Users with Netflix subscription who share passwords with their family and friends will no longer be able to do so.
A UK company, Synamedia, which was displayed at a Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, has developed a solution based on the principles of artificial intelligence; it is designed to assist the service providers, particularly content streamers to detect the unlawful sharing of passwords and information which grants illegal access to the streaming platform.
How the solution works?
The software examines data of all customers once a streaming platform or the operator grants access to the subscriber information. It takes various factors into consideration before it concludes an illegal sharing of login credentials taking place. The software is configured to discover informal sharing of login credentials amongst friends and families. Furthermore, it can identify a more organized and criminalized buying and selling of login credentials.
Other revelations the software can make include the location from where the account is being logged into, the changes in location, timing and duration of the platform being used, concurrent logins, the device on which the platform is being accessed and the type and genre of content being watched by the user. All the aforementioned factors give the platform a probability score, which indicates the chances of illegal credentials sharing and violation of the terms and conditions of the service by raising flags.
According to the reports, the company stated that in severe cases of passwords being bought and sold over the internet would result in the deletion of such accounts. However, in the majority of the cases, the users will be advised to get an upgrade to the multi-user subscription facility which is notably costlier than the standard one.
Expert’s take
Referenced from the statements given by Synamedia CTO Jean-Marc Racine,
“A typical pattern would be you have a subscriber that is simultaneously watching content on the East Coast and West Coast of the US,”
“That’s unlikely to be the same person.”
“That’s unlikely to be the same person.”
Weighing the financial aspects, she added, “Casual credentials’ sharing is becoming too expensive to ignore. Our new solution gives operators the ability to take action. Many casual users will be happy to pay an additional fee for a premium, shared service with a greater number of concurrent users. It’s a great way to keep honest people honest while benefiting from an incremental revenue stream,”
