In 2022, Netflix no longer promotes account sharing, now accused of straining the company’s finances – but that wasn’t always the case. Our colleagues from TorrentFreak take for example a tweet from Netflix UK from 2017 in which we can read, for example, “Love is sharing a password” (to like is to share a password).
Similar examples were posted at the same time by the Netflix France community manager. It must be said that by breaking down any access barrier for the curious, Netflix has thus strengthened its popularity, leading more people to subscribe… but inevitably once a critical mass of subscribers has been reached, it is difficult to go beyond.
UK could criminalize Netflix account sharing
Especially when we take into account the proliferation of streaming platforms which weighs more and more heavily on the economic decisions of Internet users. Netflix has therefore changed its tune on the issue of account sharing – but for reasons of competition, growth and survival. However, a British government agency is also inviting itself into the debate.
And alas, it is to be feared that his opinion will end up inspiring, as is sometimes the case, some of his counterparts on the other side of the Channel. The UK Government’s Intellectual Property Office has just issued a bombshell opinion in which account sharing is presented as fraud, contrary to UK copyright laws.
The term fraud comes from the British equivalent of the criminal code – it is therefore potentially a crime punishable by sentences of up to prison, and entry on the criminal record. In a response to TorrentFreak, the 10 Downing Street agency states:
“There are a variety of provisions in criminal and civil laws that may apply in cases of account sharing where the apparent purpose is to allow a user to access copyrighted works without payment. Provisions [sur lesquelles il est déjà possible de s’appuyer au tribunal] may include breach of contractual terms, fraud, or second-degree copyright infringement depending on the case”specifies the office of the intellectual property.
Still, the position of the agency denotes with that mostly shared by the rights holders. Indeed, while account sharing is seen as a real threat to their revenue, most major coalitions like ACE are very careful not to overemphasize the topic of account sharing. The implementation of new sanctions is rather seen as a non-priority subject given the history of this practice and its image among Internet users.
