Netflix estimates 100 million households are sharing passwords and suggests a global crackdown is coming

It could be a bad day for your brother.

Password sharing is going to be a thing of the past, according to the world's largest streaming video company. It seems like a serious warning this time, and it could mean an end to the rampant practice of borrowing a family member's or friend's login information.

More than 30 million U.S. and Canadian households use a shared password to access the service, according to the company. More than 100 million additional households are likely using a shared password.

In its quarterly shareholder letter, the company acknowledged that it allowed generous out-of- home password sharing because it helped get users hooked on the service. With competition from Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, NBCUniversal, Apple TV+, and other streamers eating into its growth, it wants the millions of households sharing passwords to start paying.

The company said in its letter that its high household penetration is creating revenue growth challenges.

In the first quarter of this year, the company lost 200,000 subscribers, the first time in more than a decade that they have lost subscribers. The company expects to lose 2 million subscribers in the second quarter.

There are 222 million subscribers on the streaming platform. It enjoyed booming growth during the Pandemic, but that customer surge has subsided, and now is negative.

Reed Hastings said that the company was doing fine without taking any strong actions.

Hastings said in 2016 that there were no plans to make any changes to password sharing.

Password sharing has helped with the image of the brand, as it has helped build a consumer friendly brand.

The company said in its shareholder note that sharing helped fuel its growth.

But times have changed. When growth stops, attitudes change.

There are different ways to curb password sharing in Costa Rica. If it follows the model it laid out in those countries, it will charge extra to accounts that share passwords out of home.

In the short-to-mid term, global changes will come, according to a statement from the company.

There is a warning to streaming services.

The parent company of CNBC and NBCUniversal is Comcast.