The UK government's Intellectual Property Office has published new privacy guidelineswhich contain a detail that, although it may seem small, can represent a big difference in the way streaming and Video On Demand platform services are controlled.
These guidelines are written in order to regulate instances of piracy that take place by sharing account passwords services like Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime and others, revoking the legality of the action and officially turning it into a criminal act.
The UK says sharing your Netflix password is illegal and "potentially criminal"
Currently, Netflix is the best-known and one of the most widely used streaming services in the world, with 6.600 movies, series, and documentaries for the enjoyment of over 220 million subscribers. One of the reasons for Netflix's popularity It's their permissiveness when it comes to sharing passwords, prompted by the platform itself on its Twitter account, in a Tweet made in March 2017 in which they expressed that “To love is to share a password”.
Today, however, times have changed. Netflix has lost a substantial number of subscribers for the first time in its history, due in part to increased competition in the streaming platform industry, with the launch of rivals such as Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO, and others. The entire industry frowns upon the practice of sharing passwords.At the center of the coalition of anti-piracy groups, which includes all the aforementioned streaming services, the situation is the same.
Within this coalition, especially in countries like Denmark and the United KingdomThere is no hesitation in expressing their disdain for the act of sharing passwords without authorization, And this summer, measures have been taken against this problem. Sharing passwords is almost always a violation of the terms of service on most streaming platforms, and although it's not illegal in itself, Netflix and other services don't look favorably upon it.
Therefore, in a discreet announcement made by the The UK government's Intellectual Property Office, in partnership with Meta, is urging the public to avoid piracy and misuse of goods online..
The law stipulates that “piracy is a major problem for the creative and entertainment industry. Pasting images from the internet on your social media, sharing streaming service passwords, and accessing the latest movies, TV series, or live sports, even through Kodi, Fire Sticks, or apps without paying a subscription, All of this violates copyright laws…"
Many of the legal bases applied by the intellectual property office in relation to piracy are related to laws that punish fraud, which is a criminal offense, stipulating that the applicable provisions of criminal and civil law These may include violation of contractual terms, fraud, or secondary infringement of intellectual property, depending on the circumstances.
Could this measure reach Spain?
While there are no indications yet that this measure will be applied in Spain, it is not a scenario that should be ruled out, since copyright regulation measures are resources that can be applied in any country that wishes to enjoy the service.
It should also be noted that, while these new privacy guidelines are currently limited to the UK government, Initiatives for the protection of intellectual property and copyright are present in countries such as France and Denmark.
In the long run, everything will depend on the measures Netflix decides to implement regarding its services in the region, and given that Netflix is doing its best to limit the misuse of its services and ensure that its users adhere to the guidelines established by its privacy policy, it is a very real possibility that password sharing will become illegal in various parts of the world.
