Netflix says people just kind of rolled over and accepted the password sharing crackdown

well done everyone

I had a feeling they would but I did leave myself. Only problem is the person I was sharing with made an account so it was a net 0 impact.
- I get the feeling that the kind of person that is on Lemmy is the kind of person that ain't gonna take no shit and drop it just to stick to the man. I myself dropped Netflix but seems to be a common theme here.
- I know the feeling. I hate Netflix with a passion but my SO uses it. I have a Plex server full of stuff and constantly adding and showed her how. I cancel Netflix every month though 😂 can usually make it a day or 2 passed when it was supposed to renew before she uses it again and resubscribes.

Not me. When me and hubby couldn’t watch different shows at the same time in the same house a room apart, I cancelled the account and never looked back. They’ll never get my money again.

Same. Super annoying.
Me either. I left when they rolled that rule out in South America last year to test it. Netflix forgot that we went to them because cable was extorting us. As long as the internet remains a thing, there will always be other options.
Yep I cancelled mine. Not worth it. The shows they have been coming out with aren't even very good and they lost a lot of old favorites
I thought this was the exact reason why they bundle multiple streams with almost all subscriptions. To provide multiple people in a household the option to stream their own stuff. Did you have only one single stream?
- I replied earlier, but I guess it didn’t stick for some reason. Yes, we have only one single stream.
- Yes, only one single stream

It’s spin. The additional subscriptions came from markets where Netflix is cheap. Not North America.

“While the company added subscribers, it said average revenue per member fell 3% from a year earlier. That was partly because many of the new sign-ups came in countries where Netflix charges lower prices.”

https://www.reuters.com/technology/netflix-tops-wall-street-forecasts-with-password-limits-ad-option-2023-07-19/

.
- Netflix just dumped one of those lower tiers you mentioned (though existing subscribers at that tier are currently grandfathered in). The same article I linked to points out that they also aren’t seeing the uptake for their ad supported tier they’d hoped for. And they’re already coaching that next quarters guidance will be down further. I expect more churn as Netflix quality continues to decline and competition and prices continue to increase.
- Just curious, are we sure the numbers reported are “net gain” and not “number of new subscribers”? Distinction being “number of new subscribers” would be all the people that signed up, and “net gain” would be all the people that signed up & subtract those that canceled?
  
  Earnings reports are always full of word tricks to paint the prettiest picture so I’m just curious if we know the net number?
  
  For example, all those articles that came out a week after the change went into effect were bullshit bc they didn’t take into account people who canceled and still had days left til their end of month, instead they only captured the 3 days after the policy change and Netflix got all the media to report this awesome stat for them.

Voting with your wallet doesn't work when there are so many other wallets out there that don't care.

I mean that’s the point of voting. Sensibility got outvoted unfortunately
- Sure, and I didn't care if they died I just wanted to save more money. Now I stream and torrent everything and the ones who choose to pay can do so if they please.
Sure, but I'm saving $20 a month now so that's nice.

I closed my family shared account and started pirating Netflix shows/movies instead.

We paid for the convenience. I will happily just pirate if that's what they want 🤷

I started pirating again when they set a price for multiple screens a few years ago. Fuck these companies, don't let them take an inch.
Yep, I started to pirate everything again. I've never been happier with the quality and convenience. Not just limited to Netflix and watching movies of the highest quality from private trackers.

Funny when things come back full circle.

Turns out lemmy users aren't representative of the greater public.

Of course the person using a shared password either left (saving Netflix money) or got their own subscription (giving Netflix money).

Netflix doesn't care that people who weren't paying stopped using their service.

That's not really true when ads are in the mix

I just made my own personal Netflix, with blackjack and hookers.

Jellyfin is the way.
- I am already a Plex user but I gave Jellyfin a try. Hoping to ditch Plex and fully self host it. But unfortunately I use Chromecast on all the TVs in my house and the Jellyfin Chromecast integration is terrible :(
Nearly 2000 movies, over 200 series, over 50 anime movies and about 300 animes in mine, sharing it with 30 other friends and family. Currently looking into automations for it. This is the way.
- Sonarr and Radarr are your friends for automation (TV and Movies) there is another arr for music but I don't use that one.
  
  My workflow is essentially:
  
  Queue up what I want in *arr
  
  It sends request to sabnzbd
  
  Better qualities that I want are updated automatically, new episodes are downloaded automatically.
- looking into some automation for it.
  
  FTFY
- Hey, where are you getting the movies from?
  
  Would be cool to have some sort of catalogue that can be used to pick the movie that you want to torrent, and then Plex can just stream that to the clients and cache it for others to see too.
  
  That way no automations are needed. Just watch stuff like in any streaming service.

Why are people so dumb… They treat us bad? Let’s throw more money on them.

People are dumb, but moreso they are lazy and want to be entertained rather than self improve. You can teach yourself how to create your own Netflix in a day but most people would rather endlessly scroll content that makes them feel envious or angry because that seems easier than learning something new.
- I really want to see your “nailed it” post for that learned-to-make-Netflix-in-a-day alternative.
  
  If you could learn to build a 194-billion-market-cap company, or even just build such a company… you probably wouldn’t be here.
Same shit as politics
At the end of the day, people are exhausted and the tv is their solace. Not a great way to live but I get it.

said as I sit here on Lemmy while my wife watches her tv

Netflix says a lot of things, some aren't true

The American people are so hopelessly broken, it's shameful.

I've found sailing the high seas to be far more convenient than using Netflix nowadays. I can watch what I want to watch when I want, instead of finding out a movie I wanted to watch was removed recently

Same. I cancelled my Netflix a couple years ago and haven't looked back. They don't have a lot of content that I'm interested in watching anymore, and when they do it's easy to find elsewhere. I host my own Plex server now which makes it even more of a seamless transition.

They haven't had anything interesting to watch since Squid Game. This Black Mirror season had like one good episode.

But sales are slumping
And no one will say why
Could it be they put out one too many lousy records?!?

It's a difficult balance. They want more subscribers but less view time, so they create lots of new series to reel in new people and cancel already established series as the only people they matter to once everyone has heard about them are the users.
If it weren't for Trailer Park Boys I wouldn't even have a Netflix account.

Personally, the value proposition for Netflix is really lacking compared to Amazon Prime (which also comes with prime video and Amazon music) and Apple One family (which also comes with Apple Music, extra iCloud storage, Apple TV and Apple Arcade) which I have so it was pretty easy to cancel my Netflix subscription.

If I could bundle Netflix with something else it might make it worth it but comparatively the content on Apple TV is so much better than anything Netflix have at the moment, in my opinion (really enjoying Silo atm but have loved Ted Lasso, Severance, The After Party amongst others).

Netflix is essentially the equivalent of the DVD bargain bin at Walmart... lots of stuff to choose from, but none of it is remotely watchable.
Except so much of prime video you still have to pay to watch, like specifically rent even though you're already paying a subscription.
- Yeah that’s fair enough. Tbh, I’ve only watched 1 series on Prime - Upload - but otherwise can’t really recall what else I’ve watching on there (it’s probably been a few months since I’ve even opened it). I buy heaps of stuff on Prime though so that’s my main use although I do like Music too as some of the podcasts I listen to are ad free on there (eg. Smartless, The Lowe Post).

I don't really get the "fighting" part. Don't like it, don't buy it.

There is no way. Netflix is saying that so people are like "Well, I guess im the minority, I will just keep the subcription"

Well that’s depressing

I haven't because Netflix hasn't given me a good solid reason to return to them.

I wouldn't exactly say everyone is too tired to fight this stuff. Because, a bubble has yet to burst somewhere if it hasn't already. Netflix just fails to see the bigger picture of this problem and once that bubble bursts, the bubble of financial strains on society, they'll feel it tenfold.

Large thinking on your part here. However, the issue is people will purchase it no matter what. Your efforts to stamp Netflix out personally are great but they are overshadowed by a company that makes millions and doesn't need your 13 to 14 dollars a month to stay subscribed.

If we want to show companies we aren't going to participate then we have to indefinitely convince the population not to participate. That isn't going to happen. These companies know that they will make money and people will keep buying.

This applies to almost any industry. Take something more environmental. I haven't eaten fish in 3 years because of how bad the fishing industry is. Mind you I am hypocrite and eat chicken and beef and those industries are just as bad but I am trying to cut back on them as well. Problem is, my one little attempt to not aid in the fishing industries endeavors are swamped by the millions that don't care, are oblivious by choice or, just would rather exist in a world where there are no problems.

The truth is the big companies should hold a responsibility but our laws (at least in the U.S.) fine them small amounts of what they make double of. Their are no laws to truly stop massive corporations because the corporations are fined rather than the people running the company and that is by design because technically the fisherman can't be held accountable in the companies wrong doings if the CEO was the one doing the wrong doings but the fisherman is aiding those wrong doings unknowingly so you punish the company not the people running it.

Then it boils down to if you can't change the company then it becomes the people's responsibility and we have one but we blame the company and or ignore our responsibility.

The truth is it's everyone's responsibility. The companies the people's. The human equation just doesn't care. People aren't going to stop watching Netflix over money the same as they won't stop giving fishing companies money to kill the ocean that gives Earth life. Because there is no immediate effect to their lives. It only matters to most when it's too late.

We could divulge into a thousand topics. This isn't meant to discourage your efforts. Don't pay Netflix save your money but getting on Lemmy and stating, "Netflix will fall." Can only happen when people give a damn just like you or when the companies give a damn. Companies have one incentive, money. People have incentive to buy a product if it works and brings some form of usefulness to their lives. No matter how you look at it or how much an end user wants to removed about money. The truth is Netflix works so we are going to spend money to use it.

You could apply this to Google Search, Apple products, etc. There is no incentive to allow competition, care about your privacy, care about your well being, if the incentive or money takes precedence. Additionally, that means we have a problem but on the other hand. You know what works? Google Search, do you know what gives Google Search the edge? Your data and money. You know why iPhone is popular because it's easier to buy an iPhone to talk to friends and the messaging just works. You know the problem with Apple products? No incentive to switch to better platforms like RCS over SMS. Apple doesn't want to change the consumer should and we will keep buying their product.

Point being people have to truly change to change a company.

Stories like this are weird. As are the reactions.

It's a nominal cost for a lot of content. Some people lost access to it because they were sharing accounts, and millions who did decided that it was worth the $12 or whatever to get their own account.

And?

And most of those new accounts are in countries where there was no password crackdown and Netflix lost about 8% on share price so they want to spin the idea
I would counterargue it is different from a traditional price increase. Netflix basically ''backstabbed'' their consumers, by altering the contract they followed for years and even repeteadly made marketing and promises in that regard (all the ''sharing netflix with family and friends is an expression of love'' posts).
If the price had increased, it would be another reaction, but this new house limitation is really a petty move that feels a lot worse. I hope the other streamings just increase the price and let people share the same account.

🤷‍♂️ we canceled our Netflix account, so that's about all we can do

I really wanted to cancel my subscription. I consider piracy to be a moral option against the aggressively repressive sonny bono copyright law. But I can't pull the rug out from my mom's feet back home (I live in another state). So instead of getting to cancel in protest like how I want, I still just pay for one Netflix subscription that I don't use personally.

If you go the piracy route you can get her a lot more content for the cost of some electricity and some usenet indexers, or have a friend willing to host a Plex server
You should look into hosting a Plex server for her. My brother set one up after I cancelled our Netflix and our tech-illterate mother loves it. The only change for her was moving from clicking on the Netflix icon on her TV to clicking on the Plex icon.
- This is the way to go if you really want to be a pro piracy advocate.
  
  Most people can’t be bothered with the complexities of torrents or codecs. Luckily that’s my shit, and I put together a 4x16TB NAS setup and started hosting a Plex instance for family initially, then added some coworkers. It’s a fun little hobby, and my users are able to save on streaming services.
  
  Also, I’ve found a majority of users really don’t care much about quality, so I’m able to serve up multiple streams on only 40Mbps upload without noticing any network slowdowns.
If she's on your account, in another state, you were not cracked down.

But that highlights the spin these companies exploit through inconsistent or partial abuse. Like every Chrome or Windows update where someone can say 'just jump through hoops X Y and Z' or 'it still works on my machine.' The impact is softened and the backlash is robbed of momentum. Six months later the problem is enforced mercilessly, but all the Google results are outdated excuses and confusion.
- So are you saying I could still log in and use Netflix on my laptop? I haven't tried out of fear of messing something up.

Morons. Stop paying more for less services.

Netflix is like that kid you knew in elementary school who always told lies. Saying stuff like "Yeah, my dad is a billionaire with a rocket car and he invented toothpaste!"

Why are we believing anything that Netflix has to say? They are most likely using some obscure way to calculate that number in order to try to retain the customers they have left.

From all the social media posts, I'm pretty sure they lost a good chunk of customers. Don't let them win with their slowly deteriorating content and rising prices. Instead, sail the high seas like the internet of old time!

“Yeah, my dad is a billionaire with a rocket car and he invented toothpaste!”

There was a girl who lived down the street from me at one point who swore to the whole neighborhood that her dad sued the local Burger King for millions of dollars because he found rat turds on his burger. No, Victoria, we all live in a trailer park in singlewides, that BK didn't even have millions to take, come on now lol.
- When I was a kid I told everyone my neighbor was Ronald Reagan. I later learned that guy's last name was actually Segan. It was already too late, though. I'm pretty sure all the people I told were convinced that the former president lived on my culdesac.
  
  Maybe Victoria just got her dad's rat turd story mixed up.

I still share my password with a few other households and we've experienced no service interruption at all. if they catch me, I'll just cancel my account then resub to binge anything that looks interesting. plenty of free streaming sites I can scroll through while complaining that there's nothing good on, I don't need to pay for the privilege.

As far as I can tell their "crackdown" has just been "send an email to people using from more than one IP address".
Same here and I haven't received any warning or blocking. As soon as I get told or blocked then I'll cancel. That way in their metrics they see I was blocked and then cancelled. But so far it just keeps working.

I rolled... Of of my inlaws Netflix account and directly into the welcoming arms of piracy. I've always ridden the high seas as needed, but now I raise the black flag with pride since the only streaming I pay for now is music (music piracy is just as easy as normal piracy, but it's a lot more annoying to manage if you like to listen to a variety of stuff)

Are you me?

Crackdown of what? I can still use multiple devices in different households at the same time, albeit I had to upgrade to 4 screens because my parents and my gf could use it. Maybe this measure has not been applied the same everywhere

Not for long. Netflix recently changed their rules so that regardless of the number of screens you pay for you they are going to start enforcing that you all primarily live and access netflix from the same household

The only reason I have Netflix is because I don’t pay for it. I get it free with Tmobile. I wonder how much of these are from TMO new users instead of organic subscriptions

We live quite close to my parents - close enough that somehow Netflix's system doesn't apparently recognize that it's not the same household. So we're still using their account, but if that ever stops working we'll just sign up for the free account through Tmobile as well.

When we couldn’t share a family password anymore we just didn’t sign up for our own account. Easy as that. Been watching a ton more Hulu as a result. Netflix isn’t worth more than a one-month sub/year.

I once refused to buy an iPhone because of Apple’s closed ecosystem and legal battles with competitors. And, well…

I used to be the same way, and I believed in Google's vision of "don't be evil" and making a mobile os that unified all kinds of devices all around the world. But now I'm finally considering getting the next iphone as Google makes it clearer every day that their products exists to comodotize me and my data (and also now I've gotten to a place in life where I can afford buying into apples closed ecosystem)
- I'd just install custom ROMs with no google crap in them, like LineageOS.
  
  Then grab stuff from F-Droid.
- There's a "sustainable" phone out there I forget what it's called but when I get a new phone I'm thinking of switching
I refused to buy an iPhone because they got rid of the headphone jack, didn't support external storage alongside what you said as well. Good thing Android didn't let me down ... well ...

I didn't. Of course, most people probably didn't.

I mean, it only affected our smart TV. Everything else, including the laptop, my phone, and my tablet, can still use my parent's Netflix account just fine.

So yeah, I guess I just literally rolled over to another device and used that instead.

Only a matter of time til they find you/these edge cases and squash you.
- Oh for sure, I am positive you're right and that it will stop working soon enough.
Same here, a friend of mine i am sharing with can still use netflix on his PC where he uses it anyway. If they would shut that option off i just quit using their service all year long. I will then start just to subscribe for a month two times a year, watch some shows i want to see and quit it again. And Amazon Prime Video become much better lately content wise.

Content was rubbish anyway. I dropped it as soon as there were talks of the password crackdown.

They only told the people who were password sharing. I didn't get any notice of the change until I saw it in the news.

I mean if my family is any statistic to go on, 2/3 kids (me one of them) swore off Netflix since. The other, bought their own subscription as soon as the code stopped working

And what actual real alternative is there other than to not use them? Of course people accepted it, there was literally no other option. What is this bs advertising parading as ‘news’?

Pirates of the Caribbean theme starts playing.
Stremio and Plex
They are hiding the fact most of these new accounts are in places where there is no password sharing crackdown yet and their profits are down to try and keep investors happy, at least that's what the articles said a few days ago and now they just say how they have new subscribers and leave out all the details

If I get a single additional charge, I'm done with Netflix.

I straight up don't believe them, that must be some statistical trickery. There's no "too exhausted" that makes more money just appear on people's bank accounts.

Shit I left a day after they made the announcement because I was already sick of all their other shit, and I don’t even password share.

I stayed because the policy is irrelevant to me and my wife since neither of us have friends to share it with.

In my family this is exactly what happened. The people I shared my password with all bought subscriptions of their own.

Well yeah. What were people expecting? A boycott of non-customers? A mass cancellation of accounts that don't exist?

OK, sure, except that Netflix is incentivized to say as much, regardless of public sentiment.

I'm sure the hit they took to subscribers is worth it in terms of their balance sheets, else we would see a retraction, but there's no real way for them to know what the subscriber base would look like in the absence of anti-consumer policies (or their increasingly unsatisfying content production policies), based solely on historical subscriber data.

Users who got sick of it left, but we can only leave once, and Netflix wasn't going to try and retain us unless the exodus was unprecedented. I'd argue the real proof of customer dissatisfaction will be the piracy numbers on their various shows. Customers who want their content, but not their costs or policy restrictions, represent actual money left on the table.

As for their labor practices, well - like Adam Conover said, strikes are more effective than boycotts, and there are several ongoing. Won't do much for the user experience, but maybe the long term consequence is fewer, better shows with actual completed stories.

I have a netflix subscription for "free" through my phone plan, that's the only reason I didn't cancel. I'm still sharing with everyone I know because I have a plex server and just add whatever netflix shows people want to see onto it.

I cancelled my subscription even before the password sharing crackdown. I was tired of the price constantly increasing. Besides that I needed to eliminate some subs since the combined costs were approaching that of cable TV.

Fucking big tech! Break them nowww pleassseeeee

Real debrid + kodi. Personally never looked back

Also Stremio. And Plex if you're a data hoarder
- I know Stremio but what's the advantage/reason for Plex in your situation? Genuinely curious!

I canceled my sub aftear being subbed for many many years.

god damn cowards

Good to see I am not one of them, I cut off Netflix after the news and went to the competition which are cheaper and have better production.

Not exhausted at all

I did rolled over to reach my phone to unsubscribe. Next thing i know, i'm socializing. Best weeks in years.

Dang, how much Netflix were you watching?

Don't tell them, but I still use my parents' Netflix account. I live on the other side of the county.

I wouldn't say people rolled over. A lot of people had the money and the means to pay. And only didn't because password sharing was easy. When Netflix crackdown on it they got their own subscription.

Er, that's rolling over?
- To be like an obedient dog, doing tricks on command.
- I share my account, so I'm not pretending to be holier than anyone else else, but let's not pretend we weren't happily violating the TOS.
  
  If you want to be a pirate go be a pirate. If you want to fight the power, shit do that too.
  
  But don't act like this is some kind of moral protest.
Whoah whoah that's way too sensible an argument around here

I would've left if I actually paid for it. Currently getting it for free thanks to T-Mobile.

Oh you aren't getting it for free. You just pay for it to T-mobile, instead of directly to Netflix. Never yet heard of a company, that offers actual freebies. You just pay for it in the price of the other thing you are paying them for.

Buy glasses, get second pair for free... .... ... you pay price of two for one pair and aren't just very well aware how cheap eye glasses are to make these days.
- Yep yep, I understand this. I just can't negotiate with T-Mobile pricing do I already knew I'm technically paying for Netflix. But I'm not gonna be able to reduce my T-Mobile bill monthly if I refuse the Netflix so I'm just pretending it's free as long as I'm not paying "extra".
- I would argue that it's more just a, for once, positive side affect of the bloated prices we experience in everything. When you get a buy one get one free deal with glasses, you can shop around and see that they aren't charging double for the single pair. It's on par with what you pay for a single pair elsewhere. It just means that creating a pair of glasses isn't as expensive as they want you to think.
  
  T-mobile isn't paying full price per Netflix subscription they give along with a cell phone bill. They may even be making money. Netflix subscriptions overall are down. Netflix has been desperate to get more people signed up. It wouldn't surprise me if this is considered a promotion for Netflix. They pay Netflix to lump it in with cell phone plans to get people who previously didn't have their own Netflix account to now be signed up. Once that free year or whatever ends, a percentage of those people will certainly pay for it. That biggest hurdle of signing them up for their own account is done.

I haven't used netflix since this happened, but apparently its just the app on my xbox that stopped working? Its the only device I watched netflix on and I can't say that I miss it.

I am using streamio and cloudstream on android box and its fucking awesome.

Another family member pays for my account 🤷‍♂️

I get upset about a lot of things, but the end of password sharing isn't one of them. Complaining about it is just about the most privileged, entitled thing I can imagine.

Using an advertised feature is "privileged and entitled"????

They literally charged extra for more simultaneous streams, and let you set up multiple profiles. Password sharing was an intended, advertised feature that people paid for.

Wanting what you were sold is not entitled or privileged. That's a baseline of transactions.
- Ok, fine. But this is not what people are really complaining about and you know it. I am a cheap ass, I'll admit it. But I'm not that cheap.
Yeah, while I have no problem with people who just ran extra lines to their neighbours so they could get free cable, there's an unsaid but obvious "of course the cable company understandably doesn't approve and will shut that down if they can find out it's happening and might even go after the others for back subscriptions".

Corporate overreach sucks but this is not an example of that. My position on this is being surprised they allowed it for so long and confused as to how people justify their outrage about it.
- Because you have to buy the 4x plan in order to enjoy features like UHD. As it is digital there is absolutely no reason, why they couldn't bundle it so there is a standard and premium plan available both for family access or just for single access.
  
  This is like McDonalds only serving you drinks if you buy at least two meals, but forbidding you to give away the second meal.

I did rolled over to reach my phone to unsubscribe. Next thing i know, i'm socializing. Best weeks in years.

This is the generation of adults who, when younger, were likely candidates to have been in the pic of Steam where everyone was "boycotting" mw2 but also like 80% of them were playing it anyway. They just grew up and got their own netflix accounts lol

The gaming industry has seen this sentiment of "I'm going to get you with my wallet, billion dollar corporation!" for decades now and it falls flat every. single. time. No commentary on whether that's good or bad, just an observation I'm sure most of us have made who have been around long enough.

Given how unbelievably self righteous Netflix's users were about this, and the colossal amount of whingeing, I'm actually glad it didn't work.