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If you're a seasoned Netflix instant streaming user, it may surprise you to know that the company has always had an official policy of limiting the number of simultaneous streams you're using. Now, Netflix has made that policy more concrete by producing an error message if you attempt to access your streaming account when it is already in use.

Netflix notified its members in a blog post on Friday, when movies such as "Easy A" and "Grown Ups" stopped being available on its "Watch Instantly" service. They are still available to be rented as DVDs through the mail.

Move over, Web surfing. Netflix movies now take up more of the Internet pipes going into North American homes. A study published Tuesday by Sandvine Inc. shows that Netflix movies and TV shows account for nearly 30 percent of traffic into homes during peak evening hours, compared with less than 17 percent for Web browsing.

Netflix and NBC Universal have struck a deal to load the streaming video site with tons of content from both NBC and its family of cable networks, including all 35 seasons of Saturday Night Live, and new episodes of the sketch comedy show the day after air.Saturday Night Live just aired its season premiere last night, but were not seeing the episode on Netflix. Apparently the deal hasnt been executed just yet.The day-after premiere episodes will continue through 2012, but neither Netflix nor NBC specified how long the other content deals will last.