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Netflix steps up its effort to get paid for account sharing

Published:Wednesday | February 8, 2023 | 7:38 PM
The Netflix logo is shown in this photo from the company's website on February 2, 2023, in New York. Netflix has a plan to deal with rampant account sharing: a programme that lets subscribers pay extra to share their accounts with people outside their households. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Netflix has a plan to deal with rampant account sharing: a programme that lets subscribers pay extra to share their accounts with people outside their households.

The streaming giant introduced paid sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain on Wednesday.

It was previously rolled out in multiple markets in Latin America.

While Netflix won't say when paid sharing will come to other countries, some version of the plan is expected to be introduced in the United States in the next few weeks.

Around one-third of Netflix's subscribers live in the US and Canada.

Netflix has more than 231 million paid subscribers in 190 countries.

The Los Gatos, California-based company estimates that 100 million households are currently sharing their accounts with others, which impacts the company's ability to invest in new programming.

“We've always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account with features like profiles and multiple streams,” the company said in a blog post Wednesday.

“While these have been hugely popular, they've also created confusion about when and how you can share Netflix.”

Starting Wednesday, Netflix said it will allow standard and premium subscribers in Canada, Spain, New Zealand and Portugal to set up an extra account for up to two people they don't live with for an extra monthly fee.

The monthly fee varies by country; in Canada, it's 7.99 Canadian dollars, while in Portugal it's 3.99 euros.

Netflix said it will also allow people who have been borrowing accounts to transfer their viewing history and other preferences to a new, paid subscription.

Netflix didn't say what actions it will take if subscribers continue to share accounts outside their households. 

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