Though Disney has already updated its subscriber agreement for its streaming service Disney+, the company has plans to crack down on those sharing their passwords with people living outside the account holder's home in just a few months.
In an interview with CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Disney is "launching [its] first real foray into password sharing" sometime this June. Iger explained that it would start the rollout "in just a few countries in a few markets" but did not specify which; however, he did mention that the enforcement of password sharing would expand to all subscribers by September this year.
In January, Disney updated and notified Disney+ subscribers about the recent changes to the subscriber agreement before it went into effect roughly two months later. Disney joins a growing list of subscription services that have begun cracking down on password sharing on their platforms.
The first streaming service to do so was Netflix; though it seemed like it would be self-sabotaging, the outcome proved quite the opposite. Last year, Netflix unveiled a significant increase in subscribers after it began cracking down on password sharing and hiking the price of some of its subscription tiers. Following the news, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it also had plans to begin cracking down on password sharing for its subscription service Max.
The announcement comes over a week after Disney combined the Disney+ and Hulu apps in the United States after Disney bought the remaining ownership stake of Hulu from Comcast last year. It's a move that not only combines your watch history from both platforms if you have the Disney+ bundle, but consolidates the libraries of both streaming services into Disney+.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
