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Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

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Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#581

Losing 1M users is not good, but isn't the real question how many accounts they lost? > The move was linked to a fall in users of more than a million, two thirds of whom were using someone else’s password, according to Kantar’s research, which is based on surveys of household streaming habits. This makes it seem like they lost 333k customers. I don't know how many customers they have in Spain, but that sounds like a…

I wonder to what extent tossing away non-paying users will hurt their network effect. How many people got HBO because their friends (paying or not) were talking about Game of Thrones? Hopefully for Netflix somebody there has run the numbers WRT one incremental unit of video-delivery-cost is worth more or less than one incremental unit of chatter.

But nobody talks about Netflix shows because there's no shared progress, so you can't even begin to discuss it with your friends until everyone is completely finished with. Then at that point, it's finished, why bother?

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#582

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of wisdom in that rant. I too have noticed the big gap is writers (who are going on strike it seems). I think we're all going to have to suffer through "stuff written by LLMs" for a while, but I really think that a studio that restructured their revenue sharing to focus more of the proceeds towards writers would find quite a bit of success in today's market.

> I too have noticed the big gap is writers I started watching "The Night Agent" but the dialogue became too painful for me to carry on after about four or five episodes. That coupled with a script where two secret service agents bitch at each other like children eventually nailed the coffin.

The show got better by the end. The show itself-- not the dialogue.

On a similar note: for so much of Night Agent, it felt like they started with competent technical advisors that paid enough attention to detail to make terminals show TUIs/GUIs that actually relate to the current goal, but the writers came along and rewrote every technical explanation with "brb guys, gotta hack the mainframe" garbage.

The wine moms around me love the show though, so maybe it's just catering to the target demographic.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#583

> The move was linked to a fall in users of more than a million, two thirds of whom were using someone else’s password > Subscription cancellations in the first quarter tripled compared to the previous period, according to Kantar’s research. Of all remaining Netflix subscribers in Spain, one-tenth said they planned to unsubscribe in the second quarter. So they lost 300,000 paying users whom they think will come back,…

> I think the issue is that people who are paying for an account they are sharing are likely to keep the account active so their family members can continue watching, even if they are also using a competitor. When the family are cut off, they cancel. Definitely the case for me. I am able to help out 10-20 family members across 4 countries, and all I have to do is pay a measly $17.99/mo. If that goes away, I will be c…

> Definitely the case for me. I am able to help out 10-20 family members across 4 countries,

You're sharing an account with 20 people across 4 countries? It's honestly kind of amazing that they let this level of sharing go on for so long.

It's hard for me to believe that out of 20 different people, every single one of them would decide to boycott Netflix forever because of this. If even 1 of those people decides to re-subscribe, Netflix has lost nothing. If 2 or more subscribe, they win.

Extrapolate this across their userbase and it's not hard to see why they're doing it. Obviously some people will cancel, but I guarantee Netflix has run pilot trials and analyzed the net effect to their bottom line.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#584
post #483

Netflix really messed this up. They shouldn't have tried to tackle password sharing. Instead they should have enforced concurrent streams and let people pay for more concurrent streams. Psychologically it's very different and people paying for the premium plan of 4 streams would probably not be affected.

Netflix has been enforcing concurrent streams for a while now, no? Four adults that live in four different houses sharing one Netflix account might not ever bump up against the four concurrent stream limit. Their concurrent usage might be quite similar to a family of four under one roof. But critically, the four adults are all technically capable of paying for their own subscriptions, while the children of the family…

> Netflix has been enforcing concurrent streams for a while now, no?

Yes. They've been doing more or less what the parent comment suggested for a very long time.

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#585
post #578

In Spain piracy is technically illegal but so far the MPAA equivalent could not successfully sue common citizens for pirating. As far as I know at least, perhaps there have been some isolated cases. I have always been downloading pirated content, and still do for content that is not on one of my 3 streaming services, without worry, just the technical hassle.

I once won a lawsuit against the MPAA in Spain. AMA lol FWIW YMMV and laws change so I wouldn't advise anyone running such a service from spain doxxed. But using it? It's not germany where predatory lawyers will try to sue you out of torrenting ubuntu or whatever

Was it for seeding/hosting torrents or from just downloading them? How long did the whole thing take to play out?

I've always assumed that consuming torrents has been low stakes to the point where its not worth any enforcement

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#586
post #581

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder to what extent tossing away non-paying users will hurt their network effect. How many people got HBO because their friends (paying or not) were talking about Game of Thrones? Hopefully for Netflix somebody there has run the numbers WRT one incremental unit of video-delivery-cost is worth more or less than one incremental unit of chatter.

But nobody talks about Netflix shows because there's no shared progress, so you can't even begin to discuss it with your friends until everyone is completely finished with. Then at that point, it's finished, why bother?

? Shows come out weekly for lots of programs

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#587
post #578

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once won a lawsuit against the MPAA in Spain. AMA lol FWIW YMMV and laws change so I wouldn't advise anyone running such a service from spain doxxed. But using it? It's not germany where predatory lawyers will try to sue you out of torrenting ubuntu or whatever

Was it for seeding/hosting torrents or from just downloading them? How long did the whole thing take to play out? I've always assumed that consuming torrents has been low stakes to the point where its not worth any enforcement

They go after the site operators if they can.

In my case It was link sharing, no torrents, and at that time that didnt constitute -public publishing- as the link linked to some 3rd party host, and it was also user generated content.

FWIW they've only won some fringe cases where they scared the person into accepting the charges.

But Im not 15 anymore and wouldn't risk it tbh

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#588
post #430

Losing 1M users is not good, but isn't the real question how many accounts they lost? > The move was linked to a fall in users of more than a million, two thirds of whom were using someone else’s password, according to Kantar’s research, which is based on surveys of household streaming habits. This makes it seem like they lost 333k customers. I don't know how many customers they have in Spain, but that sounds like a…

Apple, Google and Amazon would seem to have a big advantage here in doing Family Accounts. By putting someone "in your family" you at least feel like you're giving them access to a lot of stuff, so you probably don't do it with friends as much. Plus there is some unique tracking by account even if it's just an email address. I never tried it but I would assume I can't be in multiple "families" at the same time on Pri…

[deleted]

Re: Netflix loses 1M users in Spain over password policing

#590
post #581

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder to what extent tossing away non-paying users will hurt their network effect. How many people got HBO because their friends (paying or not) were talking about Game of Thrones? Hopefully for Netflix somebody there has run the numbers WRT one incremental unit of video-delivery-cost is worth more or less than one incremental unit of chatter.

But nobody talks about Netflix shows because there's no shared progress, so you can't even begin to discuss it with your friends until everyone is completely finished with. Then at that point, it's finished, why bother?

[deleted]
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