Netflix is starting another battle with its target audience i.e. non paying customers who access its content through torrents.
It is known that not all viewers who access Netflix are paying for the monthly subscription. Netflix Inc. knows that password sharing amongst viewers, friends, and families is common and gradually the trend is increasing for multiple reasons. One reason is that password sharing is a cost effective method of using the service whereas the other reason is that some people buy one membership (preferably the 4 screen plan) in one household. But it seems like the online video content service provider might soon change this feat.
The streaming giant recently began its crack down operation on users that were accessing the service using a VPN service. According to the company, this was the initial step to take on pirates. Sources suggest that Netflix is now taking its operations a step forward as it looks forward to preventing the paying customers from stealing using VPN services.
The streaming service provider is also making a list of sites that are the host to pirated original series of Netflix through torrent links. All in all, Netflix wants to make its customers feel valued as if almost 75 million subscribers are spending minimum $7 per month to access Netflix content and original series, why the remaining TV viewers who are not subscribed to Netflix get to watch its content via pirated means.
It is believed that this is the first time ever that the streaming service provider has taken a bold approach to protect its copyrighted properties. For long, the company was under pressure from its content license owners to save the content from geo dodgers and such pirates.
In 2015, the CEO Reed Hastings famously said that Netflix is not interested in going against those users who pirate its content. Mr. Hastings continued, “Certainly there’s some torrenting that goes on, and that’s true around the world, but some of that just creates the demand.”
Since then, Netflix has significantly grown in the market to become the global TV network. And as it keeps on moving forward, the organization is changing its policies of which the streaming service trying hard to prevent access of non paying customers from the platform from under rated and shady locations. Netflix is forcing and urging people who do not own a streaming membership to buy and do not steal content video hosting sites and torrents. It wants people to stream the same content using its official service.
Netflix is all in to fighting pirates. Torrent Freak states, “The company has significantly increased the number of takedown requests in the last year. So far, the company targeted almost 72,000 links to pirated content found on both torrenting and streaming sites. Most of these links have been removed, so don’t be surprised if you can’t find House of Cards, Narco, or Sense8 available for download on illegal sharing or for streaming on shady sites.”
The internet TV provider is currently engaged in two battles now with its own target audience. It will be exciting to see how the company manages to win as well as keep hold of its customers in the longer run
No comments:
Post a Comment