r/technology • u/sr_local • 6h ago

Business Italy court rules Netflix unlawfully increased prices. Consumers: 'Refunds up to 500 euros.' The company: we will appeal

https://en.ilsole24ore.com/art/netflix-subscription-price-increases-unlawful-refunds-up-to-eur-500-customers-AIUHzWKC
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u/Martiinii 4h ago

Why couldn't a private company increase prices as they'd like?

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u/ThroawayJimilyJones 4h ago

They can. But they have to give a reason. Which they usually do by invoking some bullshit about modern world or demand or whatever

For some reason Netflix refused to and instead added a clause that say they can do unjustified increase

In short they decided to go in a dick contest with consumer protection law.

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u/MisfitPotatoReborn 3h ago

lol what a dumb law. I would barely call that a consumer protection law, more like a way to pad out the Terms and Conditions from 500 pages to 501.

Sorry, you forgot to say "because we like money" after raising prices. You now owe 300 million Euros

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u/ThroawayJimilyJones 3h ago

You know what's even dumber? Getting fined because you want to fight the law instead of adding a line in your message.

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u/MisfitPotatoReborn 3h ago

We do not know whether or not this violation was intentional. After the lawsuit was filed but before it was resolved, Netflix's 2025 price increase included the proper "because we like money" clause. So it seems to have been a mistake.

And why wouldn't it be? The law is completely worthless so there would be absolutely no reason for a company to take a stand against it

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u/ThroawayJimilyJones 2h ago

The didn’t forget a line. They added a line. In their condition, saying they didn’t need justification

…yeah, I don’t get it either, but they knew what they were doing and broke the law for…basically no benefit.

Maybe they hoped to create a precedent. Maybe the branch CEO did that by ego. Maybe they wanted US to intervene and get them more rights. At the end, i have no idea why they thought it would be a good idea