Why is it illegal to share your screen via Discord, etc. when watching Netflix – and how is it differentiated from people sitting on your couch next to you to watch alongside you?

Question

To further explain, the concept is the same, isn’t it? Watching IRL you can have 2, 3, 10 people around one screen. Online, you can do the same thing by sharing your screen through Discord and similar apps, but in that case it is illegal, you can get accounts banned, warned, etc. and is seemingly considered to be piracy. What is the actual difference between the two?

In: Other

Answer 1

It’s not illegal, but it is against the respective companies policies.

They sell you a license to view the content in specific ways, each service is a bit different but most of the time it’s a household license, or a license to view on personal devices. There are typically conditions that you cannot host viewing parties, etc.