Netflix has officially made password sharing between customers in different Canadian homes illegal.
Earlier this month, the US streaming giant offered its Canadian members until Tuesday, February 21, 2023 — today — to designate main locations for their accounts.
According to Netflix, any device that attempts to access an account from outside of this approved location, as determined by characteristics such as IP address and online behaviour, will be unable to do so beginning tomorrow (with a few exceptions).
In other words, unless your kind donor is ready to throw on an extra $7.99 per month, per user, the free ride is over for Canucks who’ve long been leeching off their parents, friends, ex-lovers, siblings, bosses, or anybody else hasn’t updated their Netflix password since that one time.
Just the two most costly Netflix plans offered in Canada allow for the installation of an additional user, and there can only be two: Standard ($16.49 per month) and Premium ($20.99 per month).
Netflix has not disclosed how many accounts in Canada were used by multiple homes prior to the announcement of its new “features,” but Canadians appear unwilling to change their habits.
Several people have committed to abandon the service rather than pay more money for new users or advise their loved ones to obtain their own accounts.
It remains to be seen how much of this affects the company’s Canadian user base, but we’re sure to see more complaints on the web on Wednesday when the crackdown begins in earnest.
