Netflix says people just kind of rolled over and accepted the password sharing crackdown
Netflix subscriptions are up almost 6 million this quarter, suggesting we're all just too exhausted to fight this stuff
https://www.avclub.com/netflix-says-people-just-kind-of-rolled-over-and-accept-1850657631Open linkView original on lemmy.world271
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Canceled my 4 screen plan right after this was announced... So not in my experience
Same here, but it's disappointing to see how many people just let it go and pay when enough combined push back would work.
If it was up to me, I would have canceled a while ago. My wife, and my mom who shared my plan will be fine coughing up the extra few dollars a month to keep it. I think forums like this get a skewed world view since they’re populated by the kinds of people that would be fine setting up their own media server and just pirating what they want, or just churning services to binge watch what they want from each one every few months. I think Netflix(and other services) know that the average user is just going to keep going, even if the price continues to rise gradually over time.
The one thing that might tip the scales is people that set up their own media server and then share that with family and friends. I’ve got a few family members sharing my Plex, but I can also see that they don’t actually watch much. My niece seems to be the one person that will actually ask me to add content for her, so maybe it’s a generational thing where the people that have already used streaming services for a decade or more will keep going, but they’ll see a drop off of new users as they find something else.
Sure, and I canceled mine a couple years ago, but there are a ton of people who can’t be bothered with it and just pay
I don't see why. Half the shows I like just get canceled prematurely anyway.
And their revenue is still down and they had the worst day for their stock price ever when they announced this news. People are too tired and stressed out to fight a dying behemoth that used to be good like we're living in a Dark Souls game or something.
Cancelled and three users who used my password didn’t sign up. Doubt Netflix would announce this was a failure so here we are.
I had the opposite experience. I canceled and then my moochers signed up for their own.
Did they decide to share their passwords with you?
I'm sure they would if I asked. I could probably even guess it as the sharing was already both ways with other services.
We would still be in the same problem with Netflix blocking other locations though.
This was where Netflix planned to make their money back from folks that cancel. I'm sure they ran the numbers and arrived at the "more money" answer when they enforce sharing crackdown.
too tired? from what im seeing the vast majority of people just don't care. they are fine with thier internet becoming more expensive and handing everything to these companies. most simply think this is the only option.
I mean, that sounds exactly like tired/defeated thinking to me. Frustrating to see it play out, tho.
From my experience, brother in law hates it. Wants to cancel but the kids (2 preteens) watch it a lot and he just doesn't want to use something new that he has to relearn to be comfortable leaving them alone with.
Fair, exhausted parents trying to buy a moment of peace has been a cornerstone of American capitalism since RCA used Howdy Doody to sell television sets
Well I mean The Witcher season 3 came out. yeah it went up.
They're kidding themselves if I'm keeping it after. Again.
You should've just pirated it.
Not even worth pirating.
oof
For me, it was I Think You Should Leave's new season that got me to sign up for a month to binge that repeatedly. After we finish the documentary on Homo naledi we've been watching, we'll cancel Netflix and start Max for a month so we can watch the new season of Righteous Gemstones.
An uptick after these changes make sense. People want to continue their comfortable routines. However now that it's draining their wallet, they will probably be on the lookout for cheap/free alternatives.
It's the same with increasing prices. Short term your revenue will spike, but it will bleed as you slowly lose customers because you offer less value.
But the people who were previously paying is where Netflix is playing with fire. They released the customers who were paying only because they were sharing it and didnt want to cause an inconvenience.
I think it's a pretty big gamble by Netflix, it will take time to see how it played out.
I did that for years. Checked usage and found out the other couple people I was sharing with weren't using it anyways.
Cancelled after 10 years.
Sure they might have gained a few subscribers short term, but are they the type to just let the sub roll for a decade straight or will they just watch what they want and cancel until they can re-sub and binge again?
I wasn't sharing my password with anyone but the complete 180 they did on their own policy to chase dollars pissed me off so I cancelled. Been a subscriber since the first year they came out. Oh well.
Gotta edge a bit closer to that trust thermocline. I feel like it's pretty much guaranteed for at least one of the major streaming services to all but collapse in the next 5 years. There's just too many and something will happen to push people into leaving them.
Well yeah, what did you expect people to do?
It's either be treated with dignity as a consumer or watch an unfinished series.
Obviously you'd pick the unfinished series.
Yep, I rolled over and setup a vpn at home so now all my family members can watch Netflix from my home *wink *wink
I rolled over and realized nobody in the house actually watched much of anything on Netflix, and cancelled it. Hardly noticed the difference in three months since dropping it.
That sounds very familiar over our way too.
I cancelled mine and I didn't share with anyone. I'm tired of the crap from these companies. Quite liberating to hit the high seas.
My in laws canceled when we pointed out that this had happened, I think a lot less people know about it than you’d think
How can we honestly know yet? How many people just got a free trial and might stop right after or a month or so later after they decide they don't want to pay.
I also think it will take more than one month to understand the data. For example, my wife and I cancelled our Netflix subscription months or maybe even years ago at this point. We now just subscribe to one service at a time. This month, we happened to renew our Netflix subscription, so we absolutely get counted in the numbers Netflix is reporting right now, even though we canceled the new monthly subscription pretty much immediately after we signed back up.
Yeah, and the same reason I believe all these micro subscriptions in cars will just go ahead. In 5-10 years, half of the functions of the car will be locked behind subscription gates and it will be normal. Too many people jsut don't bloody care.
Indeed. Here's your $50,000 car that casts $1000 a month to operate on top of fuel and maintenance. So really it is a $100,000 car that you put 50k down on and pay off on the installment plan. We are in the enshittification stage of this version of capitalism. We cling to the myth that the system makes our lives better, it did for a long time if you lived in the developed world, but that dynamic has played out. Now we are in the phase where 'growth' is mainly found by enshittification.
I mean you're right, but it's so fucking exhausting to care about everything wrong in the world. Gotta pick your battles. Personally I have a semi-decent Jellyfin setup, but I'm not going to berate anyone for taking on a netflix sub if the momentary distraction helps get them thru another day in this dystopian hellworld.
Some things they don't care about -- e.g. Reddit, Twitter stuff -- and some things they just don't feel like they can affect. If they're buying a new car, and every single car in their region and in their price range is selling subscriptions, then they're going to feel like they have no choice.
Now, they do likely have choices -- they could buy a used car, or they could look outside their immediate region -- but those options may not address their pain points (maybe they really, really wanted a new car), or maybe they can't afford the time to travel, etc., but the fact that less convenient choices exist don't necessarily make people aware of them, or feel like they're real options.
When every company you interact with, and every transaction you make, is like this, it takes up all of your spoons for dealing with this stuff. It wears down your resistance, and makes it feel like it doesn't matter what you want, just what's being offered.
Yeah, I mean, look at phones. People could just buy used phones. Some do. But the vast majority?
Most typical users on Reddit didn't understand why the API was such a big deal.
To them, Reddit was the official app that curated a set of posts to scroll through. It was designed to be easy, and the experience was easy.
Or they just want to watching something on their television after work and have other priorities other than some "war against Netflix" that a couple corners of the internet are angry about?
While that's true it's also true in 1776 most Americans couldn't be arsed to push back against the king, it only takes a relatively small portion to care a lot and to order a better alternative then when the ball is rolling everyone will jump on
We who care are a tiny minority.
My wife was all "ok."
For my part, Netflix is way less objectionable than Disney. Not that my family doesn't subscribe to that too. 🙄
I haven't been cracked down on yet. I feel left out. I'm on the east coast and my friend's kids on the west coast use it.
Enough people want to watch Netflix, even if they have to pay for it.
Experiences may vary.
I was so upset about Santa Clarita Diet. That one and leaving Travellers on the biggest cliffhanger I could ever imagine with time travel and shit and then... just gone.
The second they crack down on me I will cancel and set up a PLEX server and just download anything I need. Not that I use it much anyways YouTube is my primary source of video content.
I've been looking into the same and goharddrive.com sells used enterprise HDDs for under $9/TB so that's my plan.
Then why wait and reward this hero that inevitably and predictably turned villain?
I cancelled the minute they announced and I don't miss it one bit, got to watch Wednesday just like everyone else and picked up HBO.
My Netflix is bundled with my phone plan. A family phone plan with households in 2 states. I effectively lost my Netflix access. I'm in the process of setting up a plex type server.
Complacent would be the nicer way of putting it but yea I know what you mean
They pulled a "this is my life now" and carried on. In other words: Users got screwed, Netflix LMAO'ed at em.
The recourse is cancelling it. There is nothing on Netflix that most people would seriously miss having access to.
Honestly, I can't see this lasting for Netflix. I think their subscriber numbers have peaked and will start to decline when people realize how crappy their catalog is.
That's exactly why they did it in the first place
I sure didn't: I'd been a loyal customer since the DVD days but this was the final straw. I cancelled as soon as it was announced and will not ever be renewing. Netflix jumped the shark and is dead to me.
I hate subscriptions. Too damn easy to forget about. I’ve started subscribing for the shortest period possible and immediately canceling. Sometimes I’ll renew, but generally I just try to get as much as I can out of it in a short period then let it expire
HBO + Apple TV+ are the only ones I pay for. More than enough for me. Pluto/Tubi/Adult Swim marathon streams handle the rest lol
I write the end of subscription trials on my calendar so I don't forget to cancel them.
I know I'm extrapolating this news too far but every time I see news like this it adds on to the reasons why I think this country will never have the will for a general strike. I don't blame the populace, I just think corporations have decimated our collective belief in majority power so badly that we can't even go without the latest season of "Is It Cake?" For a couple months to set even a tiny boundary.
I think the crackdown is on certain types of devices and in phases. The first devices locked out were my android/google TV devices. A few weeks later, my xbox was locked out. My android phone still works, but can't cast to the TV now. Apple TV and ipad still work. Need to try the PC.
Sounds like they making shit up lmao
These guys ever think the new customers just signed up for the free month and plan to drop the service at the end of the trial?
I dropped them but they kept billing me anyway. Finally got it cancelled last month (hopefully).
I rolled back to stremio.io
I honestly think that they were kind of right to go after password sharing. In the end, it is all about how expensive you want your service to be. It's up to the user decide if it is too expensive or not. Of course I cancelled, but hey, if most if the people were OK to pay more than good for Netflix
I don't get what's controversial about Netflix making sure their customers keep their promises.
The good thing about Netflix is that they don't lock you in for 12-24 months. So you're free to cancel whenever you want. Compare that to the agreement you have with your internet provider.
With that said, you who cancelled Netflix because of this change, what streaming service did you move to that didn't enforce on account per household?
Netflix sold me a 4 screens shareable account. They then broke their promise and removed the shareable part. WTF are you talking about, or was that simply sarcasm?
If you read the agreement you agreed ro it clearly says they are allowed to change the terms and you are free to cancel the subscription.
They didn't break any promises.
You can choose not to pay any time.
We replaced Netflix with nothing. The loss has made no discernable negative impact on our lives.
I just use stremio now
Ok. Then you probably didn't need Netflix anyways?
Need? As in require? Does anybody?
As I understood it you cancelled Netflix and didn't sign up for a substitute.
That's correct. My point was that Netflix is now a low quality overpriced non-essential product. Why not just cut it without adding yet another subscription to your life?
Nobody needs Netflix.
No streaming service has a "on[e] account per household" rule so I'm not really sure what you mean. Are you saying "what streaming service allows password sharing?" The answer is all of them except Netflix and Apple sort of (Apple cleverly tied it to having an Apple ID so credit where credit is due. It's just too difficult to password share outside your family. But in theory you can).
I didn't cancel netflix, but I didn't bother to make my own account when I got booted from my parents' account. Because Netflix doesn't make enough good stuff to justify it anymore and they cancel everything too quickly. I'm actually happier paying for Apple TV+ or whatever it's called because the price is good and the content is like nothing I've ever seen half the time. I can just browse PlutoTV and/or Tubi and I've got 90% of the quality I see at Netflix for $free.99.
This is a tad dramatic, we don't have a moral obligation to netflix. Account holders agreed to terms and to make it sound so important as a personal promise is a bit much. Either way, you're totally right, Netflix is within their rights to boot people. I think most people get that. But they also allowed the status quo for 16 years, so this is their fault. They set an expectation and created a sharing culture that almost, quite literally, crosses generations. They wanted to be in more homes faster and that was the cost. Then they're surprised when they say "hey it's over" and people are vocalizing their displeasure? Again, it's their right, but what did they (or you) expect to happen?
Either way it doesn't matter. If their balance sheet works it works. I just can't quite see why you're riding in defense of Netflix.
Yeah they’re allowed to but we get to be mad at them and factor that anger into our decisions regarding their product. Few if any people are saying that this behavior should be illegal, we’re saying it’s frustrating how few people are taking that anger into action
"...but I didn't bother to make my own account when I got booted from my parents' account. Because Netflix doesn't make enough good stuff to justify it anymore and they cancel everything too quickly."
So you actually don't care about Netflix enforcing the agreement since you don't care about Netflix.
I agree on Netflix not making much good stuff. A lot of the Netflix movies people are praising today would never have passed the pre production phase in the 90's or 00's. It just seems like there has been a general decline in quality the last 10 years and people had just gotten used to it and get happy for whatever is better than the latest upcoming remake/sequel.
I also agree about Apple producing quality. In my opinion they're the only streaming service that doesn't fill their catalogue with bullshit just to look bigger.
All other services not requiring one account per household is simply not true. Netflix is probably the only service actively stating that account sharing is okay. For example, Disney Plus terms states that you are not allowed to share your credentials to a 3rd party.
The reason that some services are more lenient on this issue is that they are still focusing on gaining market shares. Next phase is starting to focus on how to getting profitable.
Netflix might be the first one cracking down on this but they are definitively not the last one doing that.
If the streaming services don't make sure it's enforced the copyright holders will.
Why does that matter? Don't discount my opinion simply because I don't care enough about netflix's content to pay for it. Nothing I've said hinges on that.
Netflix said the same things in its terms for 16 years. Would you have said "netflix doesn't allow account sharing"? Because that's a pretty ridiculous claim when functionally they did and everyone else does. I currently only pay for HBO, yet I'm on Prime, Hulu, and Disney+. Terms or not, we know what the reality is. So let's not hide behind faux-legalese and arguments even you don't believe man.
They aren't lenient, they literally don't enforce it. And it's not just "some," it's all but Netflix and Apple* (as explained above). Because functionally it's allowed.
No doubt about it, but not sure its relevance.
This sounds highly speculative.
Edit: I'm also not sure you really answered the "one account per household" thing. You are very precious about the ToS (or "promise" as you call it) so I'm curious what you meant by this.
The reason I chose the word "promise" is because people often, especially in discussions regarding Netflix latest nice, tend to forget/ don't understand what it means when you sign an agreement.
I personally don't care if people get angry if Netflix hold them liable to the agreement they signed out if they get angry after getting a parking fine.
Regarding the ToS, do you mean that Netflix never made a change in the terms regarding sharing account before enforcing the new stuff or do you agree that the terms now regulate who you can and who you can't share your account with?
So what do you think is the reason why people are mad at Netflix? Is it because Netflix didn't stop some customers from not following the agreement earlier or is it because the customers can't continue to not following the agreement?
Dude I have explained it so many times. I'm done lol
American phone and internet prices are crazy, they're six times what I pay in the UK and come with so many bullshit fees and lock in clauses. Netflix being better than the worst of the worst doesn't mean it's not still shitty.
But yeah I do kinda agree, it's a company giving you a choice to buy their shitty product for a high price - just say no and get your entertainment elsewhere, they make shit write-by-numbers time fillers no one actually needs it in their life. It's the telecoms and other essential services we should be mad at, and by mad at I mean nationalising and open sourcing
I have never claimed that Netflix is a good company or that they offer a good product.
All I'm saying it's that Netflix are free to change the terms and the customers are free to stop paying if they don't like the terms.
I setup Jellyfin last night 😎
Then you're not in the target group for Netflix. (Neither am I since I never stopped using my Kodi setup).
Piracy was the only thing that brought us Spotify, Netflix and affordable games on PC.
Jesus if people can't even be bothered to simply stop paying for a subscription then we will be truly fucked when something happens that actually matters
This is why the reddit boycott was destined to never work
So you are saying if people can't do something about problems that don't really matter to them, that implies they aren't going to do anything about problems that matter to them?