Disney’s plan to enforce a Disney Plus password-sharing crackdown feels like Marvel’s Blade reboot. Both were confirmed quite a while ago, but we keep seeing delay after delay. While fans are dying to see the MCU’s Blade, however, Disney Plus subscribers probably want Disney to postpone its password-sharing crackdown for as long as possible.
We have a new development on the Disney Plus crackdown, with Disney CEO Bob Iger saying it’ll start in September “in earnest.” Better get your credit card ready, as you might have to pay extra for your Disney Plus subscription if you plan on sharing it with people outside your home.
That’s probably what Disney’s measures against password-sharing will look like, considering what Netflix has done. If you want to share your Netflix login with people outside the household, you have to pay an extra $7.99 per month per person. You can add up to two people to your plan.
Netflix’s crackdown on password-sharing was very successful. The streamer registered a spike in subscribers. Some people got their own account rather than using a borrowed login. Others went for the extra member option.
Disney announced plans to implement measures against password sharing in February. Then, in June, the company started a paid sharing pilot in a “few countries.”
Fast-forward to August, and Disney seems ready to proceed with its anti-password-sharing measures worldwide. According to The Verge, Iger said during an earnings call that the crackdown will start “in earnest” in September.
There’s no date for the change some Disney Plus subscribers dread. And we have no idea how much the paid sharing plan will cost. It might be in line with Netflix’s fee, but I’m just speculating. I’m thinking that Disney will have to make it look competitive.
Iger also said that Disney had “no backlash at all to the [paid sharing] notifications that have gone out and to the work that we’ve already been doing.” Furthermore, the exec said he’s “not concerned” about losing subscribers in the near term over the price increases that Disney just announced for Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus.
That’s also a factor to consider when planning your streaming relationship with Disney. The Disney Plus subscription price is going up around the same time Disney is enforcing its password-sharing crackdown.
If you have an account and share the password, you’ll have to think twice about paid sharing. If you’re on someone’s account, you’ll have to consider getting your own Disney Plus login or paying your friend or family for your access.
Canceling your subscription is also an option, of course. But, as you can see, Disney doesn’t care. Who could blame them, considering how successful Netflix was?
