By Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski
Netflix Inc has expanded its crackdown on password sharing to the US and more than 100 other countries, alerting users that their accounts cannot be shared for free outside their households.
The streaming video pioneer has been looking for new ways to make money as it faces signs of market saturation, with efforts including limits on password borrowing and a new ad-supported option.
On Tuesday, Netflix said it was sending emails about account sharing to customers in 103 countries and territories, including the US, Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Mexico and Brazil.
The emails state that a Netflix account should be used only in one household. Paying customers can add a member outside their homes for an additional fee. In the US, the fee is $8 (about R150) a month.
Members can also transfer a person's profile so the user can keep their viewing history and recommendations.
Last year, Netflix said it was going to limit account sharing and was testing various approaches in some markets.
The company had estimated that more than 100 million households had supplied their log-in credentials to friends and family outside their homes. As of the end of March, Netflix’s paying customers totalled 232.5 million globally.
Under the new policies, people within the same household could continue sharing a Netflix account and could use it on various devices when travelling, the company said.
Reuters