Netflix Password Sharing a Crime?

Sharing your Netflix password could be a federal crime.

A California court upheld the conviction of a man who left his job but still used someone else's password to access the company database.

The CEO of Netflix recently said he doesn't mind when people share passwords because it creates a bigger audience.

According to an article by Fortune Magazine,  the decision makes millions of people who share passwords for Netflix and HBOGo into "unwitting federal criminals."

The man in California's conviction fell under the CFAA clause that criminalizes anyone who "knowingly and with intent to defraud, accesses a protected computer without authorization."

Ninth Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt's dissenting opinion said it was consensual password sharing which was a prosecutable offense.