Netflix password-sharing crackdown hits the U.S. next — here's what you need to know
The Netflix password-sharing party is coming to an end in the U.S. soon after the streaming giant reported it was "pleased with the results" from its expanded trial that started back in February.
In its letter to shareholders today, the company reported that Q2 will see a broad rollout of paid sharing and that the U.S. will be part of this next phase (via MacRumors). That means that Netflix subscribers in the U.S. should expect the new policies to be enforced by the end of June.
What does the Netflix password-sharing mean for you?
If you don't share your password with anyone outside of your home (or use the password of someone you don't live with) then it won't impact you at all. For those on either end of password sharing beyond a single home, there is going to be a new fee if you want to keep using Netflix.
While Netflix hasn't revealed the U.S. pricing for additional members just yet, we know what the options will look like based on the current rollout. Users on the Basic with Ads and Basic plans won't be able to add any additional members outside of their homes. The Standard plan will allow for one additional member outside of the home, while the Premium plan bumps that up to two additional members. If we had to guess we would project $7.99 per additional member, matching the Canadian pricing.
Subscribers naturally haven't been thrilled with the move from Netflix, but any hopes that the new plan would lead to too many cancellations for the company to continue its rollout have been dashed at this point. We expect Netflix will share the final details of the U.S. rollout in the coming weeks and if you don't like it, the good news is that it's easy to cancel Netflix and there are a lot of great free streaming services out there.
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Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more. Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.