Netflix is tackling its password-sharing problem more aggressively now. The content streaming platform is currently running a test in Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic that prompts users to pay an additional fee if they use an account on a TV or TV-connected device at a location outside their primary household for over two weeks. 

The test will start on August 22 and each additional location will come at an additional monthly cost of 219 pesos in Argentina (approximately $1.17) and $2.99 everywhere else.

The two-week window is allowed once per location per year and will only work as long as your account hasn’t been used in said location. 

Netflix will now let you buy additional ‘homes’

Subscribers on the basic plan can add one extra home, standard plan members get two and premium users get up to three. The platform is also working on a feature that lets users in the countries mentioned above track where their account is being used and restrict access if required. 

Netflix says that in the test areas, subscribers will have one primary ‘home’ where they can access their account on any device, including using the account on laptops and mobile devices, without having to take this new extra step. However, should they want to access their accounts on TV screens outside their house for longer than two weeks, they will have to buy an additional home.

The platform is defining the term ‘home’ as a physical location tracked by information including IP addresses, device IDs and account activity. 

This test is an expansion of Netflix’s pay-to-share model test introduced back in March in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, where users sharing their accounts with people outside their households had to pay extra to continue doing so by adding extra members. While this allowed users to set up extra accounts with their own profiles, settings, personalised recommendations and login credentials, it also came at a cost, specifically, 2,380 CLP in Chile, 2.99 USD in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN in Peru.

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