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Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

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Re: Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

#81

Post by 4ggr0 »

mannerheim wrote: post #77
sandworm101 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that you are upset about the subscription model not serving your use case. Pay-per-view is probably more appropriate for those who only want to watch a couple movies every month, put ppv isn't available. Customers instead share their accounts with family members. It is dirty rotten piracy and anyone doing it is stealing bread from the mouths of babes, but that's what happens when the legitimate system fails t…

Hm, that's bizarre, I can watch Amazon Prime on Linux.

I think it depends on how mainstream your distro is, or maybe on what browser you use. When I used Linux, every streaming platform ever told me that my browser wasn't compatible to stream.

Re: Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

#82

Post by chucky »

cortesoft wrote: post #31
chucky wrote: post #10

As part of a single person household it feels weird that there is a norm that you are allowed to share logins "within your household". Effectively this means people in the same household are paying a lower price than others - so people living in single households are effectively subsidizing that usage by paying more per person.

Do you expect my wife to turn away from the TV when I am watching Netflix? Each tier has a number of simultaneous streams allowed. If you want multiple people to be able to stream at once you pay more, and if you are streaming one at a time on the same device, you really think each person should have their own account?

> Do you expect my wife to turn away from the TV when I am watching Netflix?

No, and I do not expect my friends to turn away when they are visiting my home. This is not at all what I said or meant, and I think you know that.

> Each tier has a number of simultaneous streams allowed. If you want multiple people to be able to stream at once you pay more, and if you are streaming one at a time on the same device, you really think each person should have their own account?

There are really two things here. Yes, I am aware Netflix has a model where you can pay to have multiple streams ongoing at the same time. That's the model I am questioning, because obviously one person can only watch one stream, so this can only be used by different people in a household.

As for the other part of your question, yes, that is exactly what I think. Each person should pay equally for their own account. Why am I allowed to share my 2 streams with a partner in the next room, but not with a partner in Australia? What is the difference between the two?

Re: Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

#83

Post by cortesoft »

chucky wrote: post #82
cortesoft wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you expect my wife to turn away from the TV when I am watching Netflix? Each tier has a number of simultaneous streams allowed. If you want multiple people to be able to stream at once you pay more, and if you are streaming one at a time on the same device, you really think each person should have their own account?

> Do you expect my wife to turn away from the TV when I am watching Netflix? No, and I do not expect my friends to turn away when they are visiting my home. This is not at all what I said or meant, and I think you know that. > Each tier has a number of simultaneous streams allowed. If you want multiple people to be able to stream at once you pay more, and if you are streaming one at a time on the same device, you rea…

I am guessing the reason is twofold.

One, they know it is unlikely a family would pay for more than one account while living in the same house, but they might get a few extra bucks for the family upgrading to a multiple streams subscription.

Two, they probably have data that a shared account in the same house does less simultaneous streaming on average than a shared account in multiple houses.

Re: Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

#84

Post by pbronez »

macksd wrote: post #44
4ggr0 wrote: post #13

The Netflix I pay for is currently used by: Me, Mom, Dad, Grandparents, GF, GFs Mom. Other than myself and my GF, most of the people on this list watch something on Netflix every couple of months, when I or someone/something else recommend them a movie or show. I don't want them to use my profile, because we then obviously can't watch the same things, and it'll break my recommendations. I get why Netflix wants to spl…

The number wouldn't go up to $1200 - most of your family would get by just fine without Netflix because it simply isn't worth what it costs to them. The needle will move on Netflix's revenue and subscriber count, and their costs will slow down. And largely the people affected will forget about this. The really fair way to price this is by concurrent viewers, independent of location, and they already have that feature…

I also have this use case and think it's really important. When I was a kid you could take a favorite VHS or DVD with you. Now you take your subscription. Sure, I guess you could take a phyusical authorized device (e.g. an iPad) with you, then screen cast it. But that requires grandma to figure out screen casting. And I'm trusting my kid with a $300 device instead of a $15 media artifact. Lame.

Re: Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

#85

Post by whatok »

tw04 wrote: post #74
whatok wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix would not remotely resemble its current form and likely would have been acquired years ago if they did not pivot to their own content. Switching to their own content required and still requires huge amounts of money; est. 17bn last year[0]. Additionally, the gross profit number is a flawed number for many reasons; try looking at operating or net income or anything farther down the income statement from basic…

>Netflix would not remotely resemble its current form and likely would have been acquired years ago if they did not pivot to their own content. You can't acquire a private company unless they're willing to sell. >Switching to their own content required and still requires huge amounts of money; est. 17bn last year[0]. I don't follow your point? Private companies can take a loan just as easily as public. If they were u…

> I don't follow your point? Private companies can take a loan just as easily as public. If they were unable to attain the financing they wanted, they'd still have plenty of their own content, just not as much.

Private companies face a higher cost of capital than equivalent public companies and are unable to borrow as much money as public companies are able to. This is basic finance 101 stuff. Without debt financing, they would not have been able to begin their pivot when they needed to. Netflix is able to borrow at much lower rates than a company with the same financials solely because they are a large public company. Google "equity cushion" if you're unfamiliar with the term.

> I'd suggest you do the same. Their cash balance increased from $5 billion to $8 billion last year. They took out "debt" to finance their movies because money is cheap right now. Nothing they've done required them being a public company, and nothing you've shown makes me believe they couldn't be in exactly the same position they currently are as a private company.

Yes, Netflix is doing much better financially over the past few years and especially in the past year given the pandemic. I don't see how their cash balance is relevant in the face of content spend 2-3x that much. The initial contention was over content spend and a misleading gross profit number.

>They didn't even start borrowing money of significance until 2012, I still don't believe for a second they'd be "bankrupt" as a a private company.

They started borrowing when they needed to pivot to their own content, had to do so at pretty high rates, and luckily succeeded in their pivot.

Throughout this, I don't see any acknowledgement of where streaming was back then and how competitive the space has become since then. Netflix needs to spend on content or it will get left behind. A smaller Netflix offers no competitive edge right now and a smaller Netflix years ago would have been held hostage by content owners while being unable to have any real control over sub pricing; see poorly handled rate increases years ago.

Re: Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

#86

Post by sandworm101 »

mannerheim wrote: post #77
sandworm101 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that you are upset about the subscription model not serving your use case. Pay-per-view is probably more appropriate for those who only want to watch a couple movies every month, put ppv isn't available. Customers instead share their accounts with family members. It is dirty rotten piracy and anyone doing it is stealing bread from the mouths of babes, but that's what happens when the legitimate system fails t…

Hm, that's bizarre, I can watch Amazon Prime on Linux.

>> I can watch Amazon Prime on Linux.

Everything and anything it possible on linux. The question is whether I want to bother. I could probably disable my browser's security features and get it working, install some proprietary whatever, but it isn't worth than hassle imho. I've got better stuff to watch than netflix/amazon junk. Whenever I have a hour to kill my first choice tends to be the BBC.

Re: Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

#87

Post by macksd »

pbronez wrote: post #84
macksd wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The number wouldn't go up to $1200 - most of your family would get by just fine without Netflix because it simply isn't worth what it costs to them. The needle will move on Netflix's revenue and subscriber count, and their costs will slow down. And largely the people affected will forget about this. The really fair way to price this is by concurrent viewers, independent of location, and they already have that feature…

I also have this use case and think it's really important. When I was a kid you could take a favorite VHS or DVD with you. Now you take your subscription. Sure, I guess you could take a phyusical authorized device (e.g. an iPad) with you, then screen cast it. But that requires grandma to figure out screen casting. And I'm trusting my kid with a $300 device instead of a $15 media artifact. Lame.

I'm actually curious if the physical device looks any more innocent in Netflix's future policies than straight-up credential sharing. It's still coming from a new IP.

Re: Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

#88

Post by viklove »

backtoyoujim wrote: post #46
RHSeeger wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is it that you think is appropriate for you to be pissed off about? You pay for Netflix for you and your household, not for anyone that happens to be related to you. Has that ever not been the case?

What exactly is Netflix pissed about ? Their stock is over $500 a share. In 2020 Netflix has positive cashflow of $1.9 billion. What are they pissed about ?

It's never enough

Re: Netflix to start testing warnings for people borrowing login info

#90

Post by matbilodeau »

Reminds me of something similar that happened in Canada. Satellite boxes were so easy to hack it was more of configuration, cable provider sued for disloyal competition.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bellexpressvu-must-pay- quebecor-137m-for-not-stopping-signal-piracy-1.2987341

Which brings my question : Would a provider who tolerates account sharing be at risk of being sued by competitors over similar?

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