Netflix is testing a way to get people to stop sharing their passwords to let other people use their accounts without paying. The streaming video service is posting an on-screen notification when some people try logging on with the credentials outside their household, asking, "Is this your account?" The message then informs the would-be viewer that they need their own account if they don't live with the account's owner. The non-subscriber can then create their own account, with a 30-day trial in some areas.
"This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so," a company spokesperson said in a statement. The Streamable, which first reported the policy, said only connected-TV subscribers have run into the paywall notification so far.
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