Chengyi Long: Last News

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix is trying a new way to get paid by password-borrowing freeloaders.The company is rolling out an option in five Latin American countries under which customers can enable access from an additional home legitimately, for an extra monthly fee.Starting next month, Netflix will launch an “add a home” feature in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. That will add the ability for anyone in each additional home to stream Netflix on any device, at a price lower than a full standalone membership.That comes after the streamer in March rolled out an “add extra member” feature in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, which lets customers pay a monthly fee to let individuals outside their households access Netflix.

to crack down on rampant password sharing, the California-based streaming giant unveiled plans to charge primary account holders extra for users outside their households.“For the last year, we’ve been working on ways to enable members who share outside their household to do so easily and securely, while also paying a bit more,” Chengyi Long, Netflix’s director of product innovation, wrote in a blog post.The streamer had previously ignored extra-familial account sharing despite banning the rampant practice (sharing among those who live in the same household is still permitted). However, they decided to make a change after deeming that “impacted our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”Now, the company is testing a new feature in Chile, Peru and Costa Rica that allows Standard and Premium plan holders “to add sub-accounts for up to two people they don’t live with — each with their own profile, personalized recommendations, login and password,” per the site.

Netflix is once again going to try and crack down on password-sharing.

Netflix is testing an extra fee for subscribers to share their login credentials outside of their own households.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix will soon launch a test letting primary account holders pay an additional fee for users outside their households — a new attempt by the company to address illicit password-sharing.According to the Netflix terms of service, a customer’s account “may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.” Last year, the company ran a limited test prompting users to enter their account credentials, as a way to nudge freeloaders into paying for their own accounts.Now, in an upcoming test launching in three countries — Chile, Costa Rica and Peru — Netflix will let members who share their accounts with people outside their household to do so “easily and securely, while also paying a bit more,” according to Chengyi Long, director of product innovation at Netflix. The new options will roll out in the next few weeks in the three countries (and may or may not expand beyond those markets).