Australian Netflix subscribers have been given a peek at what measures the streaming company could employ to stop people from sharing accounts later this year.
Earlier this week, the streaming giant accidentally updated its “Sharing your account” help centre pages for Australia and other nations with information that is only relevant to three countries that are undergoing a “paid sharing” trial.
“For a brief time, a help centre article containing information that is only applicable to Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, went live in other countries. We have since updated it,” Netflix said in a statement to 9News.com.au.
The help pages were quickly reverted to their previous state, but the changes still provide an indication as to what Australian subscribers could be in for in the near future.
One of the measures employed in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru is requiring users to connect a device to their home wifi and watch something at least once every 31 days to prevent that device from being blocked and having to re-verify before streaming again.
Netflix also says it uses information including IP address and device IDs to determine whether someone is watching in their “primary location”.
In the countries undergoing the trial, people can pay a fee (in Costa Rica, it is $2.99) to be able to share accounts between households.
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In its earnings on January 20, Netflix said it expects to roll out paid sharing “more broadly” in the first quarter of 2023.
In its shareholder letter, it said it expects some people to cancel their accounts in response to the move, but that it will ultimately lead to more revenue.
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“From our experience in Latin America, we expect some cancel reaction in each market when we roll out paid sharing, which impacts near-term member growth,” the letter reads.
“But as borrower households begin to activate their own standalone accounts and extra member accounts are added, we expect to see improved overall revenue, which is our goal with all plan and pricing changes.”
Nine Entertainment, the publisher of this website, owns Stan, which is a competitor to Netflix.
