Apr 21, 2013 Netflix Inc. Has won over consumers and Hollywood with its mix of TV reruns, old movies and original shows, all for $7.99-a-month with liberal policies.

• Netflix Cracking Down On Vpn

1. Netflix streaming customers who happen to share their account with other family members are having a frustrated Labor Day weekend as Netflix completes implementation.
2. Netflix restricts the number of screens that can be watched simultaneously to two to four, depending on the subscription, which offers protection against rampant password sharing -- so it's not totally ignoring the issue. And Hastings may be right that it's tricky to crack down on free users without alienating current subscribers.

Has won over consumers and Hollywood with its mix of TV reruns, old movies and original shows, all for $7.99-a-month with liberal policies that let family and friends share one account. Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings may now be able to squeeze more profit from his 33.3 million customers by tightening up those policies or boosting prices. As many as 10 million people are watching the online video service without paying, according to Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Securities analyst in Los Angeles. Netflix’s options include limiting the number of people or computers that could share one account or charging extra, for example, to let a college student in another town use his parents’ account. The company today doesn’t actively restrict the number of PCs, tablets or phones that can use one account or the number of people who can sign in, though it limits each account to playing two video streams simultaneously. “It’s time to change,” Pachter said in an interview.

“They can say they’re cracking down on piracy. They can appeal to fairness. It’s great if the parent has a subscription and the kid watches it in the college dorm.” Investors will be looking for clues to new revenue opportunities when Los Gatos, California-based Netflix reports first-quarter results after markets close today.

The shares have risen 88 percent this year, second-most in the S&P 500 behind Best Buy Co., as profit and subscriber gains beat Wall Street estimates. They rose 6.7 percent to $174.37 at the close in New York, before the results. Sales Help Tightening up sharing would help sales. A pricing or policy change could boost revenue per subscriber by 5 percent in 2014, accelerate new signups and fatten profit margins, according to Goldman Sachs & Co. Analyst Heath Terry. Hastings, 52, has a number of options, said Pachter, who has an underperform rating on the stock.

He could charge extra for access to kids’ programming. The company could also levy $3 each time a user wanted to register more than a limited number of devices per account.

Netflix Cracking Down On Vpn

The topic of raising prices is touchy. Netflix lost 800,000 domestic in the third quarter of 2011 when it raised the cost of combined streaming and DVD-by-mail service by 60 percent to $15.98 a month from $9.99 previously. Hastings has said Netflix has no plans to change prices. In January, he said the company still had “a year and a half of probation” left after the 2011 subscriber revolt.

“It wouldn’t take much to have that issue flare up again or for us to lose trust,” Hastings said. Family Plans Under current policy, Netflix lets people stream to two different devices at the same time using one subscription, said Joris Evers, a spokesman. That allows family members or friends to share a single account and watch different programs. He declined to comment on future plans.

The company’s terms of use limits customers to six authorized, Netflix-ready devices. The policy isn’t enforced. Netflix is considering family accounts that would let people keep individual queues and see personal recommendations, company executives said last May at a JPMorgan Chase & Co. While Netflix hasn’t discussed prices, Hastings suggested families now paying for two accounts might save money. In general, consumers don’t see sharing accounts as theft, according to John Rose, managing director of the media, technology and telecom practice for Boston Consulting Group in New York. Raising prices on every customer creates a risk in competitive markets where consumers have many choices, he said. “In the digital world, you don’t want to become the pariah, for people to rise up against you and look elsewhere for their content,” said Rose, a former EMI Group executive who struck digital music deals with Apple Inc.

Subscriber Outlook Hastings might offer a range of plans, including individual accounts, surcharges for additional users or some combination, Terry, the Goldman analyst, wrote on April 11. He has a neutral rating on the stock. If Hastings does that, Netflix might reach 53 million domestic subscribers in 2017, Terry estimates. The company could also just raise prices. Goldman estimates average revenue per user will rise 5 percent next year. “The improving quality of content, better personalization of the service and higher price points from competitors would justify moderately higher prices,” Terry wrote. Netflix is expected to report its U.S.

Online subscribers increased by 1.8 million to 29 million from year-end, the average of seven analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts project profit rose to 20 cents a share, compared with an 8-cent loss a year earlier, on sales that grew 17 percent to $1.02 billion. Studio Contracts The company has been trying to increase consumer loyalty by building a film and television library that stands out from competitors such as Amazon.com Inc., the largest Web retailer, Hulu LLC and Redbox Instant by Verizon.

Hastings has agreed to spend $5.63 billion over the next several years on exclusive content and original programs. He says subscriber gains - his goal is to reach 90 million U.S.

Customers in the next two decades - will pay for such deals. The exclusive Netflix horror series “Hemlock Grove” became available for viewing on April 19, and the show “Arrested Development” premieres on May 26. The original series “House of Cards” was its most-watched program ever. Hollywood studios that were reluctant to sign exclusive deals with Netflix now welcome its big paychecks amid dwindling DVD sales and the growing popularity of online viewing. Some 59 percent of teens in a recent Piper Jaffray Cos.

Survey said they expect to get most of their online viewing from Netflix in five years, up from 48 percent a year earlier. Consumer Clout “Despite all the bad PR, the mindshare of Netflix seems to be increasing,” said Michael Olson, a Piper Jaffray analyst in Minneapolis who rates the stock neutral. Of 38 analysts who follow the company, 11 say buy, 19 hold and 8 recommend selling. The company’s original and exclusive content, such as its film deals with Walt Disney Co. And DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., give Netflix more clout with consumers than it had in 2011, according to Tony Wible, a Janney Montgomery Scott LLC analyst in Philadelphia.

He recommended the stock in January for the first time in six years. Hastings, in a Facebook post this month, said subscribers since January had streamed 4 billion hours of video. That implies 87 minutes of daily streaming per subscriber, putting Netflix on par with the Disney Channel, the most-watched cable network, said Rich Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG Research. Netflix shares could be pressured if Hastings resumes a costly international expansion. Investors have been cheered by Hastings’s suggestion that geographic growth will occur at a slower pace to maintain profit, Olson said. “Depending on what they invest in for content and for international, they can do between $2 in earnings per share, up to $8,” said Olson, who has a buy rating on the stock.

The streaming services often have built-in limits that prevent too many people from sharing the same account. Hulu only allows one stream at a time. HBO Go and HBO Now are meant to be used only within “households.” Netflix has three subscription tiers, which allow one, two, and four simultaneous streams, respectively (and are priced accordingly).

Amazon Video allows up to two simultaneous streams. The companies don’t intend for you to share your accounts with people outside your home. But that doesn’t mean that they necessarily want to stop the practice, either.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has called account sharing HBO CEO Richard Plepler said it’s a “terrific marketing vehicle” and has. These companies aren’t trying to crack down on the practice, and it’s.

What about the law? Technically, sharing your password can violate a company’s terms of service, to sue you for breach of contract. Don’t worry—Netflix isn’t going to sue you for sharing, but the fact these terms exist may give you pause. Tennessee that makes it illegal to share passwords to subscription-based streaming services and while it’s unlikely you’d be prosecuted, you share at your own peril in that state. So when is it okay to share your password with another person? Here’s a quick guide: Allowed: Sharing within your immediate household Feel free to share your password with the people you actually live with.

Not only is this acceptable, but many of the streaming services also encourage it. They know how silly it would be for every member of a household to have to pay for his or her own subscription. HBO, for instance, says that an “applies to your entire household.” Netflix offers a $12 a month “premium” plan that allows up to four simultaneous streams—meaning a family of four could all watch Netflix, in four separate rooms, on four separate screens.

But that’s not very familial. Things get a little murkier when you don’t live in the same home as your immediate family.

Allowed: Using your parents’ password while at college Most college students do not have their own disposable incomes. If you’re lucky enough to be a college student with parents who pay for a streaming account, then, yes, get on that. Likewise, parents, please allow your children to mooch off of the family account for just a few more years, because as soon as they graduate and get a job Not allowed: Using your parents’ password after you get a job Once you have the means to pay for Netflix or HBO on your own, you should do so. At this point, it’s probably more likely that your parents would want to mooch off of you—not the other way around. And you should let them, for helping you out all those years—as long as their reason for asking is not because they can’t figure out the technology.

Not allowed: Using your child’s password because you can’t figure out how to get your own account Mom, this is not an excuse. It’s 2016, you must figure out how to sign up for Netflix on your own. And dad, it’s not called “The YouTube.” It’s just YouTube. And you don’t have to type “youtube” into Google to get there. You can just go straight to YouTube.com. Allowed: Sharing with roommates—if you already split expenses/utilities If you live with roommates and already split the cable TV bill, there isn’t any reason why you can’t split a streaming TV account.

That said, you may run into some trouble trying to stream things simultaneously if you have more roommates than stream allotments. So either sign up for a plan that allows for multiple streams, or come up with some sort of agreement on who gets to stream and when. If you can all easily afford your own subscriptions, then it’s better to just do that. This, of course, presupposes that all parties involved agree on sharing. If you aren’t comfortable sharing your password with a roommate, then don’t. He or she is not entitled to it just because you live in the same space. And if you move into a place where someone already has an account, don’t assume that you automatically should get access to it.

It’s okay to ask and offer to split the monthly bill, but don’t take it personally if the answer is no, and don’t do bad things to your roommate’s toothbrush afterward. Gray area: Sharing with a partner you don’t live with Generally, it’s okay to share a Netflix account with a boyfriend or girlfriend—not even House of Cards should come between true love.

But be very, very vigilant. You must trust this person. It depends on how long you’ve known this person, how long you’ve been together, and whether or not there are things that you already share. If you don’t trust your partner not to abuse Netflix privileges (like sharing it with other unsanctioned people), maybe you should consider reevaluating the entire relationship. If things go south and your partner ends up holding the Netflix password as collateral, it could erupt into full-scale war.

If your ex still has access to your accounts. Not allowed: Sharing with friends or colleagues long-term They keyword here is “long-term.” If a good friend comes to you asking to use Netflix just once to watch a specific show he or she really wants to watch—and you trust this person—then it could be okay, but be smart about it. Be sure to lay down the rules: just this one show, and don’t share it with anyone else. Once that person is done with the series, change your password.

If you’re the moocher in a situation like this, on how to do so appropriately. It’s not okay for platonic friends who don’t live with each other to share passwords over a long period of time. Don’t ask your colleague for his or her password, no matter how many times you go out to lunch with each other. If your colleague asks you for your password, either lie and say you don’t have one, or politely say that you’re not comfortable doing that but feel free to come over to watch Game of Thrones any time. Not allowed: Sharing with other family members or randoms “We usually like to think that a husband and wife can share an account and that that’s perfectly appropriate and acceptable,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said on an. “If you mean, ‘Hey, I got my password from my boyfriend’s uncle,’ then that’s not what we would consider appropriate.” This is totally reasonable.

Don’t share passwords with your in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, secret lovers, or estranged spouses. Don’t share with a friend’s friend or even a family friend.

Don’t share with your neighbors. Don’t share with the delivery guy. Recap The basic rule is that you should feel free to share with the people you live with—if you love them. James rollins books in order. If those people are just (trusted) friends, then it’s still usually permissible.

Other than that (with a few exceptions, noted above), you shouldn’t really share with anyone else. Nor should you ask for someone’s password if that person is not a parent, child, or partner. Companies like Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and Amazon are extremely lenient about password-sharing—don’t abuse the system.