r/technology • u/speckz • Feb 06 '23
Netflix’s Unnecessary Password Crackdown Is Already A Hot Mess Business
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/02/06/netflixs-unnecessary-password-crackdown-is-already-a-hot-mess/37
u/hanlonsaxe Feb 06 '23
Cancel anyway. Let's force them to lure us back with good deals and good content again.
There are too many other legitimate options to choose from, without even getting in to piracy.
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u/atx00 Feb 07 '23
"A friend of a friend" just canceled Netflix because the content isn't worth the price. If there is any Netflix content they want to watch, they fire up the VPN and just download it. Fuck Netflix.
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u/ArmsForPeace84 Feb 07 '23
I just put Pluto TV on one of the channels devoted to MST3K, Top Gear, TNG, DS9, '80s music videos. '70s movies, '80s movies, or '90s movies.
Ad breaks are infrequent and short, compared to normal TV, and don't need to be skipped like YouTube's sometimes feature-length infomercials. Tiers don't exist, you don't even need to set up an account.
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u/dankdooker Feb 07 '23
Since a lot of the major studios took their balls and went home (pulled their content from Netflix to put on their own streaming service). Netflix has failed to keep up "Netflix Original" content (most of "Netflix Original" is just rebranded "Netflix Original" and older shows from other studios). They are about to go the way of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, because they haven't adapted quickly enough. They did once successfully adapt from an online mail dvd rental business model to a streaming mega-giant, but they just don't have enough content and they are starting to plug their holes on a rapidly sinking ship that will probably go extinct in the next few years. It'll be a great nostalgic look back, thinking about Netflix.
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u/anoldradical Feb 07 '23
It's the dumbest thing ever.
Netflix- We need you to login every 30 days.
Me- I made that password 12 years ago. Idek what it is.
Netflix- Well you can reset it.
Me- Nah just keep me logged in.
Netflix- But...if you don't, we'll have to cancel you.
Me- That's the thing, no you don't. You're choosing to cancel someone who's literally given you access to their bank account for over a decade.
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u/tsukiyaki1 Feb 06 '23
We gotta all agree on this. When Netflix does make this happen finally we gotta cancel our subscriptions. It’s the only way the consumer can have a voice
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u/Dudeist-Priest Feb 06 '23 edited Feb 06 '23
I pay by number of screens in use. I have two kids in college and a MIL that use my account. I also travel for work and sign in on new TVs all the time. If they think I am paying for 4 accounts, they will very quickly find it turn to 0.
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u/Wise_Ad_4816 Feb 06 '23
Exactly this. Two kids in college in different states. They can kiss my ass for $3 each. The first time I need an authorization code my account is cancelled. I'm not fucking around.
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u/PubstarHero Feb 07 '23
Leaked NA rates were $7/mo, not $3.
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u/musofiko Feb 07 '23
I cancelled over the sharing policy even if they back tracked slightly, back to pirating atleast there corporate greed won't invade.
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Feb 06 '23
They tested this in Latin America and it didn't backfire, right? And that's why they decided to roll it out in the US? I wonder if that's because:
- Netflix is better in pretty much every country than US
- Most other countries have more adult families still living together in the same household and thus wouldn't be impacted by this change
To point #1, if this were 10 years ago, I would absolutely just pay the added fee. Wouldn't even question it. Would've never even conceived of going without Netflix. Today I only still have it because I can share it with my brother...and to point #2, my brother lives halfway across the country. Having to login from his house once a month is not feasible.
I genuinely don't think they realized just how overwhelming the backlash would be to this change, or that most people don't really care about Netflix anymore.
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u/ProblematicFeet Feb 07 '23
Omg this is a real life example of a job I once heard of!!! It was literally a job committed to helping corporations roll out their “campaigns” in different countries. They helped the corporation abide by/take into consideration whatever cultural rules, both spoken and unspoken.
So in the Netflix scenario, it would have been that person’s job to point out that the password changes might need to be reorganized differently, based on the differences in lifestyle between the U.S. and other countries.
Other examples are things like translations… when a slogan or brand name doesn’t translate appropriately from one language to the next
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u/taptapper Feb 07 '23
They even said a child living between two parent's households "would be a problem". Fuckers
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u/Original-Cow-2984 Feb 06 '23
I wonder what their human/hardware/software costs of policing/enforcement are going to be, aside from subscription loss?
Seems to me this is a loser's game they're playing.
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u/compstomp66 Feb 07 '23 edited Feb 07 '23
Not much, they’re not the only ones doing it, eventually most or all streaming services will be doing the same
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u/R_Meyer1 Feb 07 '23
Oh, really because nobody has announced it yet besides Netflix
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u/Zebo91 Feb 07 '23
If Netflix sees succuss they will do it. The other option is all streamers price fix via ceackdown
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u/fallen_one_fs Feb 07 '23
Password sharing crackdown expectation: less people sharing, more people paying
Password sharing crackdown reality: mass exodus
It's not like they weren't warned or anything... No, wait...
Dumbasses. For the second time ever, I hope really hard that this company fails and dies a horrible death and everyone single person linked to it go destitute, and with extreme prejudice. Maybe this will make the message clear: there isn't and can never exist infinite profit growth.
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u/Waaatson54 Feb 07 '23
This is only going to help other streamers. I pay for Netflix while my son's mom pays for Hulu. We don't live near each other so once Netflix starts putting in the passcode rule by zip code, I'm just going to start help paying for Hulu and upgrade the entire package with the savings.
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u/ripbingers Feb 07 '23
What happens in my situation?
I travel a lot for work and either watch Netflix on my laptop or the hotel TV if it is a smart TV. Meanwhile my wife or kids will be at home watching on their profiles.
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u/EternalDad Feb 07 '23
Sounds like you need a second account. Think you can just share your password around like that to your immediate family? That's crazy!
/s
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u/serene_moth Feb 07 '23
this is the type of vision you can expect from a company with co-CEOs and a toxic culture
best of luck on the way down, Netflix
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u/V0nzell Feb 07 '23
The expected infinite growth aspect of stock is what kills companies that can sail along with a modest profit.
"To be clear, I still think Netflix has value at its current monthly rate, and many people who complain about the new rate hikes are lazy and likely won’t cancel. On the flip side, this move remains the latest signal from the company that it’s done with being innovative and disruptive and has, as publicly traded companies usually do, shifted toward nickel-and-diming and turf protection as it attempts to fend off competitors."
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u/Elegant_Pressure_984 Feb 07 '23
Something being sold as a 4-screen package being rebranded as an “up-to-4-screens-per-physical-address package” and saying “no more sharing inside your family” is reinventing the cable TV package my parents had 15 years ago, with the premise that there’s an actual cable. I don’t think we will be paying 40€ a month to cover both my and my partner’s apartment and I don’t see why I should have to, really. We’d only ever have 2 streams going at the same time.
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u/jadams2345 Feb 07 '23
I can wait for them to make me cancel. I just said a nice “fuck you” to a certain ISP who likes to increase subscription prices without prior warning.
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u/SparkStormrider Feb 07 '23
I was reading another article where Netflix execs is bracing for huge amount of account terminations over the password crackdown. They are hoping that people will forget this after a period of time and come back. I've stopped being a customer years ago due to some of their shitty ways.
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u/dankdooker Feb 07 '23
I solved this problem by cancelling my Netflix. When all the news started coming out about Netflix crackdowns and rate increases with a chance to downgrade to a plan that includes commercials for a reduced rate, it made me wonder how much I actually watched Netflix. I went to my viewing history and saw that I barely watched it and what I did watch was crappy. So I flat out cancelled. I believe Netflix is running on fumes and they will go the way of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video soon. They did adapt from a successful all DVD rental mailing business to a online streaming mega-giant, but they are rapidly losing studios content and failing to keep up with their own "Netflix Original" content (most of which is not Netflix Original, as it's just rebranded older shows).
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u/JeffDurden Feb 08 '23
I haven’t paid for Netflix, hbo, Apple TV, Hulu, you name it, in years. Setup your own media server (Plex or jellyfin to name the most popular) and steal as many movies and tv shows as you can. I support piracy, I don’t care, steal it all.
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u/whatistheformat Feb 06 '23
Or hundreds of thousands of cancellations. The more expensive Netflix gets, the larger the pool of alternatives becomes.