‘Membership canceled without notice’ say Netflix owners after ‘banwave’
NETFLIX has been cracking down on subscribers using an illegal method to avoid high subscription fees.
In recent Reddit threads, Netflix subscribers revealed that they use virtual private networks (VPNs) to avoid high subscription fees.
VPNs work by encrypting your internet data, so a user can be in the US but their data claims they are in another country.
However, Netflix has learned about this practice and is conducting ‘banwaves’ against people who abuse regional pricing.
“My Netflix just got canceled,” one Reddit user explained. “They said it was due to unusual activity.”
“I used a Turkish account from Australia. They are putting pressure on those who use VPNs to get cheap subscriptions,” she added.
Another Netflix user shared a similar story, noting that they were in the Netherlands but used a VPN to pretend they were in Turkey.
“This strategy served me well until a sudden problem arose last Saturday: my subscription was abruptly canceled due to fraud,” they explained.
Users shared a few solutions on Reddit to bypass the banwaves, but they may risk getting banned from Netflix.
While the streaming service continues to play by the rules, some critics say the company is “digging itself a hole with these kinds of cancellations.”
“Everyone will start pirating again and cancel the subtitles if that’s the case,” one person commented.
The recent surge in people using VPNs for the Netflix service comes after the company announced a rate increase last year.
The company revealed that users on the Basic plan will pay $11.99 per month, up from $9.99.
And those who pay $19.99 per month for Premium would have to pay $22.99.
Meanwhile, the $6.99 ad-supported plans and the $15.49 standard plans remained the same price.
The recently implemented price increases caused many Netflix users to reevaluate and cancel their subscriptions.
Netflix reported 80.13 million paid streaming subscribers in the United States and Canada in the fourth quarter of 2023.
This figure follows a sharp decline in North American subscribers through the first nine months of 2022 Statistical.