We interrupt this Netflix presentation to make sure it really is you watching.

Prepare to get this message from Netflix, or some version of it, starting in early 2023.

Netflix is poised to crack down on people using a subscriber’s password on different IP addresses and device IDs, as well as on account activity, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Netflix password-sharing among family members and friends is costing it around $721 million in revenue a year in the U.S. and Canada, where 30 million people share their Network password, Cowen estimates.

Until now, Netflix has been reluctant to alienate viewers by cracking down on password-sharing. The video streaming leader, with 223 million subscribers around the world and a market cap of $128 billion, is also aware that attempting to end unauthorized viewership could result in cancellations and yield only a one-time subscription bump.

Plus, consumers have a wide array of other streaming services to choose from.

In November, Netflix tried to kick the can down the road by offering ad-supported subscriptions for $6.99 a month, compared with its regular $9.99 fee.

As far back as 2019, however, Netflix was aware of how much of a drain subscription-sharing was having on its profits.

Then the pandemic happened and Netflix—like other home-bound purveyors of entertainment, exercise, videoconferencing, technology and food delivery—entered a renaissance of booming profits that permitted it to delay the issue.

Netflix’s solution may be to ask users to verify their identity each time they log in with a verification code sent to their cellphones, active for only 15 minutes.

Netflix might also keep sending gentle prompts to subscribers to ask them to pay an additional monthly fee to add another viewer. This is an approach it has been testing in Latin America, where password-sharing is rife.

One subscriber, for instance, was startled to discover 26 people piggybacking onto his account. When he changed his password, his uncle called him to ask what had happened to "his" account.

Netflix might also only let a subscriber to share their password with just two individuals.

Earlier this year, Netflix tried to gently discourage people from sharing their log-in information with a disclaimer on its customer help pages saying that accounts should only be shared by people who live together.

So far, though, Netflix has not found a solution to the problem of serving bona fide subscribers using multiple devices to view its movies and shows. Or account holders who travel a lot, or who own a second home. Let alone subscribers with children who live in different homes.

Users who access Netflix over cellular phones via mobile networks are also harder to pin down than those who stream over Wi-Fi or wired broadband.

While Netflix is the first streaming service to try to tackle the password-sharing conundrum, it won’t be the last. Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount+ all have the same problem.

One thing is for sure, though. The Netflix password police are coming—this from a company that once tweeted, “Love is sharing a password.”