If you’ve been using someone else’s Netflix account, you may want to finish your binging ASAP! Password sharing on Netflix could soon be a thing of the past, as video software provider Synamedia just unveiled a new AI-powered system that can crack down on shared accounts.
Synamedia cited recent research from Magid, which found that roughly 26 percent of millennials give out their streaming information to other people who in turn can use the service for free. The software will be able to identify which users are logged in and where and will flag shared accounts.
Why is this a big deal? Well, another study from Parks Associates found that by 2021, password sharing could account for $9.9 billion of losses in pay-TV revenues and $1.2 billion of over-the-top (OTT) revenues.
The new system will allow a service to specify how many users would be allowed on a single account, and the AI can then monitor a subscriber database for any potential fraudulent activity. Synamedia explains that the system would be able to figure out exactly where and how each account is being used.
Proving that AI is going to take over the world, the software will be able to determine if a certain user is streaming from their regular home, a vacation home, or somewhere that is not a permanent address. The AI will also be able to determine if users are sharing their credentials with friends or adult children who no longer live at home. Users sharing with children not at home will be offered a premium account with a pre-authorized level of password sharing that can be used between a larger number of people.
According to Synamedia, the system has already begun trials. In an interview, Jean Marc Racine, CPO of Synamedia said:
“Casual credentials sharing is becoming too expensive to ignore. Our new solution gives operators the ability to take action. Many casual users will be happy to pay an additional fee for a premium, shared service with a greater number of concurrent users. It’s a great way to keep honest people honest while benefiting from an incremental revenue stream.”
