With the start of the new year, Netflix is making several changes that affect consumers. The price for each streaming plan has increased, causing consumers to either downgrade or cancel their subscription altogether. Netflix is also implementing a new software which enables the company to track unexplainable cases of password sharing.

The popular streaming service is increasing costs on each individual payment and streaming plan. Netflix’s standard plan (most favored), which previously was priced at $10.99 a month for streaming capabilities on two HD devices at one time, now costs $12.99. The advertised $7.99 non-HD plan (basic plan) has been increased to $8.99 per month. The premium streaming plan which allows streaming capabilities on four devices has increased $2 and is now $15.99 per month.

The sudden increase in pricing has caused several unhappy customers to either downgrade their streaming plan to one that is less expensive or cancel their Netflix subscription all together. But research indicates most consumers have either agreed to pay the increased price or downgrade their streaming plan. However, Netflix is finally reaching a level of price resistance – people are fighting back against the price increase and refusing to pay it. On average, roughly 8 percent of Netflix subscribers said they would cancel their service.

An increase in pricing is not the only change coming to Netflix this new year. The popular streaming service will be adopting “Credentials Sharing Insight,” a software developed by Synamedia that will pick up on unusual patterns of password sharing to ensure that Netflix passwords are not shared between multiple consumers.

It is common that friends and extended family members share Netflix, Hulu, Spotify and many other television and/or music streaming services. However, this mass sharing of information is causing media companies to lose billions of dollars in customer sales. Chief product officer of Synamedia, Jean Marc Racine says, “Casual credentials sharing is becoming too expensive to ignore. Our new solution gives operators the ability to take action.”   

The software will be able to track and decipher login patterns; therefore, it will determine if passwords are being shared between seemingly unrelated households. For example, if two households shared a password but appeared to be unrelated and resided in different geographical locations, Synamedia’s software would flag this as a potential sharing risk and alert both Netflix and the account holder.

While these changes are outraging Netflix customers, the streaming service has valid reason for upping their prices and ensuring more consumers pay for their content. Popular shows and movies that are produced by and streamed exclusively on Netflix are becoming more numerous and expensive. Marvel shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage cost $40 million to produce each season. The prices per season increase with other shows like Hemlock Grove and Sense 8. But the most expensive Netflix show costing $130 million per season, is The Crown.

Netflix’s increase in pricing has been justified as means of producing more shows and movies that are unique to the streaming service. Despite this, many subscribers are unhappy with the changes. However, many customers understand and look forward to being able to watch more of their favorite Netflix originals.