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Piracy Movies Television The Almighty Buck The Internet Entertainment

Netflix May Be Losing $192 Million Per Month From Piracy, Study Claims (techcrunch.com) 252

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: As many as 1 in 5 people today are mooching off of someone else's account when streaming video from Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Video, according to a new study from CordCutting.com. Of these, Netflix tends to be pirated for the longest period -- 26 months, compared with 16 months for Amazon Prime Video or 11 months for Hulu. That could be because Netflix freeloaders often mooch off their family instead of a friend -- 48 percent use their parents' login, while another 14 percent use their sister or brother's credentials, the firm found. At a base price of $7.99 per month (the study was performed before Netflix's January 2019 price increase), freeloading users could save $207.74 over a 26-month period. At scale, these losses can add up, the study claims.

The report estimates Netflix could be losing $192 million in monthly revenue from piracy -- more than either Amazon or Hulu, at $45 million per month and $40 million per month, respectively. Millennials, not surprisingly, account for much of the freeloading. They're the largest demographic pirating Netflix (18 percent) and Hulu's service (20 percent). But oddly, it was Baby Boomers who were more likely to borrow someone else's account to access Amazon Prime Video. According to the study, 59.3 percent said they would pay for Netflix (or around 14 million people), contributing at least $112 million in monthly revenue, if they lost access. And 37.8 percent, or 2 million, said they'd pay for Hulu; 27.6 percent, or 1 million people, said they'd pay for Prime Video.

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Netflix May Be Losing $192 Million Per Month From Piracy, Study Claims

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  • Again this rubish? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LavouraArcaica ( 2012798 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:03AM (#58193104)

    Again this bulshit-study where it is assumed that every pirated-material would be purchased if piracy wouldn't be on the table?

    That's so 90's...

    • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:07AM (#58193122)

      In addition to that, by what bullshit definition is watching something owned by a friend or family member considered piracy?

      I agree, this study is utter rubbish.

      • The friend doesn't own the content, he merely has a subscription to stream it. And I bet the terms & conditions have something to say about when and where sharing that stream is allowed; generally that only includes members of one household, or a limited number of devices. That's not an unreasonable limitation.
        • by Andtalath ( 1074376 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:38AM (#58193290)

          1-4 number of screens at the same time, depending on how much you pay (you also get higher res the more you pay).
          At least in Sweden.

          They are supposed to be used in the same household though, which is the thing which is generally seen as mooching when families whom have moved apart still use only one login.

          • 1-4 number of screens at the same time, depending on how much you pay (you also get higher res the more you pay). At least in Sweden.

            They are supposed to be used in the same household though, which is the thing which is generally seen as mooching when families whom have moved apart still use only one login.

            Fair enough. The choice for the consumer is to lower their costs by dropping to fewer screens and letting the family member get their own subscription. Philosophically, I see no differences between buying access to multiple streams and viewing them at home, my beach house, private jet and or in my mom's basement. You have paid for x quantity to use as you say fit; although the T&C's may disagree. They could limit them based on IP address but that will cause other issues, such as I may stream on from my

          • This approach seems to work will for iTunes: five registered devices.

            That covers my laptop, phone, desktop, tablet and one for extra.

          • Comment removed based on user account deletion
          • by orient ( 535927 )
            There was no mention about the same household or the same physical address. I have been sharing a 4 stream subscription with my mom and my in-laws (although we're on separate continents) for abut two years now and Netflix didn't seem to be bothered by this.
        • by Anonymous Coward

          What about people with multiple homes? I pay for my childrenâ(TM)s education. As far as I am concerned I have a house, a dorm room, and an apartment.

        • by Oswald McWeany ( 2428506 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @10:05AM (#58193660)

          The friend doesn't own the content, he merely has a subscription to stream it. And I bet the terms & conditions have something to say about when and where sharing that stream is allowed; generally that only includes members of one household, or a limited number of devices. That's not an unreasonable limitation.

          I can see both sides of this.

          I mean, in the old days of VHS, if I leant my friend my VHS cassette, you would be hard pressed to say that he was "stealing the content."

          On the other hand, some people stream Netflix for free because they can; some would probably pay for subscription, others probably wouldn't. My wife lets her mother watch Netflix on our account, her mother is well off and probably wouldn't think twice about paying for her own subscription if she couldn't use ours for free.

          It is a grey area, and anyone who says it is "definitely piracy" or "definitely not piracy" is over simplifying. No one would say that a parent couldn't let their child use their account. What about when they're at a friend's house; or off to college... where do you draw the line.

          Overall, I see this as not an issue for the courts but an issue for Netflix themselves. They already limit lines. We get two, so, if we're watching and the mother in law is watching no one else can. Netflix makes you pay for lines, so they can restrict you from going crazy and sharing with everyone you know. They might in the future use a technical solution to fix this.

          "2 lines at a time" - but only if being channeled through the same router. They can cut off the grey area by policing it better themselves... but will customers be OK with that?

          • It's really not much of a grey area. You can lend Steam games to people similar to how you would lend a VHS. But for example Steam will not allow 8 people in 8 different countries to log into the same account at the same time. The people who are "borrowing a friends" Netflix account are using it concurrently.

      • As an O.G. Pirate I welcome this redefinition of piracy :-)

        • by lgw ( 121541 )

          Don't lie: you've never even been on a boat.

          • Actually I have been on a boat, with rum, in the Caribbean, but I'll admit that I was only thinking of "piracy" in the computing context :-P

      • by azcoyote ( 1101073 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @09:29AM (#58193486)
        Yeah, and if I remember correctly, Netflix actually encouraged sharing at least at one time, and simply set limits on simultaneous streams. So if Netflix has allowed it, then in no way can it be considered piracy.
    • by smooth wombat ( 796938 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:18AM (#58193190) Journal

      This is the same bullshit when people say New York lost 25,000 jobs because they didn't want to subsidize Amazon. The jobs were never created so nothing was lost.

      Just like these people would never have paid for the content so nothing is lost, right?

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        No! You don't understand! Netflix is a victim. A VICTIM!

        See, they used the word "Piracy". That means people are STEALING.
        Don't you understand? This is a CRIME!

        It's a CRIME. These people, who are basically watching a show over someone's shoulder, are CRIMINALS.

        Prosecute them! Take away their money! Make them pay!

        Or, you know, just scare them so about 20% will stop doing it out of some sort of latent fear of repercussion from some vague authority.

        • Netflix made 16 billion in profit last year. I wish that I could be "victimized" like that.

          • by Oswald McWeany ( 2428506 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @10:11AM (#58193686)

            Netflix made 16 billion in profit last year. I wish that I could be "victimized" like that.

            Playing devil's advocate; this is the feast before the famine.

            There are a lot of Netflix wannabes. Disney, CBS, BBC, etc, are all pulling a lot of content off of Netflix. Netflix is a veritable wasteland of well-known content compared to what it was even three years ago, and it's only going to get worse. They're having to make their own stuff to maintain content.

            I highly doubt Netflix are going to go under- but Netflix execs are probably looking at their cheques with concern- are their end of year bonuses going to be so well padded in 5 years from now? How are they ever going to be able to afford the bigger yacht if they lose half their marketshare in the upcoming years.

            Netflix is bathing in money right now, but, it is potentially facing a less rosy future. They're not going to become the next blockbusters and disappear, but they may not dominate the landscape in the near future either. They're looking for ways to scrape the barrel.

            • There are a lot of Netflix wannabes. Disney, CBS, BBC, etc, are all pulling a lot of content off of Netflix. Netflix is a veritable wasteland of well-known content compared to what it was even three years ago, and it's only going to get worse.

              This concerns me a lot. This was Netflix's biggest selling point: one stop shopping. Netflix and the other studios are going to poison the well by balkanizing video streaming. If I were Netflix, I'd focus on how to get content back before I worried about account sharing,

              Editorial node: I mostly blame the studios for this, not Netflix. Not being in the room though it's hard to say. It takes two to make a deal but either side can put a kabosh on it.

              • by kalpol ( 714519 )
                Their DVD service is still well worth it, at least until the studios kill it by refusing to release anything else on physical media, which day I am sure is coming soon.
          • Netflix made 16 billion in profit last year.

            Netflix made $16B in revenue in 2018.

            Net income was $1.2B.

    • That was my gut reaction, but, "The consumer survey defined mooching by asking users if they use a service they don’t pay for, then asked what they would or would not pay for themselves, if that access fell through."
      • by Junta ( 36770 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @09:43AM (#58193564)

        This is true and should be recognized.

        Of course self-reporting is likely to be incorrect:
        -When it's purely academic, you assume yes, but then you actually look at your budget or perhaps notice that Hulu is cheaper, maybe you don't get netfilx
        -A policy change to clamp down on moochers creates negative PR, souring people's opinion of netflix
        -There are probably some people that don't care about Netflix that much, but still pay for it because they have a friend/family member mooching and it's worth the small amount of money to not inconvenience that friend/family member. So there may be some losses of those not surveyed.

    • by Revek ( 133289 )

      If they aren't making that money, they are losing it. False premise that will never convince anyone but a half wit.

    • It's even more rubbish than that. Netflix actively supports family viewing. Both my kids and wife have profiles in our account and up to two of us can watch simultaneously. It's part of the Netflix package we have. If we needed more simultaneous views then there are packages for that as well. This is not piracy at all - it using the service we purchased from Netflix in a manner completely consistent with the terms of that service and which is supported by Netflix. Whoever wrote this article is an idiot.
      • by cob666 ( 656740 )
        Something the survey doesn't tell Netflix, the amount of lost revenue when people change their subscription or drop it altogether because Netflix reduced the number of concurrent streams allowed.
    • Also assuming that the account they are using is using more than the allowed concurrent streams.

      If a family is paying for a 2 or more concurrent streams, and the account isn't exceeding that in actual use, then there is no "loss". It's the customer getting what they pay for.

      • If a family is paying for a 2 or more concurrent streams, and the account isn't exceeding that in actual use, then there is no "loss". It's the customer getting what they pay for.

        If you pay for two concurrent streams, and don't use both of them all the time, then Netflix is ripping you off, right? Which is essentially the same logic as whoever did this idiot study used....

    • Yes, the calculation is retarded.
      Analogies:
      * Earth is losing giga-gigawatts of energy from lack of solar panels in the Sahara Desert
      * Humans are losing billions of children per second due to masturbation

    • People were doing it anyway. They just made it no longer a violation of ToS.

      I don't know how they internally rent shows and amortize the costs -- per view, or just rented for x months for a fixed cost. Even pay per account, unlimited views for that account after the one time internal charge.

      It would be completely wrong to think they don't have internal business models on how to pay for things that take sharing into account.

    • I 100% agree with this argument when it comes to piracy in general. If I copy your fire, you still have fire. But, in netflix's case, they have a more legitimate claim than others in that they have to pay for bandwidth. I think this is a special case where "piracy" could be shown to cause actual damages. Of course, the figure they released is unlikely to reflect bandwidth costs alone.

    • To be fair, the study is way better then I expect it to be.
      They could of just measured the number of times people downloaded Netflix owned episodes off of pirate sites and then multiplied that number by a years subscription to Netflix.

    • by v1 ( 525388 )

      they DO love to do that.

      The headline makes it look like money is being taken from them. What they really mean is they lost the opportunity to make money. It's like the difference between robbing a cabbie for $200 and letting the air our of his tires. One directly costs him money, the other prevents him from making it. Of course the cabbie can then argue any practical (or impractical I suppose?) amount "lost" for the day he was unable to work. Maybe he would have made $50. Maybe $200. Maybe $10,000?!

    • Again this bullshit-study where it is assumed that every pirated-material would be purchased if piracy wouldn't be on the table?

      Exactly. Furthermore, I don't have Netflix, but do have Amazon Prime, so...

      News Flash: Netflix losing $12/month to Amazon from Rick.

    • If you are using a legitimate account that is being paid for, with the permission of the account's owner, it can in no way be called piracy.

      So if I and my son are watching Netflix through my account on my TV. Is it piracy?

      How about if I and my son are watching Netflix through my account on his TV. Is it piracy?

      How about if I am watching Netflix through my account on my son's tablet. Is it piracy?

      If he is watching Netflix through my account on my TV is it piracy?

      So if I and my son are watching Netflix on his

  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:05AM (#58193110)

    That's nothing compared to the housing market losing $7.2 TRILLION per year from pirates living more than one person per house.

  • Faulty assumption (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bigHairyDog ( 686475 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:08AM (#58193128)
    This assumes that 100% of the moochers would have paid for an account if they didn't mooch. I don't know what proportion of people would actually have paid for an account, but I'm guessing more than 10% and less than 50%? Still a lot, but the presence of that glaring error in the conclusions makes me wonder how much the study authors are biasing their assumptions to make the most headline-grabbing number possible, rather than engaging in a good-faith effort to find out how much money these companies are really losing.
    • Re:Faulty assumption (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Carewolf ( 581105 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:24AM (#58193214) Homepage

      This assumes that 100% of the moochers would have paid for an account if they didn't mooch. I don't know what proportion of people would actually have paid for an account, but I'm guessing more than 10% and less than 50%? Still a lot, but the presence of that glaring error in the conclusions makes me wonder how much the study authors are biasing their assumptions to make the most headline-grabbing number possible, rather than engaging in a good-faith effort to find out how much money these companies are really losing.

      Also assumes they someone didn't pay for the extra seats in the account. The way Netflix works is that you have to buy multiple seats, so ofcourse when you legally buy them, and then actually use them.. That shouldn't count as piracy, but now apparently does..

      Watching things that are paid for, is now piracy....

      • by apoc.famine ( 621563 ) <apoc.famine@gm[ ].com ['ail' in gap]> on Thursday February 28, 2019 @10:09AM (#58193676) Journal

        The way Netflix works is that you have to buy multiple seats, so ofcourse when you legally buy them, and then actually use them.. That shouldn't count as piracy, but now apparently does..

        And it doesn't factor in all those people who bought the extra seats and then didn't use them either. Pure profit for Netflix! If you're going to count "piracy" losses, you need to count the "bought but didn't use" gains against that, since the two are very much related.

        If there was only one login available at one time, you wouldn't have much "piracy", but you wouldn't have all that bought-but-didn't-use revenue either.

    • Re:Faulty assumption (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:26AM (#58193228)

      This assumes that 100% of the moochers would have paid for an account if they didn't mooch.

      Actually TFA quite clearly states that it assumes 59.3% moochers would have paid for an account if they didn't mooch, based on a survey where 59.3% of the respondents who answered that they were currently sharing someone else's single-user-only Netflix account ALSO answered that if they lost access to that account they'd go and pay for an account of their own.

    • The Basic plan has 2 streams and is $7.99 the Premium plan has 4 streams and is $15.99 if a family has kids that live away from home that are still using the account they have probably already upgraded to the premium plan. By their own admission the freeloaders are mostly family If the kids moved out and didn't use the account then chances are mom and dad would downgrade their account, this would actually cost them more than allowing the parents to pay double + 1 cent for the kids to use it.

    • This assumes that 100% of the moochers would have paid for an account if they didn't mooch.

      Furthermore, that 100% of the moochers would have bought a Netflix subscription if they couldn't mooch.

  • Piracy? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    How is that piracy?

    Netflix is DESIGNED with that in mind.

    One Account, allows 1-4 "screens" to watch.

    Netflix supports tablets, tablets are mobile.

    Netflix supports phones, phones are mobile.

    Children can't get their "own" netflix account, so they need to "share" their parents.

    Some more examples of Piracy:

    -Some people share a newspaper, that's piracy!
    -Some people invite other people over to watch Netflix, that's piracy!
    -Some people watch over the shoulders of people watching Netflix, that's piracy!

    • by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      It gets complex AC
      Put the 1-4 "screens" to watch behind the same ISP service.
      3 people could be on holiday for decades? 1 screen stays on with the main account?
      • It gets complex AC

        Only if you over-complicate it.

        Put the 1-4 "screens" to watch behind the same ISP service.

        Why? Netflix doesn't require that. You're making up terms of service that don't actually exist. If I pay for up to 4 screens, I don't care one bit if each screen is using a different ISP, and neither does Netflix, as it doesn't change a thing. Each device has to login to Netflix separately regardless of location, so requiring the same ISP is nonsensical. Netflix still know how many devices are logged in to the account, and is fully capable of limiting usage to what is bei

      • "Put 1-4 screens to watch behind the same ISP service"
        So when I take my phone/table to Starbucks, to a hotel, to a friend's place, I would be locked out from using Netflix that I pay for simply because those places are probably on different ISPs? Heck, assuming that my cellphone service is with another provider other than my ISP, this would also lock me out from streaming over a cellular network. Your reasoning makes 0 sense.

    • What makes it more intriguing is that, just a few years ago, their terms of service permitted much of the behavior that is now being labeled as "piracy".

      I signed up for the service sometime around or about 2007 when I was in grad school, and my younger brother working on his undergrad asked if I would share my account with him. Since I'm one of those oddballs who actually checks the terms to see if such things are allowed, I read through Netflix's terms to see what their stance was on such behavior, and I r

  • Watching together (Score:5, Insightful)

    by religionofpeas ( 4511805 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:11AM (#58193148)

    I wonder how much money they are losing because family members watch a movie together, instead of each streaming to their own account ?

    • I wonder how much money they are losing because family members watch a movie together, instead of each streaming to their own account ?

      That will be fixed once cameras in TVs can determine the number of viewers and auto charge your account for additional eyeballs.

  • This is a non-story (Score:5, Interesting)

    by timholman ( 71886 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:14AM (#58193162)

    In the first place, the CEO of Netflix has stated that he considers account sharing to be an overall positive, not a negative.

    Second, if Netflix wants to fix this "problem", it is completely within their power. Institute a single-stream HD plan (instead of the current single-stream SD plan), and many households will switch to it, instead of the double-stream HD plan. Or, Netflix could simply charge a fixed price per additional stream, in which case the owner of the account becomes moot.

    Regardless, if I'm paying for a stream, why does it matter who I allow to use it? If that person hogs the stream and locks me out, that is no one's problem but mine. Either I change the password, or I buy another stream.

    • by fazig ( 2909523 )

      Regardless, if I'm paying for a stream, why does it matter who I allow to use it? If that person hogs the stream and locks me out, that is no one's problem but mine. Either I change the password, or I buy another stream.

      There you answered your own question. The assumption is that if you do not allow anyone else to use it, those other persons would have to buy another or their own stream.

      As far as my knowledge of economics go, all of this thinking is based on the concept of Opportunity Cost. This concept

      • There you answered your own question. The assumption is that if you do not allow anyone else to use it, those other persons would have to buy another or their own stream.

        Netflix could force the matter very easily by providing a single-stream HD plan, which is not the case in the U.S.

        I would bet that a large number of households would happily drop to one stream to save a little money. And in that case, you won't share your account, because otherwise you wouldn't be able to rely on Netflix being available wh

        • by fazig ( 2909523 )
          That would be a rational move from 'our' consumer perspective. Other online services have done this before.

          A prime example would be online games, where only one login at a time is possible per account. So you can't have more than one person using the service at the same time. But still, virtually all of these contracts include a standard clause where the provider specifies that the customer is not allowed to share access to their services with any other person. And this does appear to be enforceable at le
      • Regardless, if I'm paying for a stream, why does it matter who I allow to use it? If that person hogs the stream and locks me out, that is no one's problem but mine. Either I change the password, or I buy another stream.

        There you answered your own question. The assumption is that if you do not allow anyone else to use it, those other persons would have to buy another or their own stream.

        No, that doesn't answer the question. Only one person is using the stream at a time. It shouldn't matter to Netflix who is paying for it. Apart from the two-stream minimum bundling, which is Neflix's own choice, they get paid the same whether the current subscriber pays for another stream or the other person buys their own. More importantly, Netflix's costs are exactly the same regardless of whether or not the people viewing the streams are related or live at the same address.

        I suspect that if Netflix were

    • Agree with your statements. Netflix is currently in the friendly 'acquire users at all cost' phase of its business cycle. This means you get lots of content for cheap with few annoying restrictions and rules. Make no mistake though, once user acquisition tops out, they will rapidly transition to the 'milk the suckers' phase. I would expect streams to be linked to IP, adverts unless you pay more, shows being moved to premium pay per view content. In the later phases you'll basically have a regular cable chan

  • by MeNeXT ( 200840 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:18AM (#58193188)

    This post tells me more about greed than about piracy. If a family subscribes to a plan that allows 5 members then it's not piracy. Is it then considered theft that my wife purchased her pain ticket with my Visa? Is it theft that my family uses my wife's Amazon account instead of each our individual accounts? Or could it be considered shoplifting when a family goes out and shops together and one person pays the invoice?

  • Just like they did when they used their parents' cable subscription with the TV in their own room!

  • by sarkeizen ( 106737 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:33AM (#58193270) Journal

    Personally, I'm disappointed that Slashdot actually posted this.

    So it seems that this isn't about piracy at all. Just account sharing, which is defined as "anyone who used a streaming service but did not pay for it". This would include ones parents, common law spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, or sibling - collectively totaling over 60% of the Netflix account sharers. It doesn't really clarify how they determined if this was inside or outside the policy for the given service based on the definition I'd wager they simply didn't care.

    How accurate this is depends significantly how the questions were posed. i.e. Saying "Do you pay for your own Netflix account or do you use someone else's?" could easily mean to someone who isn't violating the TOS

    Also to those who are saying the implied claim is that 100% of the people who use someone else's credentials would buy their own. Apparently they asked the question "If you lost access to this credential would you get your own." For Netflix aboutt 60% said "yes" and this was used to determine the overall "cost" of account sharing.

    • Didn't finish my thought there. "could easily mean to someone who isn't violating the TOS" should be followed by: "Are you using your parent's account in your own home?"

    • Yeah, and with Netflix you are specifically buying a certain number of screens to watch on. It encourages people to share. I am usually the sort of guy who would not use someone else's service, but I let my parents use my Netflix login because I cannot watch two screens at the same time! Plus, on the rare occurrences when my wife's watching one thing and I'm watching something else, Netflix will tell my parents that both screens are in use.

      Long story short, this is a dumb article.

  • Netflix offers 2 or 4 concurrent streams. People are paying for these sub options, and probably most subs fall under these categories (because they also provide higher quality streaming). So this is not only totally legitimate but also paid for.

  • Maybe people listen to the founder: https://techcrunch.com/2016/01... [techcrunch.com]
  • As a US citizen living abroad, I'm not interested in all the local series in a language I don't speak. And I prefer to see the same series as my friends in the US. Now I have to wait 2~3 seasons before they finally release them with subtitles of a language which I don't read anyway.
  • Nothing on trading (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jgtg32a ( 1173373 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:47AM (#58193326)

    My parents have Netfix, I have Prime, brother has HBOGo.
     
    We all share.

  • by trevc ( 1471197 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:50AM (#58193332)
    That is all.
  • They couldn't charge as much for the 4 and 2 streams plans if people were not able to use them with different IP addresses at the same time.

    Just like with cable, most of the money doesn't go towards content, but distribution.

  • Did anyone mention (Score:4, Interesting)

    by CodeHog ( 666724 ) <joe.slackerNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Thursday February 28, 2019 @08:59AM (#58193362) Homepage

    that it's assumed people not paying for it would actually pay for it? I see that's covered. How about this - maybe this study was done for some other reason, like to prop up stock prices? Or maybe drive them down a bit so someone can buy at a lower cost? nah, that would be wrong, they're good guys.... Oh look a squirrel.

  • Bullshit. I have the Netflix sub that allows for 2 screens and HD. I use one, and my son at college uses the other.

    If they don't want account sharing then charge for each screen. Probably not a good idea, as that would very likely piss off customers.

    The study is fucking stupid for implying piracy.

  • If the TV networks were torn down today, there would be several companies making shows that would all come to us in a box and we would search in that box for the show and watch it. Netflix is an improvement but it's obvious that the selection is bargain bin for the most part, though the original stuff is coming along.I'm tired of having my choices as a consumer limited because of clinging to old business practices that plainly don't work in this day and age.
  • Yet another hypothetical and baseless study. The account limits the number of simultaneous streams based on a monthly price. If three people in my house want to stream 3 different shows 24/7 my account allows for this. They arent ‘losing’ money if by me doing this still results in a peofit. They just arent making as much money as theyd preferr. There is a difference. It seems like no group anymore that conduct statistical analysis is capable of doing so without adding political spin. I don

  • This is the same nonsense the music industry used against file sharing - which was complete nonsense. The primary assumption being that everyone "sharing" an account would actually pay.
  • by Gabest ( 852807 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @09:54AM (#58193616)
    By not playing the lottery.
  • It's studies like this that make me think that tech has a vocabulary problem.

  • The study's a joke. The question we should be asking: why is Netflix wanting to portray itself as a victim? Studies like this propaganda don't come from nowhere, we have to look at who benefits (assuming people believe this crap)*. What I'd guess is that if Netflix can seem to be a victim it's going to get:
    - less legislative scruitiny
    - some leverage perhaps against tiered internet traffic charges that lean against them ...I'm sure there are others.

    *I mean, I guess it's possible that someone comes out wit

  • I still share because all the data on what episodes of TV shows I'm up to, what movies I've seen, watch list, ratings, etc are on someone else's account. If I were to get my own, I'd have to write all that crap down. A simple "migrate profile to new account" feature would go along way to getting people to move to their own account.

  • by bill.pev ( 978836 ) on Thursday February 28, 2019 @01:17PM (#58194800)
    The PR motive behind this announcement must be that Netflix will be announcing a price increase and multi-stream clampdown. I agree with the observation made already that Netflix allows and welcomes the current user behavior so in no sense could it be called piracy. Moreover, I also agree with the so-90s observation that equating piracy with actual money that would otherwise have been made is BS.

    And here it is now.. See slashdot article: Netflix is Testing Even More Expensive Subscription Prices. .. Quelle Surprise!!
  • When I borrow anything, I'm depriving someone of a sale, that's how this works right?!!
  • I pay for 4 accounts and share them with family. Would they pay for their own subscriptions? Hard to say, especially as more competitors appear on the scene. But I'm happy so spend a couple bucks extra to make them happy, and Netflix gets more of my money. They should think twice before blowing that up.

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