Yahoo News Disney+ to Launch Shared Account Password Crackdown in Canada
Walt Disney looks set to launch its password-sharing deterrents in Canada on Nov. 1, 2023.
Canadian Disney+ subscribers have received emails indicating new account-sharing rules that aim to keep the streaming platform within primary households, a Disney spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
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As U.S. streaming platforms look to push subscribers to ad tiers, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said in an August earnings call that the company would begin restricting account sharing as it hiked prices for its ad-free tiers of Disney+ and Hulu.
Iger gave no word on timing for a shared password account crackdown, but hinted the benefits would begin to flow through to the bottom line in 2024. It’s understood from Walt Disney that the studio has begun updating its subscriber agreements to “clarify the rules relating to the sharing of accounts in several markets,” including Canada, with the U.S. market to follow later this year.
And the new shared account restrictions are set to start in Canada on Nov. 1, before spreading to the U.S. and other global markets, likely in 2024.
“Unless otherwise permitted by your service tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household,” the Disney+ email notice to subscribers stated, according to Engadget, which first reported the account sharing crackdown to kick off in Canada.
“We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this agreement. If we determine that you have violated this agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this agreement,” Disney+ tells subscribers in amended legal terms.
The new account-sharing terms also stipulate password sharing will be barred, “unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier.” This indicates password sharing may be allowed in some cases, and that subscribers may have the option in the future to pay for additional viewers for an account beyond a household.
Disney is following the lead of Netflix, which introduced its own shared password crackdown in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain, with the U.S. market following after glitches were removed. Netflix compelled primary account holders to set the location of their household, defined as people who live in the same location as the primary subscriber.
As with Disney+, nonpaying viewers of Netflix not in a primary household have been expected to sign up as paid subscribers.
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