{"id":24225,"date":"2022-12-22T08:40:40","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T13:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=24225"},"modified":"2022-12-22T08:40:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T13:40:40","slug":"uk-govt-netflix-password-sharing-is-illegal-potentially-criminal-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2022\/12\/22\/uk-govt-netflix-password-sharing-is-illegal-potentially-criminal-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Govt: Netflix Password Sharing is Illegal & Potentially Criminal Fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK Government’s Intellectual Property Office published new piracy guidance today, and it contains a small, easily missed detail. People who share their Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+ passwords are violators of copyright law. And it gets worse. The IPO informs TorrentFreak that password sharing could also mean criminal liability for fraud.<\/p>\n

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Following a limited launch in 2007 with just 1,000 titles, Neflix now carries more than 6,600 movies and TV shows for the enjoyment of more than 223 million subscribers.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s little doubt that Netflix password sharing contributed to the company\u2019s growth and by publicly condoning it, the practice was completely normalized \u2013 globally.<\/p>\n

The message was clear \u2013 Netflix loves you, you love Netflix, and now all your friends love Netflix too. Thanks for sharing.<\/p>\n

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\"netflix<\/a><\/center> <\/p>\n

Netflix and similar streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime and Disney+, still want you to love them, but password sharing? Not so much.<\/p>\n

Password Sharing is Not Love \u2013 It\u2019s Piracy<\/h2>\n

Five years after Netflix\u2019s now-infamous tweet, the ground is shifting. For the first time in its history, Netflix subscription numbers\u00a0decreased<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year and competition from rivals Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO and dozens of others is fierce.<\/p>\n

In the background and across the entire industry, \u2018password sharing\u2019 is receiving a reverse makeover. Nobody loves today\u2019s \u2018password piracy\u2019 and within the ACE anti-piracy coalition, which includes all of the\u00a0streaming services mentioned above<\/a>, the situation is no different.<\/p>\n

Given the obvious sensitivities, ACE publicly prefers \u201cunauthorized password sharing\u201d as a descriptor and elsewhere the phrase \u201cwithout permission\u201d is in common use. In Denmark, anti-piracy group Rights Alliance describes password sharing as \u201cnot allowed\u201d but this summer there was a small but significant step forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe extent of password sharing among Danes is therefore alarmingly high and eventually on a par with other forms of illegal consumption of content,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

UK Government Declares Password Sharing Illegal<\/h2>\n

Since password sharing is almost always a violation of streaming services\u2019 terms of service, observers have tended to paint it as such. The general tone is that password sharing is not illegal\u00a0per se<\/em>\u00a0but Netflix & Co. aren\u2019t particularly fond of it anymore.<\/p>\n

In a low-key announcement today, the UK Government\u2019s Intellectual Property Office announced a new campaign in partnership with Meta, aiming to help people avoid piracy and counterfeit goods online.<\/p>\n

Other than in the headline, there is zero mention of Meta in the accompanying advice, and almost no advice that hasn\u2019t been issued before. But then this appears:<\/p>\n

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\"password-sharing-uk-govt\"<\/a><\/center> <\/p>\n

TorrentFreak immediately contacted the Intellectual Property Office for clarification on the legal side, particularly since password sharing sits under a piracy heading.<\/p>\n

The IPO\u2019s response was uncompromising, to put it mildly.<\/p>\n

Password Sharing is Illegal & Potentially Criminal<\/h2>\n

Fraud has been the key charge in several big UK piracy cases over the last few years, despite the key offenses having a direct link to copyright law. Fraud is a criminal offense in the UK and a conviction could easily prevent or even end a career. On a \u2018being reasonable\u2019 basis, we ruled fraud out.<\/p>\n

According to the IPO, nothing can be ruled out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a range of provisions in criminal and civil law which may be applicable in the case of password sharing where the intent is to allow a user to access copyright protected works without payment,\u201d the IPO informs TorrentFreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese provisions may include breach of contractual terms, fraud or secondary copyright infringement depending on the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that using the \u201cservices of a members\u2019 club without paying and without being a member\u201d is cited as an\u00a0example of fraud in the UK<\/a>, the bar for criminality is set very low, unless the Crown Prosecution Service decides otherwise, of course.<\/p>\n

A subscription streaming service pursuing a password-sharing subscriber for fraud might present itself as a legal option, but a PR disaster is never a commercial option, especially when password sharing could be ended today using technical means. So what else is on the table?<\/p>\n

Other Legal Options<\/h2>\n

Other options mentioned by the IPO are directly linked to contract law and licensing, both of which govern subscriber behavior. So-called \u2018terms of service\u2019 are part of the agreement when people subscribe to a streaming service like Netflix.<\/p>\n

Of course, few people read every term in detail (including when the terms are varied via email) but Netflix\u2019s agreement document grants specific rights to the subscriber under contract and copyright law, neither of which allows password sharing beyond specified limits.<\/p>\n

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\"netflix-terms-uk-2022\"<\/a><\/center> <\/p>\n

It\u2019s of some interest that sharing a password can be described as \u201cunauthorized\u201d or \u201cnot allowed\u201d by anti-piracy groups and rightsholders yet be considered a serious criminal offense under existing law. Either way, the Intellectual Property Office didn\u2019t\u00a0label password sharing illegal<\/a>\u00a0and a potential crime for no reason.<\/p>\n

Overall, deterrence seems to be the goal here. Criminalizing tens of thousands of people is a self-inflicted headache the UK doesn\u2019t need and in practical terms, couldn\u2019t begin to cope with.<\/p>\n

If streaming services\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0wanted to stop password sharing, they already have the means to do so. Whether they have the will is another matter.<\/p>\n

Update December 20, 2022:<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the past few hours the Intellectual Property Office edited its advice. The announcement page no longer references password sharing in any way. The first image below shows the original. The second shows the edited version. A reference link to an archive record of the original publication is included.<\/em><\/p>\n

Image 1<\/strong>\u00a0(Original, Wayback Machine link\u00a0here<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"IPO-Password-sharing-original\"<\/a><\/center> <\/p>\n

Image 2<\/strong>\u00a0(Edited, current version)<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"IPO-Password-sharing-edited\"<\/a><\/center><\/div>\n<\/article>\n