Mouse see, mouse do. The House of Mouse is taking a page out of Netflix’s books and is cracking down on password-sharing on its Disney+ streaming service.
Disney announced to subscribers in Canada that users cannot share a Disney+ subscription or login credentials to others outside their household unless permitted by their account tier. Violations could lead to Disney+ limiting or terminating service.
The change will come into effect on 1 November this year for Canadian subscribers. It is unclear when the restrictions will roll out to neighbouring countries and other regions.
Disney CEO Bob Iger had hinted at the crackdown on password-sharing during the company’s quarterly earnings call on 9 Aug. Iger had framed the restrictions as a new monetising strategy to curb freeloaders on the streaming service.
“We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family,” said Iger. “Later this year, we will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms on our sharing policies, and we will roll out tactics to drive monetisation sometime in 2024.”
Also on 1 November, the company will be launching an ad-supported Disney+ plan in Canada, U.K. and eight European countries. The ad-supported plan will be priced at US$7.99 monthly.
The new ad-supported plan comes after the company’s announcement in September that the ad-free version of Disney+ will cost US$14 per month starting 12 October, a US$3 monthly increase. As of now, Disney+ subscribers in Singapore remain unaffected by the price hike.
These decisions come after Netflix infamously cracked down on password-sharing in selected markets in July 2022, before successfully rolling it out to the rest of the world in February this year.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Natalie
