HBO Max Password Sharing Crackdown Getting Serious in September

[MacRumors]

HBO Max is planning to crack down more aggressively on password sharing, according to Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming CEO JB Perette (via The Verge). Perette shared the info during an earnings call, where he said HBO Max users will be encouraged to pay a $7.99 per month fee to add viewers that are outside of their household.

"In September, you'll actually start to see the messaging -- which right now has been a fairly soft, cancelable messaging -- start to get more fixed and such that people have to take action," said Perette.

Warner Bros. began discouraging password sharing earlier this year after introducing the $7.99 per month sharing fee. As of right now, the restrictions on password sharing have not been enforced, and paying the extra fee is voluntary.

HBO Max with ads is priced at $9.99 per month, while the Standard plan with no ads is $16.99 per month. There's also a Premium plan with 4K streaming that's priced at $20.99 per month.

HBO Max customers that opt to add an extra member to their plan will need to pay the $7.99 per month fee, which provides the added member with their own account, password, and profile. Only one additional member can be added to an account.

At $7.99 per month, the extra member add-on is only $2 cheaper than the ad-supported plan, but the extra member is able to share the plan of the main subscriber. So if the subscriber has the 4K Premium plan, the extra member can access 4K streaming for the $7.99 per month price.

HBO Max will use account information, IP address, device ID, and user activity to determine if accounts are used by people in more than one household.

Cracking down on password sharing has been successful for Netflix and Disney, so it is no surprise to see other streaming services do the same thing. Netflix experienced strong subscriber growth and an increase in revenue when it stopped allowing customers to share their accounts.

Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Discovery changed the name of the streaming service, abandoning "Max" and going back to HBO Max. The service was branded as Max two years ago, but it turned out that eliminating the well-known and widely recognized HBO name was a mistake.

Article Link: HBO Max Password Sharing Crackdown Getting Serious in September

 

[LawJolla]

I unsubscribed 3 years ago, but my phone keeps logging in (err was never logged out). No ads.

It's quite a system they have.

 

[chubbychild]

Cannot wait until my yearly subscription ends so I can cancel this service.

 

[racerhomie]

Still no good presence in the Asia Pacific Region. HBO and Showtime(Paramount) always disappointed me. They should partner up with Telenor and offer services in the region like Spotify has

 

[seanmcbay]

I really hate how many people caved to Netflix first trying this garbage.

 

[DBZmusicboy01]

Things are getting more dystopian as time goes on 🙁 everything was so much better before 2020.

 

[Kottu]

No wonder why torrent sites are popular again.

 

[firstcitazen]

stop watching, only way to get their attention

 

[BelgianChoklit]

I don't get why so many people find it their constitutional right that they should be able to share your paid subscription for no additional cost. The subscriptions are priced for individuals or households and not for your entire group of friends or your whole school.

 

[HylianKnight]

🏴‍☠️

Not much else needs to be said.

 

[HylianKnight]

I don't get why so many people find it the most normal thing in the world that you should be able to share your paid subscription for no additional cost.

Well, when you pay for a subscription that says you can log into n number of devices simultaneously, it shouldn’t matter where those devices are.

 

[Tubamajuba]

I don't get why so many people find it their constitutional right that they should be able to share your paid subscription for no additional cost. The subscriptions are priced for individuals or households and not for your entire group of friends or your whole school.

It's really not that hard to understand. Taking something away that people have had for a long time while continually raising prices is gonna make people upset.

 

[seanmcbay]

Well, when you pay for a subscription that says you can log into n number of devices simultaneously, it shouldn’t matter where those devices are.

Yes, this is a reasonable restriction. Cracking down on a college kid using their parents account in their dorm is not.

 

[AppleTO]

From what I can tell, these kinds of restrictions generally only apply to TVs and streaming devices that plug into TVs. Mobile devices and PC or Mac’s aren’t affected.

 

[HylianKnight]

From what I can tell, these kinds of restrictions generally only apply to TVs and streaming devices that plug into TVs. Mobile devices and PC or Mac’s aren’t affected.

In my opinion, if I tell someone they can log into four devices simultaneously, I don’t care where those four devices are. I really hope the precedent set by streaming platforms doesn’t trickle over to non-streaming subscriptions, like security software.

 

[AppleTO]

In my opinion, if I tell someone they can log into four devices simultaneously, I don’t care where those four devices are. I really hope the precedent set by streaming platforms doesn’t trickle over to non-streaming subscriptions, like security software.

I agree. And in most cases, you can actually have as many people logged in as you want. It’s just the concurrent streams that are limited.

 

[VisceralRealist]

Well, when you pay for a subscription that says you can log into n number of devices simultaneously, it shouldn’t matter where those devices are.

My thoughts as well. But of course they won’t do this because they know the “crackdown” will result in many new subscribers, which is what they want.

 

[coolkid93]

I went back to cable, all these streaming services are getting to be shrewd and all about making the most profit as possible it’s ridiculous. This by no means hurts there profit margin if it’s one or two other people using there account.

 

[npmacuser5]

I don't get why so many people find it their constitutional right that they should be able to share your paid subscription for no additional cost. The subscriptions are priced for individuals or households and not for your entire group of friends or your whole school.

Share a book, music, clothing, tools, cars, RV a long list? If no violation of the number of users at one time, not stealing sharing purchased times and or services. We pay the same for those using 4 users and we only use 1. I asked the streamer do I get a discount, no. Since I am paying for the bandwidth of 4, actually what they are selling, should be-able to use the bandwidth I am paying for and not using. Your examples are outdated. Those are stealing and easily fixed by the number of streams per account not locations, period. This is just a money grab scam.

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

No wonder why torrent sites are popular again.

These streaming companies have gone full circle, back to the greed and advertising based nonsense that pushed consumers from paid cable to piracy in the first place.

 

[1984 Mac Guru]

@npmacuser5 Can I use one of your streams, please 😭🤣😂

 

[ProVideo]

Can't wait for them to next announce that HBO Max is no longer included with my AT&T Fiber while increasing the price for Fiber and offering no improvement in speed or service.

 

[LightProtector]

I have a super nice torrenting setup at home with Jellyfin. I love it and zero buffering even for the highest quality stuff is nice.

 

[Corpuscle]

Well, when you pay for a subscription that says you can log into n number of devices simultaneously, it shouldn’t matter where those devices are.

Suggestion. Become the CEO of HBO and then you can set your own policies and deal with the Board of Directors. Until then, stop pretending it's OK to steal the service. I've never heard so many lame and totally bogus reasons for stealing the signal as in this forum. If you can't afford the service under their rules, then don't steal. You can getter better paying job or ask you parents for the money. Simple.

 

[Tubamajuba]

Suggestion. Become the CEO of HBO and then you can set your own policies and deal with the Board of Directors. Until then, stop pretending it's OK to steal the service. I've never heard so many lame and totally bogus reasons for stealing the signal as in this forum. If you can't afford the service under their rules, then don't steal. You can getter better paying job or ask you parents for the money. Simple.

🥾👅