Netflix is chill if you share account details
You're more likely to pay up later if you get a free taste first
Ever borrow someone else’s login details to binge-watch House of Cards or Bojack Horseman? Netflix is cool with it.
It mostly flew under the radar as he revealed Netflix was launching in 130 new countries, but CEO Reed Hastings said customers sharing their accounts wasn’t a problem.
“We love people sharing Netflix, whether they’re two people on a couch or 10 people on a couch,” Hastings said. “That’s a positive thing, not a negative thing.” That’s lucky, because a whopping 46% of adults in the US reportedly share their accounts with others.
It’s all about getting more people interested in the product – like giving kids candy cigarettes, but nowhere near as shady. Anyone sharing someone else’s account has a good chance to turn into a paying subscriber themselves later.
Even on family accounts, where everyone has their own profile, a high number eventually get their own account. Kids that share a Netflix login with their parents typically start subscribing themselves when they grow up and move out.
Not to equate watching one episode of Game of Thrones with a free hit of smack, but HBO has a similar attitude. CEO Robert Plepler said he was in the business of "building addicts" rather than cracking down on account sharing.
And now that it’s available in over 190 countries, with plenty of room to add new customers, Netflix isn’t getting ready to haul you off to prison for splitting the cost of a sub with your housemates.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
