Disney+ has announced that they plan on cracking down on password sharing for users located in Canada.
The announcement came via an email the streaming platform sent to its Canadian users regarding updates to its Subscriber Agreement. While previous terms stated that users were not allowed to share accounts, the policy was never enforced — going forward, though, the email declared that Disney will be “implementing restrictions on account sharing.” The new policy is expected to take effect beginning November 1st, 2023.
“Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household,” the email read (per MobileSyrup). “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.”
Continuing, the statement defined a “household” as “the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein.” The statement also made clear that it is the users themselves who are responsible for remaining compliant.
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All of this arrives just months after Netflix brought a similar program to the United States, after first unrolling the crackdown in Canada and other smaller markets. This, of course, turned out to be a boon for Netflix, as they reportedly gained 5.9 million new subscribers after the policy was enacted.
The suggestion by Disney that some Service Tiers may allow for intra-household sharing is also reminiscent of Netflix, who included an option for those who wanted to continue sharing accounts to pay an extra $7.99 per month per each person using their password in a different household. While Disney has made no specific announcements regarding a similar option for its users, it appears that something like that may be in the works.
Meanwhile, Disney+ recently concluded a campaign in which their ad-supported tier was offered for only $1.99 per month… which makes sense, considering the wave of new content that’s arrived on the platform over the past month, and their desire to continue competing with other platforms. Earlier this year, streaming’s share of television viewership reached an all-time high, accounting for 38.7% of total TV usage.
