By Liz Ciocher
Staff Writer
Netflix is cracking down on a new rule for the usage of their accounts, as well as the number of users behind them. There will be a limitation on password sharing, restricting account use to the household members only, according to an official statement from the Netflix website.
Of course, to try and stabilize their income and consumers, there is an option to buy a membership that allows access to users from different households.
“A Netflix account is intended for one household and members can choose from a range of plans with different features,” wrote Netflix Product Innovation Director Chengyi Long in the statement. “As always, we’ll refine these new features based on member feedback so that we continue to improve Netflix in the years ahead.”
While these changes have not affected the U.S. yet, the rules have been implemented in other countries, such as Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. There is not a set release date for these rules in America just yet, but that hasn’t stopped people from sharing their opinions.
“No one’s happy about this,” said senior statistics major Billy Calabrese. “I understand why they’re doing it, but I also feel like they are going to lose money by doing this.”
Since they’re living away from home, most college students that are living on a budget would likely agree on negative opinions about this change. How it will affect Netflix, however, is up for debate.
“I think they will make more money,” said senior communication studies major Chris Jacob. “Obviously the intention is to make more people buy their own accounts, and people will, but they will lose support over time.”
Not only will putting this ordinance in effect have an impact on the financial standings of the company, but it will also change their reputation and the devotion they have from their consumers.
Senior business management major Danny Webster predicts both their reputation and number of consumers will be on the decline.
“I think it's stupid,” Webster said. “It’ll cause people to be unhappy with Netflix and question if maybe they should switch platforms. Netflix is already making enough money, so if they’re going to crack down on this, it’s just greedy.”
In Canada, to add a non-household member to the account is an additional 7.99 in Canadian dollars per person, according to Long’s release. That is roughly half the price of a standalone Netflix subscription, which runs for CA$16.49.
Calabrese added a similar comment to Webster.
“I think it’ll probably have a negative effect and people will be annoyed by it, I think it's going to backfire,” Calabrese said.
“In the long run, they lose support,” Jacob agreed.
Among Calabrese, Webster and Jacob, none of the students purchase their own Netflix subscriptions. The topic of discussion sparked a debate between the three students about why the company would make these changes.
“Anyone with a brain knows they will make money,” Jacob said.
Webster argued back, “They will not, and that doesn’t make it right.”
With such a strong influence on college students, making this change in the Netflix subscription guidelines will surely spark controversy.
