Variety: Disney+ Launches Broad Password-Sharing Crackdown, Offers Paid ‘Extra Member’ Option

Story from Variety:

Disney, following the lead of Netflix, has widely rolled out a program aimed at converting Disney+ password-borrowers into paid customers.

This week, Disney+ began informing subscribers that its paid-sharing options are broadly available — offering users new ways to pay for access to Disney+ on behalf of family members or friends outside their household who may have been illicitly using their accounts.

The Disney+ paid-sharing features and capabilities are now available in the U.S., Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region after launching in select markets over the summer.

“Your Disney+ subscription is meant to be used within your Household, which is a collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside there,” the company explains in a message to customers. Anyone residing outside the household of a Disney+ customer “will need to sign up and pay for their own subscription or be added as an Extra Member to your account for an additional monthly fee to continue enjoying Disney+.”

In the U.S., an Extra Member profile will cost an additional $6.99 per month for Disney+ Basic subscriptions and $9.99 per month for Disney+ Premium subscriptions. Currently, only one Extra Member slot is available per primary account; in addition, the Extra Member option is not available for Disney Bundle subscribers or for subscribers billed through third-party partners. Disney+ account holders can transfer an eligible profile to a new subscription or Extra Member to keep that profile’s Disney+ watch history and settings.

Disney+’s expanded paid-sharing rollout comes less than a month before its U.S. prices are set to go up: Effective Oct. 17, Disney+ Basic (with ads) will increase from $7.99 to $9.99/month, and Disney+ Premium (no ads) is going from $13.99 to $15.99/month. Disney also is hiking the prices of Hulu, ESPN+ and its multiservice bundles.

The company noted that Disney+ users who are traveling outside of their household can still access the service. “If you’re on the go and you see the message ‘This TV doesn’t seem to be part of the Household for this account,’ you can mark yourself as I’M AWAY FROM HOME, or select UPDATE HOUSEHOLD if you’ve recently moved and need to reset the Household location for your Disney+ subscription,” according to Disney. Logging in under those circumstances will require a one-time passcode that’s sent to the email address associated with the account.

Disney also is planning to launch password-sharing crackdowns for Hulu and ESPN+. Ahead of the enforcement actions, Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ earlier this year notified U.S. customers of changes to their subscriber terms, which now explicitly forbid users from sharing their log-in details with anyone who doesn’t live in their primary residence.

According to the updated subscriber agreements for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, “Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household.” The term “household” means the collection of devices “associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein,” according to the agreements.

“We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this Agreement,” the updated terms say. “If we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated this Agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this Agreement.”

Disney is copying Netflix’s successful move to curb password piggybacking. Netflix execs have credited the broad account-sharing initiative, which commenced last year across more than 100 countries, with helping to boost subscriber numbers. Warner Bros. Discovery has said it plans to roll out a similar password-sharing enforcement program for Max this year.