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Variety

Password Sharing: Are Netflix, HBO Missing $500 Million by Not Cracking Down?

July 14, 2015

Netflix, HBO and other Internet video-subscription providers are theoretically leaving megabucks on the table from customers nefariously sharing login info with nonpaying users. So why aren’t they aggressively trying to block the millions of freeloaders gorging on “Game of Thrones” or “Orange Is the New Black”?

Illicit password-sharing would appear to be a serious issue for subscription VOD players: The practice will cost the sector upwards of $500 million worldwide in 2015, according to a recent report from research firm Parks Associates.

It’s certainly a striking claim. About 6% of U.S. broadband households use an over-the-top video service paid by someone living outside of the household, the firm estimated. Unauthorized password-sharing is most rampant among consumers 18-24, with 20% of OTT users in that age bracket binge-watching on someone else’s dime, Parks says. The data is based on a consumer survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households conducted in Q3 2014.

From the article "Password Sharing: Are Netflix, HBO Missing $500 Million by Not Cracking Down?" by Todd Spangler.

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