• Stopthecap.com, Wednesday, September 7, 2011 12:56 PM

Netflix appears to be cracking down on streaming customers who share their accounts with family members and roommates. According to Stopthecap.com, Netflix has implemented strict new limits on the number of concurrent video streams available for viewing. "Netflix has always unofficially had streaming limitations," its notes, though enforcement was apparently lax.

The new restrictions appear to be timed to coincide with Netflix's recent price increases, Stopthecap.com notes. "Now, large families sharing a Netflix account will either have to reserve time to watch their respective favorites or pay considerably more for a combo disc-rental/streaming plan which unlocks a corresponding number of concurrent streams." Families desiring two concurrent video streams will need to pay $19.98 a month, which also allows them two mailed DVDs out at a time.

Three streams, meanwhile, will set them back $23.98. Stopthecap, for its part, questions Netflix's timing. "With the controversial Sept. 1 price increase effectively near-doubling the cost to watch video streams and rent one DVD at a time by mail," it writes, "now may not be the best time to further antagonize loyal customers."

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