SHARING your Netflix password could make you a criminal.
A UK government agency has revealed that dishing out your account details to people outside your household is “breaking the law” in shock new guidance.
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Doing so could be a breach of copyright law, the IPO said as part of a counterfeit and piracy campaign with Facebook owner Meta.
It’s estimated that millions of Netflix accounts are shared across the globe in a bid to save money.
The streaming giant famously tweeted that “love is sharing a password” in 2017.
Today is a different picture, as the firm bans the practice and looks to charge extra fees to anyone caught doing it.
People also do it with other platforms like Disney+ and Amazon Prime.
The IPO initially released advice, saying: “Pasting internet images into your social media, password sharing on streaming services and accessing the latest films, tv series or live sports events through kodi boxes, fire sticks or Apps without paying a subscription all break copyright law.
“Not only are you breaking the law but stopping someone earning a living from their hard work.”
But it has now mysteriously changed the site, removing all references to password sharing.
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An earlier statement issued to Torrent Freak said: “There are a range of provisions in criminal and civil law which may be applicable in the case of password sharing where the intent is to allow a user to access copyright protected works without payment.
“These provisions may include breach of contractual terms, fraud or secondary copyright infringement depending on the circumstances.”
Netflix has vowed to crackdown on password sharing in early 2023.
It means anyone who shares their Netflix logins beyond their household will be charged an added monthly fee.
You can still have Netflix on multiple screens in your own home.
But anyone who gives their login to people in other households will have to pay an additional charge.
It’s unclear how much the fee will be, and there’s still no exact start date.
Netflix previously estimated that as many as 100million homes were sharing subscriptions – just under half of its total membership base.
The company recently launched its cheap new ad-supported subscription plan, would costs just $6.99/£4.99 per month.
It offers most of the features of its Basic plan but with a few small differences.
Customers will only be able to stream at 720p HD resolution on up to one device at a time.
An average of four to five minutes of video adverts will play per hour.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
