inherently unpopular decision. In no way should it be expected that making an obviously unpopular movie won't result in backlash. But that's all you can do when you've reached the end of your innovation, the end of your current strategy. It doesn't help that Netflix's primary strategy has basically been to greenlight any show idea pitched with someone with a pulse, then cancel 99% of them after the first hour of the first season premiere when you don't hit 99% of your subscriber base all tuning in at once.

Capitalism says make the product cheaper (worse), or start to charge more. That's it.