Hey Netflix, Here's an Easy Fix to the Password-Sharing Mess

Commentary: Netflix's new policy of charging fees for sharing accounts has caused a stir. To make peace with customers, it should offer a new subscription plan.
February 18, 2023 by
Hey Netflix, Here's an Easy Fix to the Password-Sharing Mess
Nicholas Kimole
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Your mom lives in Ohio and you're in New York but you share a Netflix account. The same is true for the family whose kids are in college and for the couple living apart while one's stationed on a military base overseas. 

I see your stories. I feel you because I've been in the same boat.

People are not happy about Netflix's move to start charging members extra fees to share accounts. The company's been called out for a 5-year-old tweet: "Love is sharing a password."



Even the card game Uno joined the Twitter roast to point out the about-face. Swarms of vocal Netflix subscribers are venting on social media -- Netflix's comment sections are really feeling the burn -- and vowing to cancel their accounts and questioning why they're paying for multiple screens.

Netflix has dubbed viewers outside of the primary household as extra members, or subaccounts. In Canada, where the prices are $16.50 for a standard plan and $21 for premium, the cost of adding an extra member is $8 per person. If a single streaming service costing $30 a month to stream on two or four screens sounds like a lot to you, I agree.

In the US, we still don't know how much it'll cost each month for extra members. When Netflix finally decides to tell us, I think it should also announce a couple of smart discounts.

Netflix needs a cheaper plan for students
Among those who are unhappy about the new policy are parents and their college kids. If Netflix insists on charging for password sharing, I think it should offer a no-frills student subscription.

College kids love to stream, and they're often doing it on their parents' accounts. Not as freeloaders, but as members of the household -- even if their school is five states away. When we drop our 17- or 18-year-olds off at college, I bet no one is saying, "Time for me to kick you off Netflix, ya mooch."

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Hey Netflix, Here's an Easy Fix to the Password-Sharing Mess
Nicholas Kimole February 18, 2023
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