According to Deadline, Netflix will stay true to their goal to diminish the amount of households that share passwords across the U.S. The streaming service has insisted that large portion of its revenue loss is attributed to password sharing since 2019, following the emergence of other platforms such as Disney+ and HBO Max. Several other measures have been taken — in 2021, a two-step authentication factor was introduced to users. By 2022, there were already tests rolling out in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru to require subscribers to pay for any other users outside of their household.
This past February, Netflix caused a stir on the Internet when they reportedly released new rules to crack down on password sharing, which would include tracking users’ IP addresses and having subscribers verify their locations every thirty days. The company swiftly removed the guidelines, however, stating that those measures only applied to the aforementioned South American countries and were mistakenly released.
Now, Netflix has released a letter to its shareholders, explaining that these new anti-sharing password measures would be coming to the U.S. in Quarter 2 (sometime between April-June). They said of the decision: “In Q1, we launched paid sharing in four countries and are pleased with the results… We’re pleased with the most recent launches of paid sharing, and while we could have launched broadly in Q1, we found opportunities to improve the experience for members. We learn more with each rollout and we’ve incorporated the latest learnings, which we think will lead to even better results.”
Originally, the plan was to implement the changes in Quarter 1, which were then delayed because “we believe this will result in a better outcome for both our members and our business.”
The plan was also conducted in Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Portugal, and the results were supposedly good, as executives at Netflix were convinced they “[had] the right approach.”
In Canada alone, Deadline reports that “the paid subscriber base is now larger than before the password monetization scheme began. Revenue growth has accelerated in Canada and is now growing faster than in the U.S.”