wired Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is reportedly preparing to implement a new set of restrictions aimed at preventing subscribers from sharing passwords with people they don’t pay for the service. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference on Monday, JB Perrette, WBD’s global head of streaming and gaming, said the company plans to launch a crackdown sometime in late 2024.
“Going into the second and third quarters, we will be launching products in a number of European markets,” Perrette said. “There’s also the password sharing crackdown, which obviously Netflix has implemented very successfully. We’ll be doing that starting later this year and going into ’25, which is another growth opportunity for us.”
Max’s decision comes just weeks after Disney Plus and Hulu both updated their terms of service to prohibit users from sharing their login credentials with people outside their household. The moves come in response to Netflix introducing new password-sharing restrictions in 2023 in response to stagnant sign-up rates – an issue many platforms are now facing as the streaming wars mature. Marks’ crypto crackdown is likely to result in more new registrations, which may keep shareholders happy in the short term. But with WBD’s other recent ham-fisted attempts to put its finances in order, and the fact that the entire streaming space is increasingly hostile to consumers, the next crackdown will likely result in some customer losses.