Apparently, the UK government doesn’t have any real issues to deal with – other than a failing economy, rising inflation, and its families trying to decide whether to eat or heat their house – so, they’ve taken time to rule on whether or not sharing your Netflix password is illegal.
BBC News reports the UK government’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has announced that Netflix password sharing was both a criminal and a civil law matter.
“There are a range of provisions in criminal and civil law which may be applicable in the case of password sharing where the intent is to allow a user to access copyright-protected works without payment,” the IPO said. “These provisions may include breach of contractual terms, fraud or secondary copyright infringement, depending on the circumstances.”
BBC News asked whether this means the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) would charge password-sharing users with an offense.
“Any decision to charge someone for sharing passwords for streaming services would be looked at on a case-by-case basis,” an IPO spokesperson replied. “As with all cases, if they are referred to the CPS by an investigator for a charging decision, our duty is to bring prosecutions where there is sufficient evidence to do so and when a prosecution is required in the public interest.”
The announcement comes just as a report this week that Netflix is planning to put an end to password sharing in early 2023.
Password sharing has long been a thorn in the side of Netflix, as password sharing directly affects the company’s profits, and the streamer has been exploring various ways to put an end to the practice.
Now, with revenue falling this year and Netflix’s first subscriber loss in 10 years, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings decided it was time to act on the issue. So, starting in 2023 Netflix plans on charging an add-on fee for password sharing. The streamer has been testing $3 add-on fees for sharing passwords in some Latin American countries.
Research firm Digital i estimates around a quarter of UK Netflix subscribers – around four million – are sharing their passwords.
“Following on from the addition of the ad-supported tier, there is clearly an opportunity for Netflix to generate significant additional revenue by cracking down on account sharing and converting those who do into subscribers in their own right,” product manager Matt Ross told the BBC.
