Sam Figiel, a sophomore at Mercer University in Georgia, said access to Netflix is required for many of his peers' classes. Yet the gradual password-sharing changes have created uncertainty for college students who might not have, or want to spend, disposable income for their own subscriptions. People in the 18-to-34 age group, which accounts for 30% of all Netflix users, are more likely to exchange passwords than older viewers. "There are a lot, lot, lot of U.S. users that are not paying for it, and so I think they're very sensitive to the backlash that they're going to get when they institute this," Nollen said. Staying or leavingEven if the cost of a subscription could rise for borrowers, some college students think Netflix is too important to give up.

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