Panama City, FL (WMBB) — For years, Netflix users shared their passions and their passwords with one another.

But the company says those heady days of parents, friends, and ex-lovers sharing their accounts with one another are coming to an end.

According to Netflix’s recent shareholder report, the company will implement “paid sharing” more broadly because password sharing undermines its long-term ability to invest in and improve Netflix and build its business.

“I think it’s worth noting that this will not be a universally popular move, so there will current
members that are unhappy with this move. We’ll see a bit of a cancel reaction to that.” said Gregory Peters, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Product Officer in a recent investor interview. “So we get some increased churn associated with that for a period of time. But then generally, what happens is both from the specific changes that we make, we’ll see folks come on as new subscribers, essentially borrowers creating their accounts or incremental monetization through the extra member that will happen shortly thereafter.”

Netflix currently offers a starting plan of $6.99 a month, which includes ads and some limits on content. The next step up is their basic plan for $9.99 which removes those restrictions. The highest plan they offer is $19.99, which offers more supported devices and a higher HD quality.

Netflix says users can still share their account with “extra members.” It’s unclear what it will cost in America. A pilot program in Costa Rica charged $3 a person.

Suppose people are worried about losing their personal recommendations and viewing history. In that case, Netflix offers the option to transfer their profile to a new account, keeping the user’s personal recommendations, viewing history, etc.

“So we’ve worked hard to build additional new features that improve the Netflix experience, including the ability for members to review which devices are using their account and to transfer a profile to a new account. As we roll out paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay extra if they want to share Netflix with people they don’t live with. As is the case today, all members will be able to watch while traveling, whether on a TV or mobile device.”