The Walt Disney Company has taken a page from the Netflix playbook by starting a crackdown on password sharing in Canada at its Disney Plus streaming service.
The crackdown, which began November 1, was outlined in an email sent to Canadian users in September. The company announced restrictions to the ability of subscribers to share their accounts or login credentials outside of their households, according to an Associated Press (AP) report. An updated Canadian subscriber agreement noted that users cannot share a subscription outside of their household unless permitted by their account tier, and that violators could see their Disney Plus service limited or terminated, the AP report added.
Further details on the crackdown were not provided, and The Walt Disney Company did not immediately respond to a Kiplinger request for comment.
Earlier this year, Netflix announced a password sharing crackdown on its steaming service. Last month, that company raised prices and said its subscriber base has grown thanks in part to this action.
In The Walt Disney Company's third-quarter earnings call on August 9, CEO Bob Iger said that the company was “actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family."
Iger said at that time that Disney would begin to update subscriber agreements with additional terms on its sharing policies later this year.
"We will roll out tactics to drive monetization some time in 2024 [and] ... we're going to get at this issue,” he said, adding that the work may not be completed within that calendar year, "but we certainly have established this as a real priority. And we actually think that there's an opportunity here to help us grow our business."
Disney's other recent actions
The crackdown follows several moves that the company has announced this year, including plans to spend roughly $60 billion over the next 10 years to expand its parks and cruise line capacity.
Effective October 12, the Walt Disney Company boosted prices for its monthly ad-free Disney Plus plan to $13.99, from $10.99, and the cost of its monthly ad-free Hulu plan to $17.99, from $14.99.
And effective October 11, the company bumped up pricing on select ticket offerings at its Disney World and Disneyland theme parks along with parking at both.
Tips to save on streaming
But, even though prices at major streaming services are on the rise, you can still find deals.
On Wednesday, November 8, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to launch a free streaming service, NASA+. The ad-free and family-friendly service will feature Emmy-award winning live shows and original series. The service "embeds you into our missions through new original video series and puts the universe at your fingertips," the agency said.
In addition, there are a variety of ways to help you save on streaming, including by rotating and switching your service. For more ideas, check out Kiplinger’s report on how to save on streaming services and find streaming deals.
