Netflix begins crackdown on Koreans sharing accounts

Netflix has started to crack down on Korean users sharing accounts by sending a final notice for a two-week grace period.

Netflix logo installed in an event site in Seoul in 2019. [NEWS1/JOONGANG PHOTO]

Netflix has started to crack down on Korean users sharing accounts by sending a final notice for a two-week grace period.

The U.S. streaming giant said Monday it has been sending a temporary code to some of its Korean account-sharing users that has been valid for two weeks since November.

It bans password-shared access for non-cohabitants who live outside of registered households, which means access via unregistered IP addresses is restricted.

Registered household refers to the television linked to the internet at the main location where the user watches Netflix. To share the account, the users — who should be a family member of the household — must connect their devices to the same Wi-Fi as the household’s television.

Unless the users’ devices are connected to the registered IP address, their viewership will be discontinued at the time of code expiration. The platform will grant access to devices with a record of using the registered IP address.

Until now, there have been several cases where four people shared the account by paying 3,375 won ($2.53) or 4,250 won a month.

A user outside the registered household should pay an extra 5,000 won each month to continue the subscription.

“The notice sent out to users recently is part of a new policy declared in November and the company has been rolling out the plan gradually,” an official from Netflix told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Netflix's new account sharing scheme introduced in November [SCREEN CAPTURE/JOONGANG PHOTO]

Netflix’s new measure, however, did not impact its growth in the Korean market.

The number of application installations has been increasing steadily, marking 385,835 in November and 402,534 in December, according to big data analysis company IGAWorks.

Netflix’s monthly active users have stayed at around 13 million since last October, according to a report from local media outlet NEWS1.

Netflix Korea posted sales of 773 billion won in 2022, according to a corporate audit report. The company wired some 650.7 billion won to its headquarters in the United States and paid 3.3 billion won of local tax.

The standard subscription plan in Korea comes at 13,500 won per month and the premium plan is priced at 17,000 won per month.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]