The UK Says Sharing Netflix Passwords is Illegal, Could be Criminal Fraud
upstart writes:
But you probably shouldn't worry:
It's a known fact that a huge number of streaming service subscribers share their passwords with friends and family. Netflix is trying to crack down on the practice, and the UK government certainly condemns it: password sharing in the UK is a violation of copyright law and could be considered criminal fraud.
[...] TorrentFreak contacted the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for clarification. "There is a range of provisions in criminal and civil law which may be applicable in the case of password sharing where the intent is to allow a user to access copyright-protected works without payment," the IPO said. "These provisions may include breach of contractual terms, fraud or secondary copyright infringement depending on the circumstances."
The UK's Crown Prosecution Service states that using the services of a members' club without paying and without being a member, which could be applied to sharing streaming services' passwords, is an example of fraud.
[...] Since losing subscribers for the first time in a decade earlier this year, Netflix has been trying to crack down on password sharing, which happens in around a third of US households. Experiments with charging subscribers to add extra homes have taken place in Argentina, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic in preparation for a wider rollout. Netflix also started rolling out a profile transfer tool in October so new subscribers can move their viewing history, personalized recommendations, saved games and other custom settings to their own membership.
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