Interesting Links for 02-02-2023

[andrewducker]

1. Antibiotics increase risk of Crohn's and IBD, particularly in people aged over 40.

(tags:disease IBS antibiotics )

2. Netflix Unveils First Details of New Anti-Password Sharing Measures

(tags:Netflix streaming security business )

3. Finland becomes the latest country to support self-identification for gender

(tags:LGBT transgender Finland GoodNews )

4. Film bro starter pack. (I have seen and loved nearly all of these)

(tags:movies video )

Comments

[danieldwilliam]

I appreciate this is very much a First World Problem but I'm curious about how the Netflix situation is going to work for second homes.

[andrewducker]

Looks like you'd either need to be at your primary residence once every 31 days, or to get a code to keep it working for 7 days at a time.

Looks like they're testing adding second homes in a few countries: https://mashable.com/article/netflix-home-account-sharing - I wonder if it will become generally available.

[danieldwilliam]

Not sure I love the idea of taking one of my household TVs from one building to another.

[andrewducker]

Yup, I can't see that working.

You might need to set up a separate email address, and use that to create a separate Netflix account at the other property.

[andrewducker]

Aha! Second property coming to the UK early this year:
https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/netflix-password-sharing-fee-coming-uk/

[snippy]

My issue is too many devices. I have seven, all in one household! We are not sharing passwords, we all live in the same apartment. And what about if one of us wants to watch something at work? (It's allowed on lunch hour at both employers).

[andrewducker]

As long as all 7 of you aren't watching simultaneously you'll be fine. And I suspect that won't happen *that* often.

[snippy]

My understanding was that the premium account allows for a maximum of 5 devices. Not at a time, but at all. But now Netflix is backing off some of that, and I called and expressed my displeasure.

[bens_dad]

In the UK you need a separate TV licence for a second home (or even a caravan, unless the TV is battery only). If you think of that as a subscription to the BBC, ITV and C4, Netflix aren't doing anything different.

What I don't understand is what about watching on my tablet (iPad etc.) Especially if it sends the signal to a smart TV ?

[andrewducker]

You'll need to use it at home every 31 days.

[bens_dad]

Ah. I wonder how many parents will see more of their student children asvthey come home to reconnect.

31 days is a hassle, but if I had a monthly video night everyone could still "borrow" my Netflix.

[danieldwilliam]

That's a fair point.

I'm not terribly morally offended if Netflix decide that their subscription model is one subscription per house or device or person or whatever. I'll cut my cloth according to their measure and my means. However, their concept of "household" seems a little unclear at the moment.

I thought Cory Doctorow had some interesting thoughts on it.

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1621139202183143424

[andrewducker]

I totally agree that once you create the kind of definition that a computer can understand (and be programmed with) of anything that will create cut offs, with some people on each side. And for some of those people I'll have some sympathy (the child of divorce moving back and forth between parents, for instance).

But I'm not unsympathetic to the idea of Netflix making money, and I've seen an awful lot of "It's really unfair that Netflix won't let me share the password with my aged parents I haven't lived with for a decade", which in no way would fall inside any reasonable meaning of "household". And the flexibility of you being able to use it on a device so long as you're in the main domicile once per month seems to cover the vast majority of real cases, with significant room to spare.

[anef]

I understand that Finland is the happiest country in the world.