Hulu joins the password-sharing crackdown crusade

Last Updated on March 5, 2024

A certain streaming giant once said, “Love is sharing a password.” However, several bottom lines later, Netflix decided that “Love” was costing them too much and decided, among other things, to implement the controversial household account lock. The lock prevents multiple users from signing on to use the service merely by entering an account’s password if they aren’t tied to a singular household account. If the account holder happens to be away from their home, they can get a special limited-time traveling passcode. Not long after Netflix starting cracking down on password sharing, Disney+ decided to start enforcing their own rules. The business model seems to be doing wonders as Netflix has recently seen an all-time high on subscriptions.

As Disney bundles their Disney+ and Hulu services into a package, the house of mouse will soon also be restricting the password sharing practice with Hulu. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney sent out an email to address this issue with their subscribers. In the email, the new agreement terms stated, “Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household. ‘Household’ means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein.”

The terms continue to say, “We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this Agreement. If we determine, in our sole discretion, 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.” The agreement was dated January 25 and the new policy is said to be instituted on March 14.

The move was a decision made by the returning Disney CEO Bob Iger, when the studio giant set up the plan last August. Last year, Iger would outline at a company earning’s call, “We’re actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family. We will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024.”