Blockbuster Roasts Netflix Over Password Sharing Crackdown

By Adam Barnhardt

Netflix has started charging subscribers who share the platform between households, something that's been an unpopular decision amongst many. Given the notoriety of the change, some companies are even thrusting themselves into the middle of the situation, even those that have been out of the spotlight for a decade or more—companies like Blockbuster, the video store predecessor to Netflix. The Twitter for the largely-defunct video store shared their thoughts on the situation in a now-viral tweet.

"A friendly reminder that when you used to rent videos from us. We didn't care you who share it with...as long as you returned it on time," the account tweeted Thursday, before directly tagging the primary Netflix account in the tweet.

Why is Netflix cracking down on password sharing?

The idea of sharing account log-in information for accounts has been something Netflix has been aiming to crackdown on for the better part of the past year. With subscriber numbers dwindling, Netflix officials seriously began looking at implementing anti-sharing measures last year.

"We see a cancel reaction in each market when we announce the news, which impacts near term member growth," Netflix wrote in a shareholder letter at the time. "But as borrowers start to activate their own accounts and existing members add "extra member" accounts, we see increased acquisition and revenue."

The company added, "In Canada, which we believe is a reliable predictor for the US, our paid membership base is now larger than prior to the launch of paid sharing and revenue growth has accelerated and is now growing faster than in the US."

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What does Netflix charge now?

While base Netflix pricing will remain the same, a new email distributed by the company says that "add-on" users are available for $7.99 per month for each extra member added to the account. As of now, the additional members are not available to be added to plans that were created through partner companies.

Furthermore, Netflix's site says the extra members are only available for its Standard and Premium plans, which are $15.49 per month and $19.99 per month, respectively. A Standard with Ads package will still be available for $6.99 per month.

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