That's not what the law is meant to prevent. It's meant to prevent me from sharing my online service (Netflix) account with my mother. It's meant to persuade me to tell my mother to get her own account. Clearly these people don't love their mothers.
Doesn't NetFlix specifically allow you to have mutliple users on an account? I'd be curious if NetFlix was actually involved in the lobbying that became this law.
http://www.netflix.com/FAQ?p_faqid=2902 says you can have up to six devices authorized for one account, and you can use up to [# of discs in your plan] simultaneously, to a maximum of 4.
From the exact same Tennessee law, a person commits the offense of theft of services who:
"(3) Knowingly absconds from establishments where compensation for services is ordinarily paid immediately upon the rendering of them, including hotels, motels and restaurants, without payment or a bona fide offer to pay."
Your stay at a hotel or meal at a restaurant is private business between you and that hotel/restaurant. Local law enforcement only gets involved if you choose not to pay.
Does this law have provisions for "enablers"? Can Tennessee go after NetFlix for encouraging users to break the law (multi-user accounts)?
More importantly, if there is a dragnet investigation and a dorm room gets arrested for sharing NetFlix with each other, can they still go to jail if they abided by the TOS?
