Netflix crackdown on password sharing to begin soon

Netflix's long promised crackdown on password sharing will begin in the coming months, the firm says.

The plan means members who want to share accounts with people outside of their household will face an extra fee.

The move, aimed at boosting subscribers, has been trialled in some countries but not yet rolled out in the UK or US.

It comes as the company announced it would shut down the DVD rental service that launched the firm 25 years ago.

Netflix has been on the hunt for ways to re-ignite growth, which has slowed sharply as competition heats up, households grapple with rising costs and it reaches what analysts see as saturation point in some of its biggest markets.

It shed more than one million subscribers in the first six months of 2022.

Though it more than made up those losses later in the year, helped by subscriber gains in Asia, the decline jolted the firm to make changes.

The company introduced a less expensive streaming option with advertisements last year and cut prices in 116 countries in the three months to March in an effort to entice more people to sign-up for its service.

It had also been preparing for a wide expansion of its paid sharing programme, which it started trialling in some countries last year, adding more in February.

In a letter to investors on Tuesday, Netflix said it would introduce paid sharing widely, including in the US, by July - a few months later than expected, as it tweaks the offering in response to feedback, like making sure users can access their accounts easily while travelling.

The company declined to confirm when UK users should expect to see changes, but noted that the vast majority of its big markets would be included in the next phase of the rollout.

:story: BBC News