Netflix enforces password-sharing rules: A struggle for college students

Illustration+by+Allie+Hall.

Allie Hall

Illustration by Allie Hall.

Alexis Baker, Staff Reporter

Bills, bills, bills — while an iconic Destiny’s Child song, bills are the last thing college students want to think about.

The world is up in arms about Netflix cracking down on the number of households that can share an account on the service.

Netflix announced that users can only have one simultaneous stream before having to pay a premium to add an account. It will cost $7.99 to add someone who doesn’t live in a primary user’s house. 

For families that support multiple college students, this adds up, and for college students supporting themselves, this is an unnecessary worry on top of all of the college fees they have to pay. 

While $7.99 doesn’t seem like the worst deal, Netflix is the leading streaming service in the world and is not making beneficial decisions for the customers that helped them get there. 

The generation that is in college right now contributed to the virality of the phrase “Netflix and Chill.” This boosted Netflix’s popularity and sustained it for years to come.

Netflix decided to repay the young generation by depriving them of their limited leisure time and money. It doesn’t seem fair, but it’s passed off as business.

Many households are already paying for Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, HBO Max, etc., and paying to add multiple college students to their Netflix account is equivalent to another membership.

College students are not the only people having to deal with this burden. Military families, multi-homeowners and anyone who doesn’t live what Netflix defines as a “traditional” lifestyle will suffer as well.

While it’s understandable that Netflix doesn’t want your brother’s girlfriend’s sister’s dog’s friend using your account, the underlying purpose of the password-sharing rules is just another way to profit from consumers — it’s corporate greed. 

Netflix has already been on a downward spiral with the content they provide. 

Netflix frequently takes away what’s loved by everyone and replaces it with Netflix originals that are cheaper to produce. This is yet another prime (not Amazon) example of corporate greed.

It is only a matter of time before Netflix goes bankrupt due to the mass amount of people canceling their memberships. It started strong, then executives thought way too highly of themselves and their company. 

In order to stay afloat, Netflix needs to give its customers what they want. There needs to be a flat rate for the content it provides, less Netflix original content and reduced restrictions on account sharing. 

Netflix doesn’t have the right to define what the “correct” household criteria is. 

If they can’t provide for their customers, there are other alternatives for streaming. There are maybe even too many alternatives for streaming. The world will adjust, and Netflix will crumble like a Redbox rental stand. 

I guess I don’t need to rewatch “Gilmore Girls” that badly.