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[llien]

Disney and Charter Communications are teaming up to fight account sharing in an attempt to prevent multiple people from using a single account to access streaming video services. Ars Technica reports: The battle against account sharing was announced as Disney and the nation's second-biggest cable company struck a new distribution agreement involving Disney's Hulu, ESPN+, and the forthcoming Disney+. Customers could still buy those online services directly from Disney, but the new deal would also let them make those purchases through Charter's Spectrum TV service. If you buy a Disney service through Charter, be aware that the companies will work together to prevent you from sharing a login with friends. Disney and Charter said in their announcement yesterday that they have "agreed to work together on piracy mitigation. The two companies will work together to implement business rules and techniques to address such issues as unauthorized access and password sharing."

The crackdown could target people who use Charter TV account logins to sign into Disney services online. Charter CEO Tom Rutledge has complained about account sharing several times over the past few years while criticizing TV networks for not fully locking down their content. "There's lots of extra streams, there's lots of extra passwords, there's lots of people who could get free service," Rutledge said at an industry conference in 2017. He argues that password sharing has helped people avoid buying cable TV. ESPN has also complained about account sharing, calling it piracy. Another possibility is that Charter could monitor usage of its broadband network to help Disney fight account sharing. For example, Disney could track the IP addresses of users signing in to its services, and Charter could match those IP addresses to those of its broadband customers.

slashdot

Is acc sharing really that popular, or are they drooling over imaginary sales again?

 

[Stilton Disco]

They'll not make any more money from this, but they'll not be 'giving away content for free', and I think that bit of petty spite is all they want out of this.

 

[J-Roderton]

"Piracy mitigation?" Is it really piracy, though?

 

[Petrae]

The House of Mouse being a greedy piece of shit? Stop the presses! I'm glad I'm one of the 8 people in the world who doesn't give a shit about Star Wars, comic book movies, or Walt Disney movies and shows— so I don't feel even the slightest bit compelled to think about throwing money at this new streaming service.

Hell, I don't even watch TV. If I want to catch a football game, I go to a bar or restaurant. Everything else is either YouTube or the occasional movie theater visit.

 

[slugbahr]

"Unauthorized access" ..... lmao!

 

[greyshark]

Password sharing is pretty rampant among people I know. I think Netflix even assumes a percentage of their viewers are sharing accounts.

Seems like they're equating password sharing with the folks who used to steal cable/satellite back in the day with fake access cards. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I don't know what the right solution is. I though the simultaneous screen limit was a good one, although that does make it tougher for bigger households.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

Is acc sharing really that popular, or are they drooling over imaginary sales again?

I was using my parent's Comcast credentials to watch HBO and live sports for years, it was awesome. Now we're back down to just Netflix.

 

[Super Mario]

lol @ at the entitled people. "PURE GREED THAT I SHOULD HAVE TO PAY $13 A MONTH TO WATCH THIS CONTENT"

 

[MMaRsu]

Ah the used games market argument

ITS ALMOST PIRACY!

 

[MMaRsu]

lol @ at the entitled people. "PURE GREED THAT I SHOULD HAVE TO PAY $13 A MONTH TO WATCH THIS CONTENT"

f off with your entitled bs

 

[nush]

If they do successfully lock out account sharing here are the outcomes

1) people get their own Disney+ account
2) people just don't watch it and stick to the services that do have account sharing
3) people learn how to actually pirate and drop all thier subscription services

 

[daveonezero]

I will be watching this content when it is available at the public library.

 

[TTOOLL]

That's why piracy is only gonna get stronger.

 

[Super Mario]

That's why piracy is only gonna get stronger.

Since Disney isn't letting us access content we did not pay for, we are going to show them and access content we did not pay for.

 

[Weiji]

Better not invite your friends over to watch the game. You only paid $120 per month for your own eyeballs thief!

Psssf, you have children?! Are THEY paying for Disney+ Access? Someone come arrest these monsters.

In all seriousness, I am paying for access to multiple simultaneous streams. If I want them on my phone, my girlfriends phone, my parents tv. That's my choice. Fuck off.

If you want to limit my simultaneous access go ahead, but that impacts my willingness to pay, cocksuckers. Besides simultaneous streaming, it's none of your fucking business who is watching with MY MONEY.

 

[TTOOLL]

Since Disney isn't letting us access content we did not pay for, we are going to show them and access content we did not pay for.

Except I paid and I'm lending my account info to someone I know. It's like asking everyone in a household to pay for cable individually.

 

[Super Mario]

Except I paid and I'm lending my account info to someone I know. It's like asking everyone in a household to pay for cable individually.

I'll bite at your terrible example.

Do you run water pipes to your friends/families house? Does your homeowners insurance cover them too? Do you setup wifi extenders all the way to their house?

Cable service has been for a household since the beginning of cable. Just because technology made it easier to share, doesn't give you that right.

 

[slugbahr]

I'll bite at your terrible example.

Do you run water pipes to your friends/families house? Does your homeowners insurance cover them too? Do you setup wifi extenders all the way to their house?

Cable service has been for a household since the beginning of cable. Just because technology made it easier to share, doesn't give you that right.

What about newspaper subscriptions?
If i pay for daily delivery of a physical copy, am i not allowed to give the paper to anybody else?
If a neighbour pays half, is that against the rules?
If that neighbour lives a mile away??

 

[Helios]

ERROR! Please drink a verification can.

 

[Shifty]

Okay, so what if I invite a friend over to watch some bullshit? Are they pirating content on my account?

Stupid stupid stupid.

 

[Nymphae]

Okay, so what if I invite a friend over to watch some bullshit? Are they pirating content on my account?

Stupid stupid stupid.

I'm reminded of the technology in Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Merits that would track your face to determine whether or not your eyeballs were open and viewing the mandatory advertisements shown in the characters bedroom. If he closed his eyes to avoid the ads, a warning message would sound and the ad would not resume until he opened his eyes again. He could pay money to skip the ads of course.

Eventually these corporations will be using some sort of tracking data to be sure of how many eyes are on each screen. You can pay for a discounted social viewing pass! The movie will not resume until the extra eyes have been shut, or paid for a viewing pass.

 

[SurprisedPikachu]

"Piracy mitigation?" Is it really piracy, though?

They're getting paid either way. You pay a subscription to the television provider or service only to be served advertisements anyway. I don't support that shit at all.

 

[TTOOLL]

I'll bite at your terrible example.

Do you run water pipes to your friends/families house? Does your homeowners insurance cover them too? Do you setup wifi extenders all the way to their house?

Cable service has been for a household since the beginning of cable. Just because technology made it easier to share, doesn't give you that right.

Dude, I do have the right to share what I've paid for.

 

[cryptoadam]

Limit simulotaneous streams, but if I go to my parents house and watch Disney+ and the next day they log in while F off Disney.

There isn't any pirating, I paid for the stream. Doesn't matter who/where I use it.

Simple fix is to have 1 stream so if we both can't be logged in at the same time. But if you offer multiple streams while I can do what I want with those streams.

 

[Trogdor1123]

How many active screens do they allow? That's the real question. I went to the top tier Netflix one to get 4. I wouldn't share an account as I need it .

 

[Pagusas]

All they have to do is make the price a "per device login at the same time" price. Want 1 device, 3.99. Want 4 devices? 9.99 . Doesnt matter if you share or not., your specific login can only be used simultaneously 4 times, they are getting their money from the subscription. Done, no more worrying about sharing, because its paid for. And single people get a cheaper entry.

 

[poppabk]

I live in two different places, how are they going to know it's me versus someone sharing an account.

 

[Fbh]

Why not just have multiple subscription tiers that limit the amount of simultaneous streams just like Netflix?

lol @ at the entitled people. "PURE GREED THAT I SHOULD HAVE TO PAY $13 A MONTH TO WATCH THIS CONTENT"

As a business ultimately what you care about is how to make the most money.
Regardless of if you think people are entitled or not, having 3 people pay for 1 subscription is still preferable to having those 3 people just pirate you content giving you zero money.

 

[nocsi]

Dude, I do have the right to share what I've paid for.

I doubt you have the proper license to rebroadcast content. To everyone asking "why can't they just limit by simultaneous streams???", because the Disney is trying to control who exactly views the content. If you share your account over 100 people, they're all bounded by 4 simultaneous streams or whatever. But that's 100 people that also haven't paid. I'll just say, there's a stronger push to ensure that the content you subscribe to is only viewable on authorized devices -- this is coming from a security guy that audits these types of services/devices

 

[Kenpachii]

Sorry people aint going to buy multiple account access to watch content. Mostly family's watch it on there mobiles and use access from one account. Because your mobile is basically the remote.

Its beyond stupid to limit this. It will just result in people not subscribing and continue pirating your content.

 

[nbcjr]

I never thought i would say this, but Netflix is sounding more reasonable than ever.

 

[petran79]

Password sharing is pretty rampant among people I know. I think Netflix even assumes a percentage of their viewers are sharing accounts.

At least Netflix supports up to 4 shared accounts

 

[Javthusiast]

High seas gonna get sailed.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

I think the next move is for them to take Disney channels off of Cable and make ESPN a streaming service.

I have noticed that Disney has gotten worse in the last 19 years as they used to hide this shady stuff.

 

[womfalcs3]

Ah the used games market argument

ITS ALMOST PIRACY!

Except with used games, the original owner doesn't still have access to the game.

 

[dorkimoe]

They could just charge like $15 for "account sharing" and I bet they would make enough money from people who dont want to share "illegaly" or "want to do right"

 

[Soleil rouge]

Good thing I don't care about anything Disney has to offer.

 

[greyshark]

At least Netflix supports up to 4 shared accounts

Where are you getting that from? As far as I know it's against Netflix's TOS to share your account with people outside your household. Not enforced of course, but I don't see any "official" mechanism to share account info.

 

[petran79]

Where are you getting that from? As far as I know it's against Netflix's TOS to share your account with people outside your household. Not enforced of course, but I don't see any "official" mechanism to share account info.

Yes, I meant Netflix premium.
You mean outside the family.
With mobile app support it will be difficult to use everything from the same network. Probably they'll strengthen their validation process in the future.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

I'm reminded of the technology in Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Merits that would track your face to determine whether or not your eyeballs were open and viewing the mandatory advertisements shown in the characters bedroom. If he closed his eyes to avoid the ads, a warning message would sound and the ad would not resume until he opened his eyes again. He could pay money to skip the ads of course.

Eventually these corporations will be using some sort of tracking data to be sure of how many eyes are on each screen. You can pay for a discounted social viewing pass! The movie will not resume until the extra eyes have been shut, or paid for a viewing pass.

Thats not just a black mirror episode, it's also a patent by Microsoft, during the kinect years, that was going toto track eye movement for when you and your friends watch a movie together. It was going to pause the film until all members paid up!

 

[Tesseract]

That's why piracy is only gonna get stronger.

the 'scene' is on its last legs right now, i don't think it's going to get stronger

 

[Mistake]

I wouldn't even say that cable is for houses anymore, more like single bedroom apartments. Are you guys aware you can't split digital cable without having more digital boxes? So they can basically make you pay per room if they really want to, and those boxes aren't cheap

 

[greyshark]

I wouldn't even say that cable is for houses anymore, more like single bedroom apartments. Are you guys aware you can't split digital cable without having more digital boxes? So they can basically make you pay per room if they really want to, and those boxes aren't cheap

Satellite TV has operated that way from the beginning. You pay $7 per extra box now.

 

[Super Mario]

I never thought i would say this, but Netflix is sounding more reasonable than ever.

Is the the loss of Marvel/Disney? The price increase? Or the Liberal propaganda increase that makes Netflix more reasonable than ever?

 

[DoctorEkkoUK]

The answer is simple, these streaming companies should just require that a customer is plugged into a biometric device whilst watching that gently inserts into the anus that uses a persons unique gut biome to confirm their identity. if you dont have the SecuriPhalis 4000 inserted then the streaming doesnt work. Problem solved

 

[spandexmonkey]

So if my family buys their streaming service. While I'm away on a trip or visiting family, log into our account and stream, but my wife at home also decides to stream. Would we appear to be pirates to them?

 

[MilkyJoe]

Man Disney have some front, I see the board fucking off Bob Igor in the near future.

 

[synchronicity]

Companies that are obscenely wealthy wringing their hands about relative pennies.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Companies that are obscenely wealthy wringing their hands about relative pennies.

How do you think they got so rich? Be being greedy!

 

[synchronicity]

How do you think they got so rich? Be being greedy!

Obviously.