​Netflix Urges Users Not To Take The P*** When It Comes To Sharing Accounts

It's a given that the Netflix account you're using has at least a handful of other people connected to it - and that's whether you're the cheapskate nicking the streaming service off their mate, or the generous pal that's footing the bill.

But by the sounds of things, now Netflix is onto us all - and has issued a bit of a finger wagging, basically asking you not to take the piss.

While the company isn't stupid, and knows that at the end of the day people are going to share the service to cut down on costs, company CEO Reed Hastings has now spoken out about just how generous the company wants to be.

"We love people sharing Netflix," he said at the Consumer Electrics Show.

"That's a positive thing, not a negative thing."

Credit: PA

It's expected to a degree, given that Netflix offers plans to allow customers to stream shows on multiple screens simultaneously. And when the basic plan in the UK is £5.99 ($8) for just one, but the £7.99 ($10.70) standard plan allows for two and the £9.99 ($13.35) premium plan for four, it seems like a no-brainer to splash out a tiny bit more to make it worthwhile.

However, something tells us he's not exactly been over the moon about the extent to which people share accounts.

He said: "We expect that Netflix is a household level purchase, and that sharing with members of the household is a reasonable thing to do.

"When the kids go off to college, are they going to use that login? Well, that's probably OK, but when the kids go off and form their own household, they want the control of having their own account, so eventually that turns into a new revenue stream for us there as well."

Reed Hastings. Credit: PA

He added: "The terms of use is sharing within the household and that's our expectation.

"I don't think we are obsessed with enforcing compliance with a one-household-per-account constraint.

"Because, in reality, it's a high-value programme, so that's what people are going to do."

So while the company's urging you not to be a total piss-take, at least it's not enforcing a one-household-only rule just yet. It's just probably a bit of a dick move to keep using your ex's little sister's account, and then passing that around all your mates...