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Netflix plans to end account sharing - here's how to bypass the ban

The streaming giant Netflix has been announcing for months that it wants to stop the sharing of user accounts, and Netflix last spoke of restrictions at the annual press conference this quarter.

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Netflix plans to end account sharing - here's how to bypass the ban

The streaming giant Netflix has been announcing for months that it wants to stop the sharing of user accounts, and Netflix last spoke of restrictions at the annual press conference this quarter. No wonder: over 100 million users, the group calculates, would not pay for their streams, but would rather use friends' accounts.

However, no concrete measures have been taken so far. On Tuesday, however, it appeared the announcements would be followed by action, with new rules appearing in Netflix usage information for the first time. Although Netflix rowed back a little later, a spokesman said the rules would initially only apply to users in various Latin American countries.

Nevertheless, the publication shows how Netflix wants to defend itself against shared accounts in the future: In the future, users will be able to set a main location for their household – only those who are using the WLAN network that matches the address are allowed unlimited streaming.

To ensure that legitimate family users can continue to stream Netflix on their mobile devices when traveling or visiting friends, Netflix wants to verify the mobile devices when they connect to their home Wi-Fi network. Only those who stream at home at least once every 31 days retain the Netflix connection to their home location and can continue to use it on the go.

Alternatively, traveling users who want to use Netflix on a company laptop or hotel TV can request a temporary code from the service upon sign-up, granting them access for seven consecutive days.

What sounds simple at first glance could cause a lot of problems in reality: the household model only works if the users of an account actually use a shared WLAN. It could become difficult even if individual devices stream via mobile instead of WLAN due to a lack of DSL bandwidth.

Users who access Netflix via a large, distributed network such as a university network could also get into trouble with the household rule. Users who surf via VPN for security reasons could also be blocked.

In addition, Netflix assumes a very classic western family model, as copyright expert and author Cory Doctorow criticized on Twitter. “A test case should be a family in Manila: where the father travels to remote provinces to do farm work; the daughter is a nanny in California and the son does construction work in the United Arab Emirates.” Divorce children moving between households could also face problems.

Doctorow notes that Netflix programmers automatically infer others from themselves: "This is a recurring form of techno-hubris: the notion that basic concepts like 'family' have clear definitions and that all exceptions are outliers."

Technically, however, it's not that difficult to bypass the account lock. Users can set up VPN access on their router at home. When you connect to this VPN while on the go, the mobile device appears connected to Netflix with the right IP in the right location.

A technical race is already foreseeable: First Netflix establishes new rules, then users find ways to circumvent them, and then Netflix blocks a little more. The problem with this, however, is that Netflix may become increasingly unattractive for regular users – this is also the reason why the group has been hesitant so far.

"Everything on shares" is the daily stock exchange shot from the WELT business editorial team. Every morning from 7 a.m. with our financial journalists. For stock market experts and beginners. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music and Deezer. Or directly via RSS feed.

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