Tennessee lawmakers have passed a new measure that would make it a crime to use a friend’s login – even with permission! – to share Netflix, Rhapsody or any other services amongst friends.
The bill is sitting on the governor’s desk, waiting for his approval. The needless initiative was pushed by, who else, the woefully out of touch jackasses at the RIAA, who have seemingly been trying to find ways to combat illegal downloading of music for centuries now. I mean, come on, do they really think making password sharing amongst friends illegal will save the CD and DVD sales?
The initiative is just so petty it’s like screwing over the guy who shared a soda with his girlfriend. Why don’t they ban sharing completely? Maybe I shouldn’t be allowed to lend my friend a CD or Blu-ray or DVD box set of a TV show anymore. Maybe I shouldn’t give friends pieces of candy or popcorn when I go to the movie theatre. Maybe I shouldn’t be allowed to save seats? Who knows!
I don’t think anyone who shares their Netflix password does it out of malice. It’s probably college kids who live on the same floor, people who do it out of convenience or dirt cheap dudes who are going to circumvent the system anyway. Either way, it’s not a big time problem. Why worry about screwing over the little guys, RIAA? Netflix has made it so easy to get your own subscription and does such a great job at customising the experience so it suits your watching tastes that it’s totally worth your seven bucks a month. People will pay when it’s good. Netflix knows that. So just let the people be Tennessee! [Tennessean]