Fix Netflix (31 Viewers)

[St. Widge]

A few years ago they were actively promoting password sharing on social media. Password sharing was a common thing all through their spectacular growth. They're doing the typical corporate thing of ignoring the actual problem and creating a strawman so it seems they're actually doing something.

Just because they chose to let people steal service for years doesn't mean it's wrong from them to give people an option to pay a small fee for it now.

And it also doesn't mean that it won't help their bottom line and stock prices now. Which is what they care about. So, if by "typical corporate thing" you mean caring about making more money then yes, it's a typical corporate thing.

 

[Yatman]

You don't have to choose the ad version.

yep, i can read

unwilling to increase the squeeze for declining quality juice

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I mean, their issue is that they are not making money so their stock is dropping. So, to them, that is part of the issue. It's a lot of money they lose that they have chosen to be "cool about" for many years. But, it does violate their ToS and lots of other companies enforce it more strictly. Frankly, I think their model of just charging a small fee if you want to share the password is reasonable.

logic is not super sound - password sharing has been (and continues to be) a thing - stocks to a dip/dive - there's really no indication that there was an uptick in PW sharing which contributed to lower profits -- so cracking down on PW sharing doesn't fix the issue that led to stock devaluing

 

[Sun Wukong]

Just because they chose to let people steal service for years doesn't mean it's wrong from them to give people an option to pay a small fee for it now.

And it also doesn't mean that it won't help their bottom line and stock prices now. Which is what they care about. So, if by "typical corporate thing" you mean caring about making more money then yes, it's a typical corporate thing.

No, by "typical corporate thing" I mean what I said. They're going to bleed subscribers once this is implemented. It's a dumb pivot that will do nothing to solve their underlying issues. Corporations love making money, sure. They're also frequently really bad collective decision makers.

 

[Sun Wukong]

I'll also add that the logic that it's "stealing" is laughable. If I'm paying for four profiles and someone with a profile on my account logs on outside of my house with my permission, it is in no way whatsoever theft. That's anti logic.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

I mean, technically it is if you agreed to the their TOS.

 

[Sun Wukong]

I mean, technically it is if you agreed to the their TOS.

No, all that means is you're breaking the TOS. They don't have the power to establish a whole new, made up legal definition of "stealing" in an end user license agreement.

 

[superchuck500]

I'll also add that the logic that it's "stealing" is laughable. If I'm paying for four profiles and someone with a profile on my account logs on outside of my house with my permission, it is in no way whatsoever theft. That's anti logic.

It's not theft, but it could be trespass as it is an unauthorized entry upon property.

In the US, federal law (the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act) basically recognizes the concept of computer trespass (digital trespass, cyber-trespass, etc.). But I think it has only been applied in the context of hacking, where the trespassing user stole the credential. If the credential was being used by the account holder with permission, I don't think they have interpreted that to be "unauthorized".

 

[bigdaddysaints]

No, all that means is you're breaking the TOS. They don't have the power to establish a whole new, made up legal definition of "stealing" in an end user license agreement.

Strealing doesn't always mean illegal, but whatever helps you sleep at night..

I mean, i don't realy care, i "steal" movies/TV shows eveyday on the streamng apps i use on my Firestick... But I'm not gonna pretend I'm not doing it...

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Strealing doesn't always mean illegal, but whatever helps you sleep at night..

.

whats an example of legal stealing? outside of stealing someone's heart (figuratively)

 

[St. Widge]

logic is not super sound - password sharing has been (and continues to be) a thing - stocks to a dip/dive - there's really no indication that there was an uptick in PW sharing which contributed to lower profits -- so cracking down on PW sharing doesn't fix the issue that led to stock devaluing

It's not about whether the password "sharing" had an uptick and is not causing them to lose money. The point is that it's an untapped source of revenue that they have chosen to not pursue for many years. By now pursuing it, it should increase their income and, therefore, profits which should make their stock price go up. So, yeah, I'm good with the soundness of my logic.

Frankly, they were negligent for years for not doing something about people stealing Netflix IP. Imagine how much more money they would have for better content if they had not let around 1/3 of the people who steam Netflix content to steal it.

 

[St. Widge]

No, all that means is you're breaking the TOS. They don't have the power to establish a whole new, made up legal definition of "stealing" in an end user license agreement.

It fits the definition of theft under every version of a criminal code.

 

[St. Widge]

I'll also add that the logic that it's "stealing" is laughable. If I'm paying for four profiles and someone with a profile on my account logs on outside of my house with my permission, it is in no way whatsoever theft. That's anti logic.

You only have the rights that they grant you in the ToS. If you go beyond that, you are taking the IP, a thing of value, without permission with no way to return that value which is stealing. I don't care if people want to steal IP from Netflix or anyone else, but call it what it is and stop pretending that it's not theft.

 

[Brad Mojo]

They will start with "it's just one commercial at the beginning"
Then "it is just very limited interruptions once in the middle of the program"
Eventually it will be as chock full of commercials as network TV. Once the door is open to a few commercials, then they certainly will keep adding more and more.

I only watch network TV when it is recorded on my DVR and I can skip commercials. I assume Netflix will make it impossible to do the same on their platform. I am already paying a fee to Netflix for their content. I don't want to pay them a 2nd time to watch it ad free.

Network TV = free to viewers, but commercials pay the networks
Netflix/HBO/Hulu = viewers pay the channels directly.

Netflix wants it BOTH ways. I don't see HBO putting commercials in the middle of their movies.

 

[St. Widge]

It's not theft, but it could be trespass as it is an unauthorized entry upon property.

In the US, federal law (the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act) basically recognizes the concept of computer trespass (digital trespass, cyber-trespass, etc.). But I think it has only been applied in the context of hacking, where the trespassing user stole the credential. If the credential was being used by the account holder with permission, I don't think they have interpreted that to be "unauthorized".

I think theft applies, but it's also certainly fraud and likely violates many Federal and State statutes.