Netflix has had rules in place for a very long time about sharing streaming accounts but it has been pretty lazy in enforcing them... until now. According to a Tech Crunch report, the streaming media service began sending out messages to streamers over the weekend who were using an account at the same time someone else in their circle of friends or family was using it. To paraphrase, the basic message was "you are already streaming (and over the limit) of your account elsewhere."
This isn't a change in Netflix's terms of service; the company has simply decided that it is time to enforce the rules. As a general rule you can stream the number of times you can have a disc out at a time. So someone that pays for the premium three discs at a time plan, they can hypothetically have three streams going at a time. The Two DVD plus Streaming plan costs $19.98 a month, three DVDs costs $23.98 and the four DVD plan runs $29.99.
From Netflix’s Terms of Use:
Personal Computer Requirements and Device Limitations: To enjoy watching instantly via your personal computer, your equipment must satisfy certain system requirements. Click here to view the various system requirements. To see partners who offer Netflix ready devices you may use to access our service, click here. YOU MAY INSTANTLY WATCH ON UP TO SIX UNIQUE AUTHORIZED NETFLIX READY DEVICES. YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO INSTANTLY WATCH SIMULTANEOUSLY ON ONLY ONE SUCH DEVICE AT ANY GIVEN TIME. For certain membership plans in the United States, you may instantly watch simultaneously on more than one Netflix ready device within your household. Click here to view the number of devices on which you may simultaneously view movies & TV shows that are associated with your plan. The number of devices and concurrent streams may change without notice to you. For certain limited membership plans in the United States, your available Netflix ready device may be limited to personal computers.
Source: TechCrunch. Image via.
Comments
Re: Netflix Begins Enforcing Concurrent Stream Limits
Close my account, thanks
Re: Netflix Begins Enforcing Concurrent Stream Limits
Hey, as far as sharing enforcement goes, this is pretty fair. You can still allow others to use your account, but there's a slight inconvenience that you can't all use it at the same time. Seems reasonable and shouldn't interrupt my service at all. My sharing is between roommates and we only have one TV streaming from the Wii. Of course they have the benefit of "always on" DRM due to the streaming nature of the service.
-Austin from Oregon
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