Netflix's password-sharing crackdown is causing misery for millions of users — but social media users are not taking no for an answer and have found a workaround. The hack first surfaced on Reddit's Unethical Life Pro Tips channel and was seized on by disgruntled Netflix users.  Some complained the hack was too complex - others claimed to be so unhappy with the streaming giant they aimed to cancel their accounts. The hack has since been shared More hints widely across social media, with one user claiming it saved their long-distance relationship.

Another Twitter user urged other VPN firms to introduce similar functions. Could a VPN app offer a 'way around' Netflix's password-sharing ban?  The technique, known as 'tunneling,' allows multiple people to connect from the same IP address (an internet address used by Netflix to identify where people are connecting from). Netflix's 'ban' uses IP addresses and other methods to detect whether users share passwords. Netflix said, 'A Netflix account is for use by one household.' NordVPN's 'Meshnet' feature allows users to appear to be connecting from the same IP address as someone else (so that, for example, you can be on another continent and seem to be connecting from a friend's house) and works on devices including Android TVs.

Rather than routing traffic through a VPN server (which changes your IP address to that of the server and which Netflix attempts to block by blocking lists of VPN servers), users can, for example, route internet traffic through a TV or laptop at home.